Beginnning waltz

[oyceter]

I started taking waltz classes a few weeks ago, and it's a) the first time I've steadily done partner dancing post-grad school, b) the first time I've steadily taken dance classes post-grad school, and c) the first time I've steadily learned a non-swing dance ever. (I've taken a handful of intro salsa classes, always spaced years apart, and one general ballroom dancing class back in freshman year where they teach you one dance a week or something.)

I picked waltz largely because it's within walking distance to my house, and my sister's friend introduced me to the place. I still mean to take a serious set of classes in salsa and general Latin dancing and balboa and more ballroom and I want to learn country dances and Chinese folk dancing and hip hop and belly dancing and and and...

So far, waltz is especially interesting because my greatest impressions of it are through Regency romances (including historical romances set during the Regency because I am too lazy to distinguish between them). I can see why authors go on about it so much! It really is superbly romantic, especially as a contrast to country dances or other dances where you basically switch partners during the dance. Still, every time I read about the hero and heroine getting to, gasp, waltz and how the hero holds her to his manly chest and their bodies are so close together, I want to whap them over the head and yell, "Lust is no excuse for letting go of your frame!"

I am sure they are not literally pressed chest to chest, but still! Frame! You may be the hottest guy in the ballroom and have Satanic eyebrows and skintight buckskin breeches and a dozen mistresses, but I refuse to dance with a grabby partner. Even someone with no frame and a terrible lead is better than a grabby partner.

Anyway!

(Also, if anyone knows exactly how dance cards and sets and the like work, I would love to know. I have never been able to figure out how many dances are in a set and if it's the same partner per set or per dance or if there's a specific number of dances in a set or if you can just make it up or what. That said, going to a waltz social dance was extremely helpful, as they post the dances per each set. I always used to wonder how people in the books always knew exactly which dance would be a waltz or not.)

Anyway for real!

The lessons have particularly been enlightening because I've known box-step waltz ever since I was a kid, and I could never quite figure out exactly how it translated to what I saw on So You Think You Can Dance, and it was definitely not the gorgeous dance praised so in books. I've also seen box-step waltz at a few weddings, and it was stiff and awkward and boring. But! We have mostly been learning cross-step waltz, which is apparently the newest form of waltz. It is extremely confusing because if you forget to cross your step, it's kind of hard to tell from the lead.

Today, though... today we learned rotary waltz and I am in love. It is so gorgeously twirly! The rise and fall makes more sense to me! The squared-off frame is so much easier for me to follow! I feel like I could do it forever, except when my partner and I try to do so in lessons after the instructor has yelled "Stop!" we crash into other couples.

Some of this partly may be because I got an especially awesome lead tonight who was not only a great lead, but also extremely cute and not a college student so I didn't feel like a total skeeve. Also, dear other partner giving me tips, thank you for the tips, but when you keep complimenting me on following your advice, all I notice is that your frame is kind of wonky and you're not leading so well.

It's particularly interesting seeing what's been useful from lindy and what hasn't been. The frame position is of course different, but the general principal is the same. And I still hate people who dance and just move their arms instead of their entire torso. It is extremely hard to figure out where we are going that way. And I cannot get over the traveling! We go in circles around the room! I feel like I did when I first learned how to crochet after knitting for a long time: circles! Having to watch out in case you are mowed down from behind! (Oh, the things they never tell you in romance novels. I suppose it would get in the way of the lust. Next time I read about couples waltzing, I will imagine the hero and heroine so deeply in lust that they stand stock still and block up the entire dance floor, wreaking havoc.) And it's odd being so upright all the time, though at least I am more used to that from salsa.

Socially, it's been especially interesting to me to see how our instructor focuses on couples, as compared to lindy instructors I've had. In the lindy classes I've been to, you might go to the lesson with a partner, but you rotate around the room so you dance with everyone, and you switch fairly often. But for my waltz classes, although we do rotate partners, the instructor will ask you to find your original partner after every three or four partner switches. It's somewhat awkward when you come by yourself and have to memorize your first partner's shirt in a few minutes so you can find him or her later. We also spend much, much more time with each partner than I'm used to. I have no idea if this is a waltz vs. lindy thing, or if it's just this instructor as opposed to other instructors.

Mostly, though, it was nice to see how much the skill of following carried over from lindy to waltz. The moves are totally different, but I found if it's in closed position and the lead is good enough, I can figure out what's going on despite having only learned cross-step waltz an hour ago. I also preen a bit because somewhat annoying partner told me I was the best follow he danced with in the class so far, and awesome super cute lead said I gave very good back and was easy to lead. And another super fun lead said I was doing well and that she liked my twirly skirt! Yay!

Finally, for the one social waltz dance I was at, there didn't seem like there was as much improv as is in lindy. Again, I am not sure if it was just the specific places I went to or if it's more generalizable. I figure it is a little harder to do random riffs to the music and stop and start or go slower or faster if one is attempting to keep up with the flow of the room, but I could be completely wrong!

In conclusion: waltz! Going around in circles while moving in a bigger circle around the room = awesome twirliness!

