Congress of Vienna
Posted by Jessamyn on October 14, 1997 at 00:01:10:
In response to Walzing, written by Tilde on October 13, 1997 at 04:01:11
] ] PS--When did the waltz come in?
] Off the top of my head:
] The waltz was there at the Vienna-congress, but it was considered highly indecent for quite some time. A man and a woman, embracing .... IN PUBLIC. I beg you.
] So even if it had been "invented" at the time of JA, it would not have been danced at decent establishments.
] It was very fast.
] Tilde (looking down her nose over her spectacles :-)
At the Victorian balls that are held in my area every other month, aside from the usual Viennese waltzes, galops, schottishes, and death-defying polkas, we do a special waltz called the Congress of Vienna. It's incredibly gracious, romantic, elegant, and sexy; it's a combination of the older, more ordered 18th century dances and the newer, whirligig style.
You start off by waltzing around, Viennese-style, but then the music slows and you take hands, turn slowwwly under your arms as you twist, until you're shoulder to shoulder and facing in opposite directions, still connected, heads turned and staring into each other's eyes. You make a full turn in time to the music, and then you unwind slowly and wind back up again the other way, still gazing at each other; and then as you unwind again you find yourself once more swinging into a waltz step in each other's arms.
The simple country-dances we also do, like the Sir Roger de Coverley, certainly seem like innocent child's games in comparison!
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