VIENNESE WALTZ
The dance
The Viennese Waltz is a faster version of the ballroom Waltz, and is closer to the Volta (the French peasant dance that it derives from). It is has fewer steps than the ballroom Waltz, and it a circular moving dance, which spins around the dancefloor.
Expect to see natural turns (to the right), reverse turns (to the left), possibly the fleckerl (a stationary turn), and the classic contra check which allows the couple to stop and change direction.
As a new addition to series seven, Strictly introduced a competitive group dance of the Viennese Waltz. All the couples dance on the floor at the same time, with the judges conferring and awarding on a single score out of 10 to each couple.
The best of Strictly
Probably the most difficult dance for the professionals to choreograph because of the lack of steps, it is amazing that we have seen so many good Viennese Waltz routines in the show, with Ali & Brian getting that magic 40 points for their dance in the wonderful Blackpool Tower Ballroom in the eighth week of series 7.
Perhaps the most interesting routine we've seen, with a real story to the dance, was Kelly & Brendan's Viennese Waltz in Series 5. An unusually striking song choice from Brendan, using Tom Jones' 'Delilah' the couple told a dramatic, beautiful story with their performance, and looked like a royal couple floating and twirling around the floor, receiving 36 points for their efforts.
Four weeks later, and Alesha & Matthew produced a wonderfully romantic Viennese Waltz to the beautifully evocative song 'Memories' from the musical "Cats". Alesha truly looked like every little girls ideal of a princess, adding to the beauty of the dance, and received two 10's and a total score of 38 points from the judges. Alesha enjoyed the dance so much, when she competed in the Christmas special at the end of series six, she and Matthew performed it again with another beautiful routine danced to 'White Christmas', and scored 39 points with the judges.
The worst of Strictly
Surprisingly, there have been no really bad Viennese Waltz performances, but the lowest scoring couples so far, are Will & Hanna in Series 3, Jan & Anton in Series 4 and Kenny & Ola in Series 5.
Scores for all Viennese Waltz performances:
| Judges scores | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Couple | Song | Week | Craig | Arlene/ Alesha* | Len | Bruno | Total |
| Ali & Brian | Do Right Woman, Do Right Man | Series 7, Week 8 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 40 |
| Alesha & Matthew | White Christmas | Series 6, Christmas | 9 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 39 |
| Alesha & Matthew | Memory | Series 5, Week 10 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 38 |
| Zoe & Ian | Always And Forever | Series 3, Week 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 36 |
| Mark & Karen | Piano Man | Series 4, Week 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 36 |
| Gethin & Camilla | Falling | Series 5, Week 6 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 36 |
| Kelly & Brendan | Delilah | Series 5, Week 6 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 36 |
| Lisa & Brendan | Bed of Roses | Series 6, Week 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 36 |
| Ricky & Natalie | How Can I Be Sure? | Series 7, Week 5 | 8 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 36 |
| Ray & Camilla | I'll Make Love To You | Series 4, Week 5 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 35 |
| Jade & Ian | It's A Man's, Man's, Man's World | Series 7, Week 5 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 35 |
| Colin & Erin | Stop | Series 3, Week 7 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 34 |
| Emma & Darren | Kiss From A Rose | Series 4, Week 5 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 34 |
| Carol & Matthew | Breakaway | Series 4, Week 9 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 34 |
| Austin & Erin | Send In The Clowns | Series 6, Week 6 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 34 |
| Louisa & Vincent | That's Amore | Series 4, Week 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 33 |
| Laila & Anton | Once Around The Block | Series 7, Week 7 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 33 |
| Letitia & Darren | She's Always A Woman | Series 5, Week 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 9 | 32 |
| Tom & Camilla | I Can't Help Falling In Love With You | Series 6, Week 6 | 7 | 9 | 7 | 9 | 32 |
| Rachel & Vincent | Everybody Hurts | Series 6, Week 6 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 32 |
| James & Camilla | Mr Bojangles | Series 3, Week 5 | 5 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 29 |
| Matt & Lilia | Crazy | Series 4, Week 10 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 29 |
| Matt & Flavia | When A Man Loves A Woman | Series 5, Week 6 | 8 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 29 |
| Ricky & Erin | Nights In White Satin | Series 7, Week 9 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 29 |
| Chris & Ola | A New Day Has Come | Series 7, Week 10 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 29 |
| Darren & Lilia | End Of The Road | Series 3, Week 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 28 |
| Peter & Erin | Have You Ever Really Loved A Woman? | Series 4, Week 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 28 |
| Bill & Karen | Golden Brown | Series 3, Week 5 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 27 |
| Heather & Brian | I Have A Vision Of Love | Series 6, Week 6 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 27 |
| Natalie & Vincent | At Last | Series 7, Week 5 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 27 |
| Phil & Katya | Mad About The Boy | Series 7, Week 5 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 27 |
| Kenny & Ola | Flower Of Scotland | Series 5, Week 6 | 5 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 26 |
| Jan & Anton | Iris | Series 4, Week 5 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 25 |
| Andrew & Ola | Annie's Song | Series 6, Week 6 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 24 |
| Will & Hanna | Somebody To Love | Series 3, Week 5 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 23 |
| Jo & Brendan | Trouble | Series 7, Week 5 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 23 |
*Arlene Phillips judged series one to six, while Alesha Dixon judged series 7 onwards.