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American Viennese Waltz
- Author:
- Dave Watson
- Date Published:
- April 5, 2005
Like all Waltzes, the American Viennese Waltz is in ¾ time. This means that there are three beats to each measure of music, and we normally take one change of weight for each beat. (Three beats – three steps.) Frequently we will count the measures as well as the beats. We do this by accentuating the first beat, and replacing the 1 count with the number of the measure (1, 2, 3 – 2, 2, 3 – 3, 2, 3 – 4, 2, 3, etc.).
COUNT:
Reverse (Left) Turn:
Man dances forward left / side right / cross left foot tightly in front of right foot
Lady dances back right / side left / close right foot to left foot 1, 2, 3
Man now dances back right / side left / close right foot to left foot
Lady dances forward left / side right / cross left foot tightly in front of right foot 2, 2, 3
Couple will rotate up to ½ turn to the left on each measure. Although less turn can be made (for example: in a corner), ½ should be the desired goal. This can take a little practice – don‘t be discouraged if you find it a little difficult at first to get this much rotation – that’s normal. There are two keys to getting the rotation: First, the person going back (the ‘inside’ of the turn) must let the person going forward (the ‘outside’ of the turn) get past them! Second, the person going forward (the ‘outside’ of the turn) should ‘SWING’ their leg straight forward down the line in order to create the side step on the second beat.
Closed Change; Reverse To Natural:
Man dances forward left / side right / close left to right – NO TURN
Lady dances back right / side left / close right to left – NO TURN 1, 2, 3
Closed Change; Natural to Reverse:
Man dances forward right / side left / close right to left – NO TURN
Lady dances back left / side right / close left to right – NO TURN 1, 2, 3
NOTE: The Closed Changes are described with the Man traveling forward. HOWEVER, they can also be danced with the Man traveling backward – simply reverse the foot movements (Man dances ‘Lady’s part’ – Lady dances ‘Man’s part’).
Natural (Right) Turn:
Man dances forward right / side left / close right foot to left foot
Lady dances back left / side right / close left foot to right foot 1, 2, 3
Man now dances back left / side right / close left foot to right foot
Lady now dances forward right / side left / close right foot to left foot 2, 2, 3
Couple will rotate up to ½ turn to the right on each measure. The rest of the notes above also apply to this Natural turn (person going back has to let the person going forward get past them, and the person going forward needs to swing his leg straight down the line in order to pass the other person on the second beat [side step]).
Cross-Body Lead / Twirl Out:
Couple dances first three steps of Reverse Turn as described above 1, 2, 3
Man now dances back right, and side left, but he opens himself up to Promenade
Position (PP), and leads Lady to continue forward in PP
Lady dances two steps forward ending in Promenade Position (PP) 2, 2
Man dances a small step forward, and leads Lady to dance forward THEN
Turn under his raised left arm
Lady will dances forward for one more step on 3. When she arrives there,
She will pivot ½ turn to her left to begin an underarm turn under the
Man’s raised left arm 3
Man now dances three small steps forward following the Lady and continuing
To lead Lady to turn to her left under his raised left arm
Lady continues to pivot to her left; back right / forward left / backright
For a total of 1 ½ turns to the left. She is now facing Man again 3, 2, 3
Both partners now dance an Explosion Line away from one another.
Man will have turned ¼ turn to the right and lunged with his right foot,
Lady will have continued to turn an additional ¼ to her left and
She will lunge left. Both partners are now facing Wall (W). HOLD 4, (2, 3)
The Twirl Out can also be ended with a side lunge for each partner wherein the face one another. However, we will end it with an Explosion Line this time to face W.
Riff Turns:
Man dances a chasse’ to his left in ‘CANTOR’ timing (left / right) while
leading Lady to turn to her right and pass across the front of Man
Lady dances a ‘CANTOR’ time turn to her right (right / left) 1, (2), 3
Lunge away from each other (Man to left / Lady to right), and HOLD 2, (2, 3)
Man now chasse’s to his right (right / left) in Cantor timing
Lady turns across Man to her left in Cantor timing (left / right) 3, (2), 3
Finish with a Lunge away from one another (Man’s right / Lady’s left) – HOLD 4, (2, 3)
Cantor timing means that the dancer is only changing weight on TWO of the possible three beats. Usually it is the 2 beat which is held; that’s how we’re using it here. However, it could be any of the three beats in other applications.
There are many possible endings to the Riff Turns. Some endings will exit from the Lady being on the Man’s right side. In this case, of course, dancers would dance one less, or one more, Riff Turn to end on the other side. However, for our purposes this month, we will dance four measures of Riff Turns to end with the Lady on the Man’s left side – where we began.
Open Fan and Cross Turn Ending to Riff Turns: (Begin with both partners facing W, Man has left foot free / Lady has right foot free – Lady is to the Man’s left side)
Both partners dance forward with a heel lead – Man left / Lady right – and
swivel 3/8 turn to end in an Open Promenade Position (OPP) – HOLD 1, (2, 3)
Man now dances forward right in PP / leads the Lady to close to him and dances
diagonally forward left / close right foot to left
Lady dances forward left in PP / side right, and crosses left foot in front of right
(as in a normal Reverse Turn) 2, 2, 3
Right Shadow Runs: (Begin after having danced the four measures of the Cross-Body Lead / Twirl Out. Both partners are facing Wall with Lady to Man’s Left side ina one-hand hold.)
Man dances a “FAKE” Riff Turn:
He leads the Lafdy to dance her full Riff Turn; HOWEVER, he steps side left
towards the Lady as if he were going to dance a Full Riff Turn, but
then he stops and ‘Taps’ his right foot to his left for the count of ‘3’.
He now moves to his side on his right foot back to his starting position
and he catches the Lady his right side
Lady dances a full Riff Turn to her right 1, (2), 3 – 2, (2, 3)
As Man dances his “fake”, he will join the Lady on his right side ready to move forward down the LOD. Both dancers are standing on their right foot with their left foot free. Lady’s left hand is in Man’s left hand, and Man’s right arm is around Lady’s back. This position is called Right Parallel, but most people just call it “Shadow Position”.
Both partners now dance two measures of forward runs in this right parallel
(Shadow) position [left / right / left – right / left / right] 1, 2, 3 – 2, 2, 3
While releasing his right arm from Lady’s back, and leading Lady to dance
her next Riff Turn, Man now dances the same “FAKE” that he did
to get into Shadow position; He steps diagonally forward on his left
foot on ‘1’, holds the ‘2’ (Cantor), “Taps” his right foot to his left
on ‘3’, then dances to his side right on ‘1’ (hold ‘2, 3’)
Lady dances her normal Riff Turn to end facing Wall to Man’s left side
1, (2), 3 – 2, (2, 3)
Finish with the Open Fan And Cross Turn Ending as described above.
