| The Alpine dances, such as the Waltz, Zwiefacher, Deutscher Dreher, Polka, Schottische, etc., are all turning couple dances. They are simple joyful and unsophisticated traditional community dances, which are danced in the easy-flowing, smooth, grounded Alpine social style. The old Nordic dances, such as the Snoa, the Jenkka, and the Hambo, are very similar to the Alpine style. Rather than being regulated by official rules, these dances all share some natural basic principles. This natural style is very different from the sophisticated institutional flatland dancesport style. The Alpine dances originate in such locations as Alsace, Black Forest, Suabia, Switzerland, Bavaria, Bohemia, and Austria. Once one has experienced the feeling of these turning dances in the original cozy style, all turning dances become easy and pleasant, including the modern Viennese Waltz. And other dances, such as Contra and Swing, will become easy and pleasant for oneself and one's partners as well. |
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Alpine Only Zwiefach : Dreher : Snoa Deutscher_Tanz, Dreischritt_Dreher : Hambo, Trava, Kora, Snurrebocken Landler, Walzer : Vals, Valssi Boarisch, Polka : Schottis, Jenkka Schottisch : Polka, Humppa (c.f. Deutscher Dreher) : Pols(ka) |
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Did you know:
Deutscher Dreher is a German name for a German dance that most Scandinavians would recognize as a Scandinavian dance, and most Germans would (perhaps mistakenly) assume is a Waltz. Eisenkeil, to most Germans means iron wedge, but to Bavarians it also means Kingfisher, and Eisenkeilnest is the name of a Zwiefach dance. Hambo is a Swedish name meaning a city in the far North of Germany for a dance that is popular in the far South of Germany. Schottisch is a German name meaning Scottish for a dance that is popular in Scandinavia and Finland. In Bavaria a Schottisch is fast and a Polka is slow. Elsewhere a Schottisch is slow and a Polka is fast. What others call Schottisch, Bavarians call Boarisch. What Bavarians call the Rheinlaender hold, Americans call the Varsouvienne hold. A Waltz turn takes 6 beats. A Hambo turn takes 3 beats. A Snoa turn takes 2 beats. A Cross-Step Waltz dancer turns (alone) on 1 beat. Walz(er) means roll, not just "turn". Dampfwalze is a Steam-Roller. Teigwalze (aka Teigroller) is a Rolling-Pin. A pencil can be turned end-over-end, but it cannot be rolled that way. This may help appreciate the feeling of the Waltz. (Long striding (dancesport) steps have a different feeling. BTW, striding is related to quarreling. :-) The Viennese Court opened the Palace Ballrooms to the public, to dance the Waltz, from 1772 onward. The Prussian Court never allowed the Waltz to be danced by anyone, right down to the end in 1918. Zwiefach means "of dual kind". Fach means kind, type, category, and Zwie- is the equivalent of English "twi-" as in Twilight or Twin. (To say Zweifach instead of Zwiefach is like saying Twolight instead of Twilight.) The Zwiefache, which contains the Waltz, may be as old as the Middle Ages. The oldest documented specific dance which is still danced today is a Zwiefache written down in 1740, from the Black Forest. The Zwiefache, like English Morris Dancing, may have a Moorish connection. The Zwiefache is a dance that turns but does not travel. And it can turn as much or as little (or not at all) as each couple chooses. This fact alone makes the Zwiefache a far more relaxing dance to learn than the Waltz. And from the Zwiefache to the Waltz is an easy step. Zwiefache are child's play, because the music indicates exactly what to do, without any need for explanation, mental strain, memorization, or physical struggle. At the same time they are intriguing to mathematical minds because of their varied regular rhythmic patterns that may be more challenging to figure out than to dance. |
Wikipedia: Waltz
1. Compare Renoir's depiction of the social dance hold with "official" prescriptions.
2. The only video referenced misses the essence of the Waltz.
3. Re: The essential description:
"The waltz is a ballroom and folk dance in 3/4 time, performed primarily in closed position."
3.1 The meaning of the word Walze(n) is "roll", i.e. "turn smoothly" and "travel".
3.2 What if "a ballroom and folk" were deleted or replaced with "social" or "traditional social"?
3.3 "Performed" -- is the Waltz a "performance" dance or a social dance?
3.4 How about: "The Waltz is a smoothly turning, travelling, flowing social dance in close hold,
danced to articulately phrased melodic music in 3/4 time, with a moving feeling."
(Some 3/4 time music is more metronomic than rhythmic, melodic, phrased, articulated, or moving.)
(Here are some examples of specially crafted metronomic music: (iTunes Preview) )
A Brief Outline Regarding the Origin of the Waltz in Relation to Piano Music (good)
German Wikipedia: Dreher German Wikipedia: Walzer German Wikipedia: Laendler Deutscher Dreher == Dreischritt-Dreher Schmid-Kunz: Vom Menuett zum Walzer Pamela Gludovatz: Aktuelle Bestandsaufnahme des Wiener Walzers in Wien (PDF) German Wikipedia: Zwiefacher Dancilla: Zwiefach Nidala-ZwiefacherDancilla
ML3429 .B6 1886A ML3429 .B6 1886A Bd.2 Geschichte des Tanzes in Deutschland; Beitrag zur deutschen Sitten-, Literatur-und Musikgeschichte. Nach den Quellen zum erstenmal bearb. und mit alten Tanzliedern und Musikproben hrsg. Boehme, Franz Magnus, 1827-1898 ML3429 .H6 Die Zwiefachen; Gestaltung und Umgestaltung der Tranzmelodien im noerdlichen Altbayern. Hoerburger, Felix Beitraege zur Anthropologie und Urgeschichte Bayerns Ludwig Zapf pp38-40 "Lassen ... Knaben" -- Sorbenwenden http://books.google.ca/books?id=HusRAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA36