Waltz is a ballroom dance in 3/4 time characterized by its swift gliding turns. The dance was enormously popular throughout the 1800’s. The term waltz is also used for the music that accompanies this dance. The waltz has been danced in two distinct styles, the three-step and the two-step. In Europe, especially in Vienna, the dancers waltzed much faster than they waltzed in North America.
The waltz developed rapidly in the last years of the 1700’s. It emerged from a group of south German and Austrian dances involving the turning motion of the dancers in a close embrace position. The popularity of waltzes among young people led some authorities to outlaw the dance because it was thought to be immoral for couples to dance so closely.
Many composers of the 1800’s and 1900’s wrote waltzes for listening rather than for dancing. Leading composers of concert waltzes included members of the Strauss family (see Strauss, Johann, Jr. ). Waltz music and dancing also appear in many operas, operettas, and ballets.
