Beginner Basic Viennese Waltz Solo Dancing YouTube Lesson
Our weekly YouTube live-stream this week looked at how to dance the Basic Beginner Viennese Waltz dance steps.
We actually ended up looking at the entire syllabus of Viennese Waltz (there are only seven steps). This did mean we covered the Reverse & Natural Fleckerls (Gold level).
Hopefully we have been able to simplify them enough to understand the basic components.
What do we cover in the Beginner Basic Viennese Waltz Lesson?
The Viennese Waltz Basics – Forward & Backward Change Steps
Initially we started the class looking at forward and backward change steps in a straight line. Once the basics had been covered we alternated our forward and back change steps; this time rotating in a box formation whilst also discussing swing and sway.
The option to introduce swing or not really depends on the space that you have available. If you have the space you should try to include it though if you are able.
Natural & Reverse Turns
Next up were the staple moves of your standard Beginner Basic Viennese Waltz. First we looked at the Natural Turn, a clockwise rotation aiming to turn 360o over the six steps. We also discussed how important sway is in keeping your balance.
Some simple sway movements are incorporated to allow us to repeat the turn back and forward in a straight line. We danced the turns on a diagonal to maximise the available space.
Following a practice we then looked at how the Reverse Turn differs, with a crossing action on the forward part. The turn also rotates anti-clockwise. We kept the move to the same pattern as the Natural Turn though, with sways at either end.
Reverse Fleckerl, Contra Check & Natural Fleckerl
Now we get into the difficult steps of our Viennese Waltz. The Fleckerls and Contra Check are not basic beginner Viennese Waltz steps, but we felt the lesson would be more interesting if we included them! For the purposes of the class we taught them from the leader’s perspective.
To help beginners to understand the basic steps of the Fleckerls we began with the Reverse Fleckerl. This should be a spinning rotational step anti-clockwise on the spot. However to help you understand the moves that make up the step we taught it as a travelling movement around the outside.
Alternating two left foot crosses in front, with a left foot cross behind and side steps in between, we moved around three walls of our room. Antony then demonstrates briefly how you would do this rotating around on the spot.
We touch briefly on the Contra Check as a means of changing feet and direction, before looking at the Natural Fleckerl (again around the outside of the room).
Beginner dancers may wish to keep practicing these Fleckerls around the outside of the room. Once you have mastered the pattern with the feet you can then start to introduce rotation of the spot (as much as you are comfortable with).
Beginner Basic Viennese Waltz Dance Lesson Video
You can see the full Basic Beginner Viennese Waltz lesson below. We have also included the timestamps should you wish to skip ahead to particular moves.
[00:01:11] Changes Steps forward and backward
[00:04:26] Change Steps rotated in a square
[00:09:57] Natural Turns
[00:19:06] Reverse Turns
[00:26:26] Fleckerls (intro and demo)
[00:27:46] Reverse Fleckerl (spread out)
[00:30:04] Reverse Fleckerl (turning)
[00:30:37] Contra Check (simplified)
[00:31:07] Natural Fleckerl (spread out)
[00:32:20] Reverse Fleckerl (rotating), Contra Check, Natural Fleckerl (rotating)
[00:33:18] Fleckerl section (spread out) to music
[00:34:39] Fleckerl section (rotating) to music
[00:36:14] Sway & Spin
[00:37:54] Solo Viennese Waltz Routine breakdown
[00:41:58] Solo Viennese Waltz Routine to music
Fun Solo Dance Routine
At the end of our live-stream Beginner classes we always like to throw in a simple routine that incorporates all the moves we’ve learnt.
The Viennese Waltz routine was a little bit more complicated, due mainly to the Fleckerls, and so we recorded a demo both with and without the rotation.
Viennese Waltz Dance Playlist from the Beginner Basic Lesson
To help you practice your Beginner Basic Viennese Waltz dance steps we have uploaded a playlist of the music from the lesson. We have a selection of speeds as well as a mix between traditional songs and more contemporary pieces.
We hope you enjoy the Viennese Waltz music playlist.
Have fun with your Viennese Waltz, and keep an eye on our YouTube channel for our next live-stream dance class.
About Learn To Dance
Learn To Dance is a Ballroom and Latin American Dance School based in Burnham, Buckinghamshire.
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Looking for more personal tuition on your Basic Beginner Viennese Waltz? We provide both in-person and streamed lessons and classes. Check out learndance.co.uk/online for more information.
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