Without doubt the most beautiful and elegant dance, and the hardest is the Viennese Waltz done properly as we can see here . You can imagine the scene as you glide across the floor, a dashing young Austrian aristocrat has requested the pleasure and a little Strauss number has come on. He guides you to the floor and you begin the famous whirl. As you gaze up in the face Viscount Leopold Von Mecklenburg and the Luxury chandeliers above your head you might ponder two questions. The first is, where can I get one of those luxury chandeliers? And the answer comes in the form of this website http://roccoborghese.com/. The second is where doe this delightful dance come from.
The dance is of German and Austrian in origin. There were waltz’s before, but this was a new style that originate, as the name suggest in Vienna the capital of Austria. It is wildly whirling affair as a slew of couples rotate round and round desperately trying to avoid each other as a crash will bring the whole lot of you done. The man steers and needs to have his wits about them as they are in charge of where you go. It is speedy and fast and people new to it generally complain of a slight nausea. Sufferers of motion sickness need not apply.
It’s a pretty simple thing to do compared to other dances. The arms are straight and the only thing you need concern yourself with is the turns and step changes. There are no “fleckels” required as Len Goodman made famous on Strictly Come Dancing, no one knew what a fleckel was till that show came along. It as seen as the way of introducing couples together and it was an indication of if a marriage would work or was going well as the dance requires a lot of teamwork on the part of both dancers that they do not smash into any other couple on the floor.
It is quite a revolution in dance in many ways. Before then the dance was seen as communal affair with the watchers on the side lines patiently waiting to be called in and the next dance began. The Master of ceremonies would call the tune, and everybody knew what the steps were and what was expected of them. There was a pattern that needed to be followed and an etiquette to be followed. Plus, you could have a nice chat to the people around you as it was generally a slow affair. The waltz changes all that, as you thunder round the dance floor dodging each other it requires a bit of commitment. There’s no time to chat. Lord Byron hated it giving it a real roasting in his poem” The Waltz.
But what do you care of such things. Viscount Leopold might invite you back to his Schloss for little schnapps.
