Viennese waltz

To this day however, in Germany, Austria, Scandinavia, and France, the words Walzer (German), vals (Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish), and valse (French) still implicitly refer to the original dance and not the slow waltz.

It emerged in the second half of the 18th century from the German dance and the Ländler in Austria and was both popular and subject to criticism.

At that time, the waltz, as described in a magazine from 1799, was performed by dancers who held on to their long gowns to prevent them from dragging or being stepped on.

The dancers would lift their dresses and hold them high like cloaks, and this would bring both their bodies under one cover.

In 1797, Wolf published a pamphlet against the dance entitled "Proof that Waltzing is the Main Source of Weakness of the Body and Mind of our Generation".

Large dance halls like the Zum Sperl in 1807 and the Apollo in 1808 were opened to provide space for thousands of dancers.

Another significant difference from the present technique was that the feet were turned out and the rise of foot during the dance was much more pronounced.

Lord Byron wrote a furious letter, which precedes his poem "The Waltz", in which he decries the anti-social nature of the dance, with the couple "like two cockchafers spitted on the same bodkin.

Other moves such as the fleckerls, American-style figures and side sway or underarm turns are modern inventions.