The waltz dates back to the country folk dances of bavaria, more than four hundred years ago, but it was not introduced into society until 1812, when it made its appearance in the English ballrooms. During the 16th century, it was simply danced as a round dance called the “Volte”. In many of the dance history books, itis often stated that the volte made its 1st out-side appearance in Italy, and then later on to France and Germany. In these early days, the waltz had quite a few different names. Some of these names were the gallop, the Society Waltz, the Redowa, the Boston and the Hop Waltz When the Waltz was 1st introduced into the ballrooms of the world in the early 19th century, it was met with outraged indignation. People were shocked! A man dancing with his hand upon a lady’s waist? No proper young maiden would compromise herself so. The Waltz was thought to be a wicked thing. The Waltz did not become popular among the european middle class until the first decade of the 20th century. Until then, it was the cherished property of the aristocracy. Yet in the United States, where there was no blue-blood caste, it was being danced by the citizenry as early as 1840. Immediately upon its introduction in this country, the Waltz became one of the most popular of all American dances. It was also the only dance to survive the “ragtime Revolution”. With the beginning of ragtime in 1910, the Waltz slipped into second place in the public’s fancy, being supplanted by the many walking strutting dances of that era. People who had not mastered the techniques and whirling patterns of the Waltz quickly learned the simple walking patterns, and so came he ragtime rage and birth of the Fox Trot. In the latter part of the 19th century, composers were writing Waltzes to a slower tempo than that of the original viennese style. The box step, typical of the American Waltz, was being taught in the 1880s, and an even slower Waltz came into prominence in the early 1920s. The result is that we have three distinct tempos: (1) the fast or Viennese Waltz, (2) the Medium Waltz, and (3) the Slow Waltz - the last two being of American invention.