Comments

[estara]

I didn't realise there were other version than what you call rotary waltz. That's all we learn during the one ballroom dancing course we usually take when we're 15-18, depending on the school...

Yay for dancing neep!

[oyceter]

(You take a ballroom dancing course in school, how awesome!!)

I knew there was waltz and Viennese waltz from So You Think You Can Dance, but that was all I knew (and could never figure out how they were different).

[estara]

On the one hand it's awesome because we all learn a bit and at disco there are regular rounds of "disco fox" where the couples can pair up and actually do a pair dance, on the other hand all the kids have to do it and not many keep up with it. In my part of Germany there's not much of a call for a dancing club to get together regularly in the smaller towns... my uncle and his family are better of, their area of Germany has loads of dancing clubs and many of the German professional ballroom dancers come from there. He and his wife went on to take several medal courses - which makes it REALLY hard to dance with him, because he refuses to acknowledge the fact that any partner other than his wife does not have the training, HAH!

In university towns you will find small voluntary clubs, dancing free of charge. Even in my little provincial town they offer a bellydancing and ballet school, but that's not very popular. People rather do Yoga or Chi-Gong or Tai Chi, etc (sorry for any spelling mistakes there).

[heresluck]

...every time I read about the hero and heroine getting to, gasp, waltz and how the hero holds her to his manly chest and their bodies are so close together, I want to whap them over the head and yell, "Lust is no excuse for letting go of your frame!"

BWAH.

[glass_icarus]

YAYYY DANCE BABBLE! :D

I'm not sure what you mean by "cross-step" and "rotary"? I learned international-style waltz and while I don't remember the names of all the steps we learned, we pretty much just learned the steps in the context of given routines. (This was during undergrad when I was part of the competitive ballroom team, fwiw.)

I also find that there is a huge difference between latin and standard leading/following, like. You can get by in latin, to a certain extent, if the leader doesn't know what ze's doing- the follower gets most of the flash there anyway, so you can distract people ;)- but not really for standard. If your partner is clueless, backleading can only get you so far!

Oh! And regarding improv in standard- in my experience people don't really do this. Unless you and your partner both know similar sets of steps and/or you're able to follow & have a REALLY good leader, it doesn't usually work so well. *g* Also, there's the line of dance thing that you have to worry about in standard, whereas latin (unless you're talking international samba) has none.

[oyceter]

Hrm, this is hard to describe. In cross-step, you start with the lead facing the line of direction, and the follow's first step is with hir outer foot. You can also do it and not travel and just go side to side, or you can travel and not rotate. And rotary, the follow and lead kind of just whirl around each other and make a complete 360 revolution over 6 beats. Ehhhh not sure if any of that makes sense!

Oh that is interesting re: leading/following! I actually found it easier to backlead in waltz (at least in closed position) if my partner had no idea what to do because I could drag them in circles. But on the other hand, in lindy, a lot of it is spent open so yeah, you can do a lot more flashy stuff but it's super hard to do the basic swing out if the lead doesn't know what's going on, because only a few parts of it are in closed.

Good to know re: improvisation! Eeee, all these different social dances! So interesting! So many different norms!

[glass_icarus]

Ahahaha, latin is more complicated to backlead, but it's easier to call/fudge steps (er, provided your partner knows what you're talking about). For standard, well, obvious fudging is obvious, most of the time.

Also, regarding the improv thing, I've only done international ballroom with other competitive dancers (whether or not it was actually a competition), so that might also contribute? xD It depends on your definition of "improv," I guess! But yeah, every dance has its norms- which is why I love ballroom so. :3 :3 :3

[oyceter]

Oh, I've always wondered... how much leading/following/social dancing skill do they teach you when you're a competitive dancer?

[genarti]

Oh man, I most heartily agree about grabby partners. And frame! (And dodging other couples, but I find that half the fun. You should try it in polka!)

I've done a lot of social waltzing, but very little actual official class-type learning in it. I keep meaning to. (Along with, as you say, salsa and ballroom and modern and and and and and.) This sounds like a marvelously fun time!

[oyceter]

I feel classes are good for giving you basic steps, but it's really hard to actually learn how to dance it until you're out there with a lot of other partners trying to figure out what on earth is going on!

[thistleingrey]

Hee, frame. (And yay--glad to hear you're enjoying waltz!)

[jinian.livejournal.com]

I remain a little scared of dancing despite enjoying my previous class, so reading your happiness about it is helpful.

[oyceter]

I am glad! Are you going to social dancing classes? I am better at going to classes than social dances themselves because they are more structured and there is less of the hanging around and debating between seeing if someone will ask you or if you should go ask someone aiiieeee. But I do love it anyway, and when you're out there on the floor and something just clicks, it's so far above just the classes!

[fresne]

Improv depends on the group. I was recently at a wedding where every attendee (with a few exceptions) are in the Bay Area dance community and it was one of the best dance experiences because we all felt comfortable being playful. Plus, we were less worried about getting mowed down while doing a window or changing positions, because everyone else knew what they were doing as well.

As to Dance cards, it's per dance, unless it's a mixer dance, in which case that's the partner you start, but don't end up with. Given that dances are both listed and called, you may for example arrange to dance the 2nd waltz of the 3rd set with someone. Although, hmm... no idea how many dances per set. 10ish. I really ought to know at this point, because it is pretty consistent, but there you go.

