2.THE WALTZ

Why give up all of the steps that our parents and grandparents practiced; why not bring them along with us and make them up-to-date? Since we are usually delving into the past for other things, as for fashions, for instance, why not have the waltz back with us again? Well, the old waltz has come back to us again, but is somewhat different.

In the old-school waltz you were turning all the time and had a hopping, springy step. Not so with the waltz of today, for it is now danced with a glide and the glide is used in the fullest meaning of that term; a smooth, easy, sliding step.

If you have ever danced the polka threestep you will readily see the difference between the old school waltz and the waltz of present vogue; though the dances of a few years ago are much the same to-day. Should you attend an assembly, you would see, as you saw some time ago, everybody rotating, and if you had not been to a dance for some time you would surely exclaim, "Why, that is the old waltz!" — but wait, analyze it and you find the old elements there, it's true, but you will find, too, something else that makes it more fascinating than when you knew it; it is that change of pace that is so restful, compared with the old dance.

For example: a lady having a thought that she would like to try the old waltz suggested, as a waltz was being played at the time, that we dance it in the old-school way. She had insisted that there would never be anything quite so good — nothing would ever take its place in her favor. But her reasons were, I think, mostly sentimental ones; we had danced but a few strains when she begged me to stop and take her back to the new way again. "The old way tires me too much," she said. The waltz has undergone many changes in the last decade. When grand- mother danced, it was one continual pivot, turning one way for several strains, how long depending on the endurance of the dancers.

They would pivot around to the right until they became almost dizzy and then reverse to the left; — sort of unwind themselves to relieve the dizziness. Now the dancers in those days were measured by the steadiness of their movements. "He could dance with a glass of water on his head," was an expression that was used as a term of praise.

The waltz with the hop was the vogue for a considerable time, until along in the early seventies the glide waltz took its place and held the palm until the advent of the Hesitation Waltz. Once again our parents and grandparents felt their youth returning. The dance was no longer exclusively the dance for the younger people. At any large assembly one might see the three generations — and, with the change in fashions, it was sometimes difficult to distinguish mother and daughter.

It is to be regretted that the Hesitation did not have a longer reign, but its shortness of life may readily be accounted for by the manner in which it was corrupted, twisted, and turned so that one had to be an acrobat, in order to dance it. With its butterfly, grapevine, scissors, back-breaking and almost leg-breaking contortions, it eventually became impossible to dance it with anyone unless you and your partner had been previously trained together; so it was impossible to mix the dancers with different partners.

But the people had an ardent love for the figures and wanted a change every day, and consequently things got out of hand and very bad indeed, until at last one had to be constantly under instruction; the condition was tiresome and costly and became impossible and the Hesitation was thrown in the discard. And it seemed that as the dancers lost interest and drifted away dancing seemed to stagnate. But it was only for a time; the dancers were really resting after a surfeit of leaps and bounds; they would respond again when the dances had been modified to a point for common sense indulgence. And we are happy to know that it has now reached that happy point.

The waltz to-day is in the same condition as the old school dances were before the new dance came out. A person may now go to any dance anywhere, and enjoy it with any partner.

The lessons contained in this volume covering the Fox Trot, One-step and Canter Waltz show, as I deem it, the easiest as well as the most practical method for dancing these three dances, and that means all that is necessary for the acquiring of the present-day dances, as the life of these dances has justbegun and is going to be long lived. After a true analysis you will find these dances are composed of but walking and gliding steps, and as you become familiar with them, and your self-reliance grows, you may take liberties with them; in other words, you may use your own variations whenever you like and as often as you like — there is no set rule; you may change them at times to please yourself; for after all you have been but walking and gliding. So while dancing around you may eventually give way to the exact number of walking steps, and perhaps, having a tete-a-tete with your partner, you may overstep that certain number; but in doing this do not worry — you are not breaking any laws either national, local, or social.

But never forget your poise; always be the master of that — and keep perfect time because therein lies the very real charm of dancing.

Are You Ready To Move Onto The Next Lesson? Click Here...