Continuing my series of short descriptions of 1930s waltz variations, here is the fourth and final variation from the 1936 edition of Lillian Ray's Modern Ballroom Dancing, which harks back to the Military
Waltz of the last decades of the nineteenth century (described here), though the partners never open up fully in the manner of fifty years earlier. Other posts in this series may be found in the 1930s category archive. See the first 1930s waltz post for a brief description of the basic waltz of this era.
The Promenade Waltz (steps shown in the diagram at left; click to enlarge) is begun and ended with the partners facing each other across the line of dance, the man's left and woman's right shoulder facing line of dance. This position may easily be achieved by underturning the half of a natural turn: the man steps right forward, makes the quarter turn, and does the side-close along the line of dance rather than continuing to turn. It also follows nicely from the About Face Waltz if the dancers do only a quarter-turn rather than a half turn at the end of the sequence.
The Promenade Waltz sequence
(Starts and ends with shoulders to line of dance, man facing outward)
2 Kick man's right/woman's left foot gently forward along line of dance
3 (followthrough of kick)
4 (Both quarter turn to face each other, shoulders to line of dance); place man's right/woman's left foot down
5 Side step with man's left, woman's right
6 Man close with right, woman close with left
The two-beat kick in the first bar is similar to that found in the Military Waltz, though in the nineteenth century the third beat of the bar was filled with a small hop.
This can be repeated as often as desired and then transitioned out of by going into a regular waltz step traveling or turning along line of dance. If the man lengthens or shortens his side step on beat five, he can either move himself in front of the woman or the woman in front of him to be prepared to start a natural or reverse turn or to move foward or back along the line of dance.
This move also transitions well to the About Face Waltz if the man can lead the woman into a right-shoulder-to-right-shoulder position by giving her a strong lead from his right side to guide her to step backward while he turns to step forward.
A somewhat easier lead -- and an interesting sequence -- would be to go into the second half of the About Face waltz. Guiding the woman to turn to face line of dance while the man turns his back to the line of dance (left shoulder to left shoulder) is somewhat easier. From there, simply do the last six steps of the About Face Waltz.
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