Ballroom dancing: The Waltz
About the Waltz
The waltz dance itself is
very elegant and refined and is distinguished by
its long smooth movements, and continual turns.
The dancers seem to glide along the floor, and
their movements look natural and graceful. The
tempo is very slow with measures at 28-30 per
minute, however the music often stirs up very
powerful movements from the dancers.
The waltz is a smooth progressive dance
characterized by long, flowing movements,
continuous turns, and rising & falling. Graceful
and elegant, Waltz dancers glide around the
floor almost effortlessly. At 28-30 measures per
minute, the tempo is slow at best, but the
expressive quality of the music often invites
very powerful and dynamic movement from dancers.
The international style of waltz includes the
following steps: closed changes; natural turn;
reverse turn; natural spin turn; whisk; and
Chasse from PP.
The American style of waltz includes these
steps: left box turn, right box turn, closed
changes, hesitations, side whisks, and six-count
underarm turn.
If you are somewhat familiar with dance, you
probably know what those steps mean; if not,
seek out further information or instruction. The
best way to do so is to take a private lesson or
two from a professional dance instructor who can
familiarize you with the waltz steps.
The form of music expressed by the waltz is in
3/4 meter with the first beat of each measure
being very dominant with a strong downbeat
accent. The next two beats are much lighter. The
music of the slow waltz is very fluid and
melodic, with a sweet tone. The music contains
melodic instruments to provide the rhythms,
rather than heavy percussion instruments such as
drums. The music is normally instrumental, but
it may also be vocal.
Some of the more common waltz songs include:
"Morning Song" by Herberman, which is often
found on ballroom swing; "Serenade To Spring"
(Rolf Lovland); and "Hushabye Mountain"
(Sherman).
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