Editing Waltz (section)

== Variants ==
{{More citations needed section|date=May 2019}}
[[Image:Waltz dance pattern.png|thumb|right|250px|Waltz rhythm<ref name="Blatter">{{cite book|last1=Blatter|first1=Alfred|title=Revisiting music theory: a guide to the practice|url=https://archive.org/details/revisitingmusict00blat|url-access=limited|date=2007|isbn=978-0-415-97440-0|page=[https://archive.org/details/revisitingmusict00blat/page/n42 28]|publisher=Taylor & Francis }}</ref>]]
[[Image:Jazz waltz dance pattern.png|thumb|right|250px|[[Jazz waltz]] rhythm<ref name="Blatter"/>]]
[[File:La Valse.jpg|thumb|''[[The Waltz (Claudel)|The Waltz]]'', by [[Camille Claudel]] (cast in 1905)]]
[[File:Waltz at Beantown Stomp 2025.webm|thumb|A waltz following a [[contra dance]] in Massachusetts, U.S.]]
In the 19th and early 20th century, numerous different waltz forms existed, including versions performed in {{music|time|3|4}}, {{music|time|3|8}} or {{music|time|6|8}} (sauteuse), and {{music|time|5|4}} time ({{music|time|5|4}} waltz, half and half).

In the 1910s, a form called the Hesitation Waltz was introduced by [[Vernon and Irene Castle]].<ref name="hes_waltz">{{cite web|url=http://www.danceintime.com/historyAmerica.htm|title=The History of Ballroom Dance in America|access-date=2010-12-13|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110306113620/http://www.danceintime.com/historyAmerica.htm|archive-date=2011-03-06}}</ref> It incorporated "hesitations" and was danced to fast music. A hesitation is basically a halt on the standing foot during the full waltz bar, with the moving foot suspended in the air or slowly dragged. Similar figures ([[Hesitation Change]], [[Drag Hesitation]], and [[Cross Hesitation]]) are incorporated in the [[International Standard (dance)|International Standard]] Waltz Syllabus.

The Country Western Waltz is mostly progressive, moving counter clock wise around the dance floor. Both the posture and frame are relaxed, with posture bordering on a slouch. The exaggerated hand and arm gestures of some ballroom styles are not part of this style. Couples may frequently dance in the [[promenade position]], depending on local preferences. Within Country Western waltz, there is the Spanish Waltz and the more modern (for the late 1930s- early 1950s) Pursuit Waltz. At one time it was considered ill treatment for a man to make the woman walk backwards in some locations.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Shaw|first1=Lloyd|title=Cowboy Dances|date=1939|publisher=The Caxton Printers|pages=101–103}}</ref>

