Social choreography of the Viennese waltz

Social choreography of the Viennese waltz
Author: Joonas Jussi Sakari Korhonen
Publisher:
Total Pages: 252
Release: 2011
Genre: Austria
ISBN:

As its title, the social choreography of the Viennese waltz, suggests, the thesis can be situated in the research tradition that studies dance history from sociocultural and sociopolitical point of views. In this work, however, the term social choreography is not understood merely as a system, in which the choreography of the dance reflects and represents society. Rather, what is of interest here are the socio-cultural and economic circumstances in which the Viennese waltz developed. In other words, this thesis examines the consumption of the Viennese waltz within the different social classes in Vienna and Europe between the years 1780 and 1825. In practice, this is done via two different strategies, the first of which includes local developments, more precisely the development of the Viennese waltz in the turn-of-century Vienna. The second strategy, for its part, includes the study of the transfer of the waltzes in and out of Vienna. Despite the fact that in ealry 19th-century Europe the fast waltz style began to be called Viennese, the dance did not develop merely in the Viennese dance halls. Since turn-of-century Vienna was anything but an isolated city, its dance culture was open for all kinds of external influences. The early forms of the waltz were danced in the ballrooms of the European elite from where they spread into Vienna through dancing-masters, dance manuals and printed dance scores. Then these dances, first adopted by the Viennese elite, were taught to the lower classes in the suburban dance schools and dance halls. Thanks to the wide networks of the contemporary music publishers, Viennese waltz music circulated over large distances in Europe already at the beginning of the 19th century.

Social Choreography of the Viennese Waltz

Social Choreography of the Viennese Waltz
Author: Joonas Korhonen
Publisher:
Total Pages: 228
Release: 2011
Genre: Waltz
ISBN: 9789514110962

This book focuses on the socio-cultural and economic circumstances in which the Viennese waltz developed at the turn of the 19th century. Through an examination of the production, dissemination and consumption of the waltz in Vienna and Europe during the period of 1780?1825, the book shows that the Viennese waltz became one of the first commodities of the culture industry. In the late 18th century, the early forms of the waltz were danced in the dance halls of the European elite from where they spread into Vienna through dancingmasters, dance manuals and printed dance scores. Then these dances, first adopted by the Viennese elite, were taught to the lower classes in the suburban dance schools and dance halls.

The Viennese Ballroom in the Age of Beethoven

The Viennese Ballroom in the Age of Beethoven
Author: Erica Buurman
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 209
Release: 2021-12-02
Genre: Music
ISBN: 1108495850

Reveals how the culture and repertoire of the early Viennese ballroom permeated and intersected with other areas of musical life.

Revolving Embrace

Revolving Embrace
Author: Sevin H. Yaraman
Publisher: Pendragon Press
Total Pages: 172
Release: 2002
Genre: Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN: 9781576470435

At the beginning of the 19th century the waltz brought men and women face-to-face, dancing tightly embraced and staring into each other's eyes, a position that provoked a great deal of anxiety in many circles: bishops of Austria signed decrees against waltzing, France banned it at court, and even Leo XII sought to suppress the waltz by papal decree. Nevertheless, composers wrote waltzes for the ballrooms, and the new bourgeoisie of Europe enjoyed the freedom and informality of the dance.The reception of the waltz as music was informed by 19th-century views on women. As a result, the waltz - both dance and music - acquired a distinctly gendered meaning. In Verdi's La Traviata, Puccini's La Bohème, and Berg's Wozzeck, the composers relied on the waltz's contradictory meanings of individual pleasure and social disapprobation to portray the women characters and their roles in the development of the plot.The popularity of the waltz persisted beyond the original era of the Viennese waltz. Twentieth-century composers wrote waltzes either to pay homage to the Viennese waltz and its creators or to evoke the spirit of that earlier period. In compositions such as La Valse and Wozzeck, Ravel and Berg make deliberate references to the Viennese waltz without yielding their own musical language to its convention.

Waltzing

Waltzing
Author: Richard Powers
Publisher: Redowa Press
Total Pages: 269
Release: 2013
Genre: Performing Arts
ISBN: 0982799543

In the 85 chapters of this guidebook, you will find many ideas about waltzing, dancing, and living. Dance descriptions and tips to improve your dancing are accompanied by down-to-earth ways to find greater fulfillment in your dancing and in your life. 25 different kinds of waltz are completely described, including: cross-step waltz, Viennese waltz, box step waltz, rotary waltz, polka, schottische, redowa, mazurka, hambo, zwiefacher, and more. In addition, you will find 85 waltz variations completely described, and a concise compendium of an additional hundred variations, accompanied by 50 illustrations of waltzing through the ages. Then beyond waltzing, much of this book applies to all forms of social ballroom dancing. You'll learn how you can be a better dance partner, how to develop your style and musicality, how to improvise more confidently, how to learn new dances by observation, and how to create your own social dance variations. You'll also learn about the many ways that the practice of social dancing can enrich our lives. Drawing on the latest research in social psychology, Waltzing includes chapters on the essential benefits of: music, physical activity, connection, play, mindfulness, acceptance, conditional learning, and many other topics.

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Ballroom Dancing

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Ballroom Dancing
Author: Jeff Allen
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 310
Release: 2002
Genre: Performing Arts
ISBN: 9780028643458

Describes the history of ballroom dancing; presents photo-illustrated instructions for the waltz, foxtrot, tango, Viennese waltz, rumba, merengue, samba, cha-cha, mambo, East Coast swing, and hustle; discusses such topics as timing, rhythm, practice, and expectations; and includes an eleven-track audio CD.

The Strauss Dynasty and Habsburg Vienna

The Strauss Dynasty and Habsburg Vienna
Author: David Wyn Jones
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 287
Release: 2023-06-29
Genre: Music
ISBN: 1009276492

The music of the Strauss family – Johann and his three sons, Johann, Josef and Eduard – enjoys enormous popular appeal. Yet existing biographies have failed to do justice to the family's true significance in nineteenth and early twentieth-century musical history. David Wyn Jones addresses this deficiency, engagingly showing that – from Johann's first engagements in the mid-1820s to the death of Eduard in 1916 – the music making of the family was at the centre of Habsburg Viennese society as it moved between dance hall, concert hall and theatre. The Strauss industry at its height was, he demonstrates, greater than any one of the individuals, with serious personal and domestic consequences including affairs, illness, rivalry and fraud. This zesty biography, spanning over a hundred years of history, brings the dynasty brilliantly to life across a large canvas as it offers fresh and revealing insights into the cultural life of Vienna as a whole.

Decorum of the Minuet, Delirium of the Waltz

Decorum of the Minuet, Delirium of the Waltz
Author: Eric McKee
Publisher: Indiana University Press
Total Pages: 273
Release: 2012
Genre: Music
ISBN: 025335692X

Much music was written for the two most important dances of the 18th and 19th centuries, the minuet and the waltz. In Decorum of the Minuet, Delirium of the Waltz, Eric McKee argues that to better understand the musical structures and expressive meanings of this dance music, one must be aware of the social contexts and bodily rhythms of the social dances upon which it is based. McKee approaches dance music as a component of a multimedia art form that involves the interaction of physical motion, music, architecture, and dress. Moreover, the activity of attending a ball involves a dynamic network of modalities—sight, sound, bodily awareness, touch, and smell, which can be experienced from the perspectives of a dancer, a spectator, or a musician. McKee considers dance music within a larger system of signifiers and points-of-view that opens new avenues of interpretation.