What is now called the Viennese waltz is the original form of the waltz. It was the first ballroom dance performed in the closed hold or "waltz" position. The dance that is popularly known as the waltz is actually the English or slow waltz, danced at approximately 90 beats per minute with 3 beats to the bar (the international standard of 30 measures per minute), while the Viennese waltz is danced at about 180 beats (58-60 measures) per minute. To this day however, in Germany, Austria, Scandinavia, and France, the words (German), (Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish), and (French) still implicitly refer to the original dance and not the slow waltz.
What is now called the Viennese waltz is the original form of the waltz. It was the first ballroom dance performed in the closed hold or "waltz" position The dance that is popularly known as the waltz is actually the English or slow waltz, danced at approximately 90 beats per minute with 3 beats to the bar (the international standard of 30 measures per minute), while the Viennese waltz is danced at about 180 beats (58-60 measures) per minute. To this day however, in Germany, Austria, Scandinavia, and France, the words (German), (Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish), and (French) still implicitly refer to the original dance and not the s.low waltz.