People who dance ballroom is very familiar with the dance style referred to as a Waltz. In most ballroom competitions, this form of dance is actually pretty popular, and is performed along with other dance styles. Unfortunately, not a lot of people know much about Waltz aside from the fact that ballroom dancers perform this style of dance. That is pretty much the extent of their knowledge about it. This article aims to give you more information about this particular dance style.
Origin
The Waltz dance style is actually derived and has evolved from two different Austrian styles of peasant dances from the 18th century, namely, the walzer and landler. During those ancient times, peasant dances were performed wherein the man and woman danced in a way that they were having close contact to one another, as compared to upper class dances, wherein the partners always kept a certain distance between them as they performed their dances.
Now that the peasant dances have evolved from what it was before, some of their basic dance moves are now replaced with different styles and methods. An example of this is the replacement of stomping and clomping with gliding, giving these modern versions of the old dances a sense of smoothness and gracefulness in their movements.
Waltz Basic Steps
There are actually a lot of different steps that you can use when dancing Waltz. You can actually use a variation of different steps. However, all these different variations and different steps can be taken from six basic steps in Waltz. These six basic steps are actually referred to as the Waltz basic box step. Master these four steps and you should be able to dance the Waltz already. Add a little bit of your own variations, direction changes and lifts, and you should be able to come up with a dance step that is more complex.
The Waltz Basic Box Step
Basically, you perform the Waltz basic box step with two complete one-two-three counts. What happens is that the person leading the dance steps first with his left foot, while the follower steps the right foot back at the same time. After that, the leader then steps to the right using his right foot, and the follower simply follows the leader and steps her left foot in the same direction. Then, they both simply close their feet together, with the leader bringing his left foot together with his right, and the follower bringing her right foot together with her left.
The leader then steps back using his right foot, and the follower simply steps forward with her left foot. After which, the leader then steps his left foot to the left, and the follower does the same with her right foot. Then they close out the steps by simply closing their feet together, wherein the leader simply brings his right foot together with his left, and the follower does the same, bringing her left foot together with her right.
Types Of Waltz
There are actually a lot of different kinds of Waltz dances. You have slow versions of the Waltz called the Slow Waltz, and you also have faster versions of it, such as the Viennese Waltz. Some styles of Waltz require that you only have closed figures while performing the routine, while others allow for more movement and variations in posture and form.
Where Can You Learn Waltz?
There are actually a lot of places wherein you can learn Waltz. Dance studios, especially those that offer ballroom lessons, would be able to provide you with some assistance with regards to this. You simply need to enroll in a class, and find a partner to dance with, and you should be on your way.