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Learning Dance Basics like the Walts is easier than you think. When you hear \u201cballroom dance,\u201d chances are you think of graceful couples gliding around the dance floor, right? But how much do you actually know about where these dances came from?<\/p>\n
Well, at Fred Astaire Dance Studio in Brookfield CT, we\u2019ve got some dance backstories for you, and we bet you\u2019ll be surprised!<\/p>\n
Scandalous, risqu\u00e9, improper and even wicked\u2026 You might not pick those to describe the Waltz, would you? But originally, that\u2019s exactly what people thought about the dance we now consider beautiful and elegant.<\/p>\n
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Its rich history actually starts almost 400 years ago, when the Waltz began a country folk dance in Bavaria! Both Italy and France adopted the style of dance, calling it \u201cthe volte,\u201d but it wasn\u2019t officially introduced into English \u201csociety\u201d until 1812. Over the years, the Waltz actually went by many different names before it became popular, like the Galop, Redowa, Boston and the Hop Waltz.<\/p>\n
But when the Waltz finally made its way to the ballrooms of the world in, it was met with indignation and outrage! People were shocked to see a man dancing with his hand upon a lady\u2019s waist, as that was considered \u201cimproper\u201d of a woman to compromise herself in public in such a way.<\/p>\n
Eventually, people stopped thinking of the Waltz as wicked, and warmed up to the graceful partner dance. Favored by the European aristocracy, they claimed it as an exclusive \u201cright\u201d of the upper class, but before long its popularity grew throughout all the classes of Europe in the early 20th century.<\/p>\n
Even before it spread broadly through Europe, however, the Waltz gained favor throughout the United States, likely due to the lack of a \u201cblue-blood caste\u201d system. \u00a0Taking the nation by storm in the 1840s, the dance was popular enough to survive the \u201cragtime revolution\u201d that hit in 1910. Though ragtime stole the show in the early 20th century, with its era of simpler walking and strutting style dances, the Waltz has stood the test of time.<\/p>\n
When Learning Dance Basics.The techniques and whirling patterns of the Waltz require a different skills for dancers, but the beauty of the dance keeps it in style as it has captured the imagination of generations of composers. In fact, in the late 19th century, composers began writing Waltzes to a slower tempo than that of the original Viennese style.<\/p>\n