And yeah, rotary is one of my favorites. Hopefully (if you haven't already) you run into the Congress of Vienna waltz soon.

[oyceter]

Oh, that sounds so lovely and fun to do!

Also, thanks for the info! That is super helpful to know.

We haven't run into that yet (is it the same as Viennese waltz?), but I think we might next next week?

[fresne]

Congress of Vienna is a form of rotary waltz that has simple choreography. It is a combination of open waltz steps, closed waltz steps, and windows. It's not terribly fast, but quite lovely.

The name of the waltz is because a modern choreographer was inspired by Regency dance manuals.

[oyceter]

Oh that's lovely! I really hope we get to learn it.

[sanguinity]

From the point of view of a lead (grrlpup is my usual dance partner and she put her foot down early that in this matter she wanted to wear the twirly and feminine role, so I always dance as a lead), I don't see when lust is supposed to happen. Too! Busy! Navigating! Every couple twirling, every couple swirling around the room, every couple moving at different speeds and trajectories, every couple adjusting their speeds and trajectories based on the couples around them. Or trying to. Some can be trusted to pick where they go, and others must be steered well-clear of. And I'm doing this navigating while I'm spinning, thanks, and I have to communicate all this to my partner, too. Sorry, grrlpup! No time for romance! You've only got half of my attention! Everyone else gets the rest!

I mean, it's not like I ignore her or anything, but the thing in novels where the swirling world of the ballroom drops away and the world narrows down to just! your! partner's! delicate! bosom! and! wafting! scent...? Um. That's an eight-couple pile-up in the making, sorry.

Frames and grabby partners: god, yes. There are a bunch of dance classes that we dropped out of because grrlpup could not put up with the caliber of leads on offer, and she had to spend equal time with all the leads. She's had leads hook their thumbs into her beltloops, fergawdsakes. We'd come out of class and I'd have had a nice enough time, and her skin would still be crawling from the grabby handsy leads she was dealing with. I used to worry when we were in straight-dominated manadtory-rotation classes that the straight women would be all "ew! a lesbian is touching me!" but frankly, what I mostly seem to get from each new partner is an air of relief: I don't do handsy/grabby with my partners, and they know it.

[oyceter]

Yes! I keep wondering where on earth the couple is getting the time and brainspace to gaze longingly into eyes or banter or whatnot! Even while not navigating, I am trying to figure out what the lead is doing and where the music is going and etc!

Also, I feel the romance of partner dancing isn't the physical intimacy (well, ok, yes for blues dance and I can see why for waltz when compared to more mixer-y dances), but it's more how each partner tries to anticipate the other person's movements and adjusts around them and work together.

Gaaaaaaah belt loops OMG WHY?! SO WRONG!

This is terribly generalizing, but almost all the female leads I've danced with have been super good about the non-grabbiness, and they tend to have a lighter lead instead of "Must manhandle partner and toss her wherever I want!" Ugh, I hate it when I dance with someone and it feels like they are going to yank my arm out of its socket.

[sanguinity]

To continue the generalizing, it's pretty common for female leads to have followed at some point, so a lot of us have first-hand experience with some of the ick that an unmannerly lead can bring to a dance.

That, actually, was one of the things I liked about the Argentine tango scene: in every workshop I've been to, they would occasionally require that everyone dance the other role.

[oyceter]

Yeah, my experience with lindy has been that most people still follow the male lead/female follow dichotomy, so a) when you get a female lead, she normally has followed like you say and b) most people tend to wait until they're pretty good at being lead or follow before trying to learn the other part, so often the female leads I've had are also much more experienced to the dance, if not the role.

Re: Argentine tango scene: Oohhh, that sounds really cool!

[sanguinity]

Most women leaders I've known were mostly in the queer dance scene, and were butch(ish) lesbians who didn't have all that much experience with following. So not so much highly skilled dancers themselves, no, just having some insight about keeping one's hands to oneselves, even while technically having them on one's partner.

Argentine tango: yes! Also, pretty pretty outfits!

[oyceter]

just having some insight about keeping one's hands to oneselves, even while technically having them on one's partner.

Ahaha oh some male leads, why can you not figure this out? So simple, and yet!

[redrose]

You might want to have a look here:
http://www.rixosous.com/

for historical stuff about dance.

[oyceter]

Oh awesome, thank you!

[mswyrr]

This was a delight to read! I'd always imagined waltzing must be terribly boring, despite exposure to Regency Romance novels.

[oyceter]

I am glad!

It is actually really fascinating and fun and totally different from the step-step-shuffle of most high school dances, and like I said upthread to sanguinity, I find the romance isn't the physical closeness (although that can be an added plus depending on who your partner is), but more the mental bit of trying to lead or follow and anticipate your partner's moves and adjust your own accordingly. And then to do all of that while trying to match the music! And navigate around the room!

I would much much much much rather have a good lead than a hot lead, because when you do, there's that moment of magic when everything falls into place and you're dancing together.

[lady_ganesh]

Awesome!