The waltz' birth was perhaps as early as the seventeenth century in the suburbs of Vienna and
Austria's alpine region. Waltzes were probably first played in the ballrooms of the Hapsburg court,
and the weller, or turning dances, were danced by peasants in Austria and Bavaria even before
that time. Familiar waltz tunes can be traced back to simple peasant yodeling melodies.
In the eighteenth century, the allemande form of the waltz was very popular in France. Originally danced as one of the figures in the contredanse, with arms inter-twining at the shoulder level, it soon evolved into an independent dance and the close-hold position was introduced. By the end of the eighteenth century, the old Austrian peasant dance had been accepted by high society, and three-quarter rhythm was here to stay.
But opposition was not lacking. Dancing masters saw the waltz as a threat to their profession. The basic steps of the waltz could be learned in relatively short time whereas the minuet and other court dances required considerable practice, not only to learn the many complex figures, but also to develop suitable postures and deportment. The waltz was also criticized on moral grounds by those opposed to its close hold and rapid turning movements. Religious leaders almost unanimously regarded it as vulgar and sinful. In July of 1816, the waltz was played at a Ball given in London by the Prince Regent and a blistering editorial in The Times a few days later stated:
"We remarked with pain that the indecent foreign dance called the Waltz was introduced (we believe for the first time) at the English court on Friday last ... it is quite sufficient to cast one's eyes on the voluptuous intertwining of the limbs and close compressure on the bodies in their dance, to see that it is indeed far removed from the modest reserve which has hitherto been considered distinctive of English females. So long as this obscene display was confined to prostitutes and adulteresses, we did not think it deserving of notice; but now that it is attempted to be forced on the respectable classes of society by the civil examples of their superiors, we feel it a duty to warn every parent against exposing his daughter to so fatal a contagion."
Even as late as 1866 an article in the English magazine Belgravia stated: "We who go forth of nights and see without the slightest discomposure our sister and our wife seized on by a strange man and subjected to violent embraces and canterings round a small-sized apartment - the only apparent excuse for such treatment being that is done to the sound of music - can scarcely realize the horror which greeted the introduction of this wicked dance."
Antagonism, of course, only served to increase the popularity of the dance all over Europe. In Paris alone there were nearly seven hundred dance halls! A German traveler to Paris in 1804 stated, "This adoption of the German dance is quite new and has become one of the vulgar fashions since the war, like smoking."
The first documented time the waltz was danced in the United States was in Boston in 1834. Lorenzo Papanti, a Boston dancing master, gave an exhibition, and was roundly condemned. (The slower style he demonstrated became known as The Boston and though it eventually faded away, it did stimulate the development of the Slow Waltz.) By by the middle of the nineteenth century, the waltz was firmly established in US society.
Fortunately, violent opposition eventually faded out and the Waltz emerges today in two accepted forms, both reflecting the main characteristics of the dance. They are known as the Modern Waltz and the Viennese (Quick) Waltz.