This entry was posted on Friday, December 12th, 2008 at 5:21 pm and is filed under Ballroom Dancing, History, Men & Women, Shoes, Types. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
Today, the waltz looks formal and old-fashioned. However, this wasn’t always the case.
This dance was risqué due to the fact that it was one of the first dances to use the closed dance position for extended periods. Church authorities banned the waltz from public ballrooms. The Viennese waltz caused even further admonishment from the church because of the immoral touching; the gentleman placing his hand on the lady’s waist. The vulgar dance appalled church and government authorities with its close body contact but dancers loved it and the waltz soon found a firm place in history.
The waltz has been around since the early 1800s and has evolved from a faster dance to one that is much slower. The faster moves were quite demanding on the average dancer so eventually composers began composing slower waltz music. The Boston waltz evolved with slower turns and longer glides. The Boston waltz fell out of favor but stimulated today’s “slow waltz.” Wearing ballroom dance shoes makes any waltz more easily accomplished and when you can find ballroom dance shoes on sale, they are really worth the price.
