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Waltz Day
“We feel it a duty to warn every parent against exposing his daughter to so fatal a contagion.”
~ The Times of London, 1816
Good heavens! Could they referencing the new dance craze, the waltz?
Now viewed as one of the most elegant of dances, the waltz initially scandalized the establishment for its lilting time signature, whirling motions, association with the louche elite of Europe, and its shocking closed hold!
Celebrated on March 4th, a nod to its 1-2-3, 1-2-3 musical 3/4 time signature, this dance was initially viewed with great suspicion by the general populace as it spread from the courts of Europe after the Napoleonic wars.
Dancing masters saw the waltz as a threat to the profession! The basic steps of the waltz could be learned in relatively short time, whereas, the minuet and other court dances required considerable practice, not only to learn the many complex figures, but also to develop suitable postures and deportment.
Additionally, the waltz was also criticized on moral grounds by those opposed to its closed hold and rapid turning movements. Religious leaders almost unanimously denounced it as vulgar and sinful! Get the smelling salts! And yet now, it almost always closes a Scottish Country Dance Ball! Can you hear and see the steady 1-2-3 … 1-2-3 echoed in the sett of this beautiful blue tartan? 💙 🤍 💙 🎼🕺 💃
"We who go forth of nights and see without the slightest discomposure our sister and our wife seized on by a strange man and subjected to violent embraces and canterings ... can scarcely realize the horror which greeted the introduction of this wicked dance."
~ Belgravia Magazine, commentary on the scandalous waltz, 1866
Many familiar waltz tunes can be traced back to simple peasant yodeling melodies. The original musical form is believed to have been derived from the German Ländler, a dance in triple meter.
Popularized in the courts of Europe (beginning with the allemande hold but eventually changing to the more modern closed hold), the waltz shocked and titillated by its closer hold and rapid turning movements.
Religious leaders almost unanimously denounced it as vulgar and sinful. Dancing masters also saw the waltz as a threat to the profession. The basic steps of the waltz could be learned in relatively short time, whereas, the minuet and other court dances required considerable practice to learn the many complex figures, but also to develop suitable postures and deportment.
However, continental court circles held out obstinately, and its popularity spread.
The waltz was given a tremendous boost in popularity around 1830 by Austrian composers - Franz Lanner and Johann Strauss. These two composers set the standard for the Viennese Waltz, (a faster version of the waltz). andbBy 1900, a typical dance program was three quarter waltzes and one quarter all other dances combined.
This tartan, designed by Carol A.L. Martin, is made up in groups of lines of three for the characteristic time signature of the waltz.
Its soft blue colours suggest the namesake of one of the most recognized of waltz tunes, "On the Beautiful Blue Danube" by Johann Strauss.
To hear and see this waltz as performed as a ballet accompanied by the Vienna Orchestra, click the waltz painting by Pierre Vidal, 1908, with just a hint of blue.