Hi,

I have read in an article that the timing in V. Waltz is as follow and want to know if it is true.

In natural turn or reverse turn

1 1.5 beat value
2 0.75
3 0.75

4 1
5 1.25
6 0.75

Please give me advice.

Thanks

Sam

Hi,
My coach told me something similar except it was the same for both 1-3 and 4-6. Since the same thing is happening between 1-3 and 4-6 except the roles are reversed this seemed to make sense. He didn't get exact time but basically said "think of it as slow quick quick" which sounds a lot like.

1 1.5
2 .75
3 .75

Sandy

While one dancer is doing the 1-2-3 steps, the partner should be doing the 4-5-6 steps. The different timing for 1-2-3 vs 4-5-6 is ridiculous.

in europe v. waltz timing is allways

1 1
2 1
3 1

4 1
5 1
6 1

doesnt matter if turned to left, right or fleckerl.
syncopated timing isnt popular in v. waltz.

We use counting "slow quick quick" during practice some time, too. but the reason is only not to run too fast into step 1 and lower too much... but its still 1 (1),2 (1) ,3 (1) its only counting ... no change of timing. the strong beat at 1 makes the couples running over 3. to get better timing and control of the step 3 try this.... sometimes we do "slow quick slow" to get more control at beat 3.

but at comp I only count 1,2,3 4,5,6

I agree with Curl. The character of International style Viennese does not allow for "syncopation". The essense of this dance is "uniformity" and "repetition". Not just for the individual couple but also for the entire "floor" as a whole, creating a chorus of synchronized whirling and twirling. Foot placement should take place on the beat.

However an important note is the timing of the actual musical beats (1,2,3). The time between 1 and 2 is slightly shorter than the time between 2 and 3 (authentic Viennese Waltz timing). In other words, all 3 beats are not evenly spaced apart. Beat 2 comes "ahead of time".

As one steps on 1, commence and continue the acceleration into 2. Then decelerate as you close smoothly on 3. Don't snatch 3 by rushing the closing of the feet on 3. The music will allow you to do this while still remaining "on the beat".

Regards,
Len.

Sam:

I had a russian instructor who seemed to like the idea of lengthening the 2 and 5 of the 123-456 sequence to help develop longitudinal movement down the floor during the VW instead of a purely rotational movement down the floor.

He really never gave it a beat value, but if I were to guess it might have been:

Step 1&4 = 1
Step 2&5 = 1.5 (or 1.25)
Step 3&6 = 0.5 (or 0.75)

Pete

Maybe it's one of these things where you're trying to get a feeling of changing the count without *actually* changing it? Kind of like in regular waltz how you want to feel like you're drawing out the second step on count 2. I think I've heard something about V.waltz not feeling like a dead even metronome count, but I can't remember exactly what you were supposed to try to draw out. The count itself though is just 1,2,3, 1,2,3 -- even, single beats. As far as I know, you don't actually syncopate the steps, but I could be wrong.

--
James Marshall
marshall@astro.umd.edu
http://www.astro.umd.edu/~marshall