International Waltz | Standard
Welcome to Waltz! Waltz is our first Standard dance of the year. All of the dances we do fall into one of four categories: Standard, Latin, Smooth, and Rhythm. So far we’ve done Standard and Latin which are both International style dances. Later in the semester we’ll get into Smooth and Rhythm which are in the American style of dances.
The Moves
Natural Turn (Lead’s Part)
The basic steps in Waltz are actually a series of multiple moves. The first of these is the Natural Turn. Demonstrated here is the 1/4 Natural Turn, so the dancers rotate about 1/4 of a turn from start to finish.
Natural Turn (Follow’s part)
Here is another perspective of the 1/4 Natural Turn that demonstrates the Follow’s steps.
3/8 Natural Turn
This is a variant of the Natural Turn where the dancer’s rotate 3/8 of a turn from start to finish.
Moves like this are helpful in moving around the dance floor.
Reverse Turn
The Reverse Turn is the counterpart to the Natural Turn. The move turns dancers in the opposite direction than the Natural Turn, one may even say the reverse direction!
Reverse Turn Supplement Videos
These two videos focus on counting the turn as well as timing the rise and fall of the dance. Counting any dance is important to learning the steps, so don’t overlook these!
Forward Progressive
Forward Progressive steps are useful for adjusting your position on the dance floor, such as to avoid other dancers! If you’re not careful, dancing can be a full contact sport!
Forward PRogressive Footwork
Here is an extra video to help with the footwork for the Forward Progressive step.
Pivot and Pivot ACtion
That’s it for our online lesson today! If you have any other questions or want to learn more, please get in contact with our E-Board or student teachers. Thank you to Abigail and Michael for their amazing work this week!