The Viennese Waltz

By: Avina Balamurugan

 Introduction
Hello everybody! Today I will be presenting to
you my presentation on the Viennese Waltz. In
this presentation I will be telling you all about
the History of the waltz, the clothing, the modern
version of this dance, some fun facts and a few
other things. I hope you all enjoy my
presentation and learn something new!
 About the Viennese Waltz & its History
The Viennese Waltz is a ballroom dance that
originated from Austria. It is the oldest ballroom
dance, and it originates from the 18th century at
around 1750. The Viennese dance is featured in
many romantic movies and animated films. The
dances movements consist of sweeping, graceful
turns that rotate quickly around the floor. Although
this dance is similar to the slow waltz it is much
faster (2 times the tempo). The Viennese Waltz is
traditionally danced by a man and a woman as we
can see in the picture. There are many balls in
Vienna Austria that you can go to and participate in.
 The Clothing
In the Viennese Waltz no props are used but there is a dress
code. For a standard Viennese Waltz, men are required to
wear a black dinner jacket, black trousers, black shoes, a
white wing-collar shirt and black bow tie. It is very
common for men to wear a black tie at a standard Viennese
Waltz. Women are required to wear a full-length formal
dress and opera length gloves. In the next slide I will talk
about what the required dress code at an elegant Viennese
Waltz.
 The Clothing Part 2
At an elegant Viennese Waltz these dress code is a little bit
different. Highly elegant Viennese Balls are usually white tie
events. The dress code is mostly the same for women,
however depending on the ball you attend there may be a few
other additions to the dress code. For men, they must wear a
black dinner jacket, black trousers, black shoes, white wing-
collar shirt, black bow tie, and in addition to that they must
also wear, white gloves, a white folded pocket square in the
upper left pocket of the tailcoat and studs worn over shirt
buttons are also required. Typically, the shirt is made of
pique - a fabric with a distinctive diamond-shaped waffle
texture.
 Viennese Waltz Music
There are many different kinds of Waltz music that are played at
a Viennese waltz. However, most of the pieces are composed by
Johann Strauss, who is one of the most famous composers for
Viennese Waltz music. His most famous pieces are:
The Blue Danube

Tales from the Vienna Woods

Viennese waltz music is often an instrumental type, and it is

written for orchestras of different sizes.
 The Modern Version of
this Dance
The modern version which is also the American style, features
swaying to the sides, and underarm turns. In the world of
modern ballroom dance, two types of Viennese Waltz are
currently recognized. This is the international and American
style, respectively. There are a few differences between the
international and American style. The international version is
usually performed in a closed position with several steps.
Natural and reverse turns, fleckels, contra check, left whisk,
and canter time pivots are all adjusted. In terms of position
and steps, the American style, on the other hand, offers more
flexibility and freedom, since it is more modern-day style.
 Traditions for the Viennese Waltz
Damenspede
Damenspede is when the man gives his partner a gift either before or after the dance.
Damspende used to be beautifully handcrafted cards but nowadays they can be from
jewelry to confectionery and everything in between.
Damenwahl
Damenwahl is when women are allowed to approach men and ask to dance. The
Rudolfina Redoute is the only Vienna ball in which ladies can choose their partners
throughout the entire evening.
 Traditions for the Viennese Waltz 2

Midnight Quadrille
The master of the ceremony announces the Midnight Quadrille, which is a traditional
French dance, at 12 am. To accompany the dance, orchestras usually play Johann Strauss’
Fledermaus Quadrille.
Dancing all night
Most Vienna balls begin between 9 pm and 10 pm and continue on until around 5 am in
the morning. Johann Strauss’ Radetzkymarsch is usually played to mark the end of the
evening. With potentially eight hours of dancing in store, you need to make sure you’re
wearing comfortable, well broken in shoes!
 How to do the Viennese Waltz
The steps for a
Viennese waltz are
similar to a slow
waltz however they
are much faster and
take quite a bit of
practice to master.It I
hard to explain, but in
this video on the
right, they have
explained the steps
quite well so we will
watch that video.
Why I chose this dance
I chose this dance because when I was choosing
the type of dance I wanted to do, the Viennese
dance was one of the dances that caught my eye.
Google also mentioned that it was one of the oldest
ballroom dances which really intrigued me. Also,
the dresses that the women wore also seemed
interesting and I wanted to research that a little bit
more since I was curious to see how they changed
over time.
 Fun Facts!
 The dress code is very important at a Viennese ball
 Most Vienna balls begin between 9 pm and 10 pm and continue on until around 5 am
in the morning! It is very important to wear proper shoes since you will be dancing
for a very long time
 The Viennese Waltz is one of the oldest ballroom dances in the world
 The Viennese Waltz is the only waltz that wasn’t invented in the early 20th century
 There are many ballroom competitions that include the Viennese Waltz, and the
competitors are judged by their proficiency of the dance
 Citations
 https://concert-vienna.com/blogs/viennese-things/vienna-ball-season-everything-you-
ever-wanted-to-know#:~:text=elegant%20Viennese%20balls.-,Standard%20Viennese
%20balls,dresses%20and%20opera%2Dlength%20gloves
.
 https://www.bellaballroom.com/dance-lessons/ballroom-dancing/viennese-waltz/
 https://vienna.net/viennese-waltz/
 Citations 2
 https://youtu.be/k8gileEp9Yo
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8gileEp9Yo
&ab_channel=BBCStrictlyComeDancing
 https://wiki.kidzsearch.com/wiki/Viennese_waltz
#:~:text=The%20Viennese%20waltz%20is%20o
ne,by%20the%20World%20Dance%20Council
.
 Conclusion
Thank you all for listening to my
presentation on the Viennese Waltz
and I really hope you all enjoyed
and learned something new about
the Viennese Waltz!