4th March: Dance the Waltz Day

Today is National Dance the Waltz Day, so here are ten facts about the waltz you may not have known:

1. The first waltzes were danced by German peasants in the 13th century.
2. In the 16th century, a similar dance called the Weller was popular in Vienna, while France had its own version called Nizzarda.
3. The waltz was first danced in England at the Prince Regent’s grand ball in 1816.
4. Prior to the waltz, courtly couples never touched while dancing - so when it first became popular, the waltz was seen as quite scandalous. The Times in London, for example, commented: "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."
5. The Hampshire Chronicle in 1800 reported that a Harbourg couple were struck by Lightning while dancing the waltz, implying that God Himself disapproved sufficiently to strike them down for it.
6. Lord Byron wasn't a fan. He wrote an anti-Waltz poem Waltz, An Apostrophic Hymn in 1812, it was published anonymously.
7. Feelings about the dance ran so high that there were even reports, in the same year, that two men had actually duelled over it. General Thornton praised the dance, and Mr. Hook criticised it. The argument escalated to pistols at dawn - but in the end, the argument was settled amicably.
8. In California the waltz was banned by Mission priests until 1834 because of the "closed" dance position.
9. The most famous waltz tunes were composed by the father and son Johann Strauss. The younger Johann Strauss wrote The Blue Danube. Chopin and Brahms waltzes for piano. Waltzes for orchestra include Waltz of the Flowers by Tchaikovsky and La Valse by Ravel.
10. In contemporary ballroom dance, fast versions of the waltz are called Viennese Waltz as opposed to the Slow waltz.