This is the second in my short series on some of the more useful waltz variations published by M.B. Gilbert in his 1890 manual, Round Dancing. The first post in the series may be found here.
Of all of the variations in Gilbert, this simple mix of sliding steps and waltz turns is probably the easiest and the one I use most frequently in teaching new dancers. Gilbert attributes it to "Constantine Carpenter, Son, and Charles C. Martel."
As with the Diagonal Waltz, this variation will work either leaping or simply gliding, though its gliding feel makes me lean toward the latter for smoother transitions within the variation.
This is a four-bar sequence that may be memorized as "slide, slide, waltz, waltz." The details are almost that simple. The dance begins with the gentleman facing the wall and the lady the center, with him starting on the left foot and her on the right as usual.
Bar 1: Take a long sliding step sideways along the line of dance (1-2); close the second foot with weight (3)
Bar 2: Repeat this slide and close.
Bars 3 & 4: One complete waltz turn, ending once again with the gentleman facing the wall.
Repeat as many times as desired.
The only tricky part of this is the transition from the slide-close in the second bar into the turning waltz. If during that slide the gentleman moves slightly ahead of the lady, he will be able to make a quarter-turn at the end of the bar and properly initiate the waltz turn by stepping back along line of dance. The biggest hazard is failing to make this quarter turn and the gentleman thus making the first step across the line of dance rather than backward along it. This tends to turn the waltz section into the older waltz style of the early nineteenth century rather than the newer one advocated by Gilbert. Practicing the Gavotte Glide can be a useful way to work on making that distinction.
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