History of Dances International Style Viennese Waltz The Waltz
is a dance performed to music with three beats to the bar. This
means that if a step is taken on each beat, then each bar starts
with the opposite foot to that of the previous bar. This can be
a source of great difficulty for the beginner, but when mastered
gives the dance a delightful romantic lilt. The first record of
a dance to 3/4 rhythm is a peasant dance of the Provence area of
France (Chujoy, 1967, 958) in 1559, as a piece of folk music
called the Volta (Sadie, 1980, 20/74), although the Volta has
also been claimed to be an Italian folk dance at this time
(Norton, 1994, 12/426). The word "volta" means "the turn" in
Italian. Thus, even in its earliest days, the dance appears to
have involved the couple turning as they danced. During the 16th
Century, the Volta became popular in the royal courts of Western
Europe. Arbeau describes it as like a Galliard (done to 3/2
music) but done to slow 6/4 music (Sadie, 1980, 20/74). Actually
both it and t