waltz

waltz
—waltzer, n. —waltzlike, adj.
/wawlts/, n.
1. a ballroom dance, in moderately fast triple meter, in which the dancers revolve in perpetual circles, taking one step to each beat.
2. a piece of music for, or in the rhythm of, this dance.
3. Informal. an easy victory or accomplishment: The game was a waltz - we won by four touchdowns. The math exam was a waltz.
adj.
4. of, pertaining to, or characteristic of the waltz, as music, rhythm, or dance: waltz tempo.
v.i.
5. to dance or move in a waltz step or rhythm: an invitation to waltz.
6. Informal.
a. to move breezily or casually: to waltz in late for dinner.
b. to progress easily or successfully (often fol. by through): to waltz through an exam.
v.t.
7. to lead (a partner) in dancing a waltz.
8. Informal. to move or lead briskly and easily: He waltzed us right into the governor's office.
9. to fill (a period of time) with waltzing (often fol. by away, through, etc.): They waltzed the night away.
[1775-85; back formation from G Walzer a waltz (taken as walz + -ER1), deriv. of walzen to roll, dance; cf. obs. E walt unsteady, dial. walter to roll]

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Ballroom turning dance evolved from the ländler in the 18th century.

It is characterized by a step, slide, and step in 3/4 time. It was highly popular in the 19th and early 20th century. Variations include the rapid, whirling Viennese waltz and the slower, dipping Boston waltz, modified by Vernon and Irene Castle as the hesitation waltz. Many 19th-century composers wrote waltz music, most notably Franz Peter Schubert, Frédéric Chopin, Johannes Brahms, and Johann Strauss..

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▪ dance
 (from German walzen, “to revolve”), highly popular ballroom dance evolved from the Ländler in the 18th century. Characterized by a step, slide, and step in 3/4 time, the waltz, with its turning, embracing couples, at first shocked polite society. It became the ballroom dance par excellence of the 19th century, however, and tenaciously maintained its popularity in the 20th. Its variations include the rapid, whirling Viennese waltz and the gliding, dipping Boston. Composers of famous waltzes include Frédéric Chopin, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, and Johann Strauss and his sons, especially Johann Strauss the Younger (Strauss, Johann, The Younger), who was known as “the Waltz King.”

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