ONE-two-three, ONE-two-three
Posted by Helen on October 15, 1997 at 10:19:36:
In response to Kamikaze waltzer, written by Ann on October 13, 1997 at 14:00:21
] ] I have danced all three kinds of waltzes, and i find the Viennese the fastest, most exhausting, and most romantic.
]
] As an avid waltzer, I must say that Viennese is the only way to go.
I bow to your superior judgement! What I wanted to emphasize, though, was that the waltz was so, so radical when it first appeared. When we learnt one at the workshop, we were told that it was a very slow one, and those who had danced the Viennese would find it quite dull - but as I say, after a day of a completely different style of dancing, even this slow dance appeared fast, dizzy, and daring.
The dances we had been doing were all derived from country-dancing, but with ornate steps (balance, pas-de-bourree, jetee, contretemps) which later developed into ballet (we even had to use all five positions of the feet). It was a much more social occasion, and the ideal was one of leisured grace and elegance. So to go from that to being whirled around and around in the arms of another was quite shocking...
Helen, who can only waltz by counting aloud at every step because she has never worked out what you do to get from three back to one again...
Posting followups to old messages is disabled; instead go to the main index and post a new message which mentions this one.
