Style: American Style
Category: Smooth Ballroom
Rhythm: 3/4 time (Accent on 1)
Tempo: American
Competition 54 Bars per minute
Social 52-58 Bars per minute
These 'preferred' tempos not withstanding, the basic figures may be danced to any waltz played between 44 and 64 bars per minute.
The Viennese Waltz is the classic waltz, more often featured in films than
the more modern 'slow Waltz'. This dance is a quick rotating dance with a subtle
rise and fall. It is considered a very difficult dance to do properly, even
in its simplest forms.
Viennese Waltz is included here for completeness but it is not recommended that
Viennese Waltz be taught to beginners on a competition team, preferring that
they develop proficiency in the other dances first.
Alignments: The Viennese Waltz is a fast-rotating dance, and therefore some
of the alignments given are slightly confusing. In the Viennese Waltz a figure
may begin with a certain alignment, then rotate 1/8'th of a turn before the
first step touches the floor.
The alignments listed are the alignments for the feet when they first touch
the floor.
Phrasing: 8-bar phrases, so try to do 8 bars of each type of figure. Ie do 4 left turns, a left foot forward closed-change, 3 right turns, then a right foot forward closed-change.