Week 5 : Post 1

“The waltz never quite goes out of fashion;
it is always just around the corner;
every now and then it returns with a bang . . .
It is sneaking, insidious, disarming, lovely. . . .
The waltz, in fact, is magnificently improper..
the art of tone turned lubricious. . . "
- In 1919, H.L.Menken

“If there exists a form of music that is a direct expression of sensuality, it is the Viennese Waltz...." - Austrian music scholar, Max Graf

Like all art forms, dance is a form of communication. Instead of voice, paintings or sculptures, dancers use their hands, body and feet to express their emotions and ideas. Dancers can express an array of emotion as wide as any canvas. One of the most agreeably beautiful dances in history is the Waltz. Loosely based on a country dance called the Ländler, the Waltz (from Italian ‘volver’ – to turn) consists of graceful and polished gliding. Referencing life in Vienna, Don Curzio wrote, " The people were dancing mad [...] The ladies of Vienna are particularly celebrated for their grace and movements of waltzing of which they never tire."

Although the Waltz is often presented in very prestige settings, it first appealed to the rural cultures and was considered provincial. The close contact and passionate twirling were unknown and unsavory to the upper class. The Waltz has actually been banned in some countries to include Swabia and Switzerland. Up until 1825, the Oxford English Dictionary defined the Waltz as "riotous and indecent". In 1816, Prince Regent included the Waltz in a ball set in London. An editorial in the Times later stated:

"We remarked with pain that the indecent foreign dance called the Waltz was introduced (we believe for the first time) at the English court on Friday last ... it is quite sufficient to cast one's eyes on the voluptuous intertwining of the limbs and close compressure on the bodies in their dance, to see that it is indeed far removed from the modest reserve which has hitherto been considered distinctive of English females. So long as this obscene display was confined to prostitutes and adulteresses, we did not think it deserving of notice; but now that it is attempted to be forced on the respectable classes of society by the civil examples of their superiors, we feel it a duty to warn every parent against exposing his daughter to so fatal a contagion."

The Waltz finally attained a level of legitimacy, while maintaining its basic appeal. It is an irresistible and durable fashion in time.