In California, the waltz was banned by Mission priests until 1834 because of the "closed" dance position.<ref name="Early California Days 1950. page 44">{{cite book|last1=Czarnoski|first1=Lucile K|title=Dances of Early California Days|date=1950|publisher=Pacific Books|page=44}}</ref> Thereafter a Spanish Waltz was danced. This Spanish Waltz was a combination of dancing around the room in closed position, and a "formation" dance of two couples facing each other and performing a sequence of steps.<ref name="Early California Days 1950. page 44" /> "Valse a Trois Temps" was the "earliest" waltz step, and the Rye Waltz was preferred as a couple dance.<ref name=czarnoski121>{{cite book|last1=Czarnoski|first1=Lucile K|title=Dances of Early California Days|date=1950|publisher=Pacific Books|page=121}}</ref>
* In contemporary [[ballroom dance]], the fast versions of the waltz are called [[Viennese waltz]] as opposed to the [[Slow waltz]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.dancetime.com/waltz-dance-styles-1835/|title=Information on Styles of Waltz include American, International, C&W, Viennese Waltz and others!|date=2012-09-09|work=Dancetime.com|access-date=2017-10-02|language=en-US}}</ref>
* In [[traditional Irish music]], the waltz was taught by travelling dancing masters to those who could afford their lessons during the 19th century. By the end of that century, the dance spread to the middle and lower classes of Irish society and traditional triple-tune tunes and songs were altered to fit the waltz rhythm. During the 20th century, the waltz found a distinctively Irish playing style in the hands of [[Céilidh]] musicians at [[Ceili dance|dances]].<ref name=vallely>{{cite book|last1=Vallely|first1=F.|title=The Companion to Traditional Irish Music|date=1999|publisher=New York University Press|location=New York|pages=431–433}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.irishtune.info/rhythm/ |title=Rhythm Definitions - Irish Traditional Music Tune Index |publisher=Irishtune.info |date=2012-07-11 |access-date=2012-11-07}}</ref>
* [[Waltz (International Standard)|International Standard Waltz]] has only closed figures; that is, the couple never breaks the embrace.
* The [[American Style Waltz]], part of the [[American Smooth]] ballroom dance syllabus, in contrast to the [[International Standard (dance)|International Standard]] Waltz, involves breaking contact almost entirely in some figures. For example, the Syncopated Side-by-Side with Spin includes a free spin for both partners. Open rolls are another good example of an [[Ballroom glossary#Open dance figure|open dance figure]], in which the follower alternates between the lead's left and right sides, with the lead's left or right arm (alone) providing the lead. Waltzes were the staple of many American musicals and films, including "Waltz in Swing Time" sung by [[Fred Astaire]].{{Citation needed|date=May 2019}}
* The Scandinavian Waltz, performed as a part of [[Scandinavian folk dance]], can be fast or slow, but the dancers are always rotating.{{Citation needed|date=May 2019}}
*The [[Vals (Peruvian)|Peruvian Waltz]] is called and recognised in Peru as ''vals criollo''.{{Citation needed|date=May 2019}}
* The [[Mexican Waltz]] (''vals mexicano'') follows the same basic rhythmic pattern as the standard waltz, but the melodies reflect a strong Spanish influence. Mexico's [[Juventino Rosas]] wrote "[[Sobre las Olas]]" or "Over the Waves".
* The [[Cajun Waltz]] is danced progressively around the floor, and is characterised by the subtle swaying of the hips and step very close to ordinary walking. It is danced entirely in the closed position.{{Citation needed|date=May 2019}}
* The Cuban (or Tropical) Waltz follows the pattern of the standard waltz throughout the song.{{Citation needed|date=May 2019}}
* The [[Venezuelan waltz]] provided a basis for distinctive regional musical composition.{{Citation needed|date=May 2019}}
* The Contra Waltz (Freeform Waltz), included in most [[contra dance]] evenings, uses both open and closed positions, and incorporates moves from other dances such as [[swing (dance)|swing]], [[modern jive]] and [[Salsa (dance)|salsa]]. Basically the dancers progress around the dance floor with a waltz step, but with no constraints on what moves they can use.{{Citation needed|date=May 2019}}
* The [[Bal-musette|Valse Musette]], a form of waltz popular in France, started in the late 19th century.{{Citation needed|date=May 2019}}
* The [[cross-step waltz]] (French Valse Boston) developed in France in the early 20th century and is popular in social waltz groups today.{{Citation needed|date=May 2019}}
* In folk dance from the [[Alsace]] region, waltzes in odd metres such as {{music|time|5|4}}, {{music|time|8|4}} and {{music|time|11|4}} are found. In modern [[bal folk]], waltzes in even higher metres are played and danced.
* [[Estonia]]n folk dance [[Labajalavalss]] (flat of the foot waltz) performed in {{music|time|3|4}} time.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Estonian|url=https://www.commongroundonthehill.org/estonian.html|website=Common Ground on the Hill|language=en|access-date=2020-05-17}}</ref>
*[[Sama'i]] (also known as usul semai) is a vocal piece of Ottoman Turkish music composed in {{music|time|6|8}} metres. This form and metre (usul in Turkish) is often confused with the completely different Saz Semaisi, an instrumental form consisting of three to four sections, in 10/8 metre, or usul aksak semai (broken semai in Turkish). Semai is one of the most important forms in Ottoman Turkish Sufi music.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Whirling Dervishes|isbn = 9780791411551|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zz2Qy3BjdVgC&q=semai+waltz&pg=PA135|access-date=30 December 2016|last1 = Friedlander|first1 = Shems|last2 = Uzel|first2 = Nezih|date = January 1992| publisher=SUNY Press }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=AllMusic Review by James Manheim|website=[[AllMusic]]|url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/the-waltz-ecstasy-and-mysticism-mw0000207818|access-date=30 December 2016}}</ref>
*The '''Tsamikos''' ({{langx|el|Τσάμικος}}, ''Tsamikos'') or  '''Kleftikos''' ({{langx|el|Κλέφτικος}}) is a popular traditional  [[folk dance]] of [[Greece]], done to music of [[Triple metre|{{music|time|3|4}}]] metre.<ref>{{cite web|title=yamahamusicsoft|url=https://www.yamahamusicsoft.com/sound-and-expansion-libraries/tsamikos-1|access-date=1 January 2017|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170101163816/https://www.yamahamusicsoft.com/sound-and-expansion-libraries/tsamikos-1|archive-date=1 January 2017}}</ref>