The first dance

The first dance at the wedding reception

Glide across the dance floor to an elegant Viennese waltz or dance a slow jive to your favourite song? It’s entirely up to you, of course, what you choose for your first dance.

It is an old tradition for the bride and groom to dance the first dance together, and to have the dance floor to themselves, at least for half the dance. According to old custom, it should be a waltz, but it can of course be another dance as well – depending entirely on the bride and groom’s wishes. But most people like traditions – so it might be worth the effort to learn how to dance the Viennese waltz. After all, the Viennese waltz is also the dance that usually opens a large ball, and who knows what the future holds in terms of celebrations?

Alternative dance styles

The range of dance courses offered by dance schools can vary slightly. For example, there are weekend crash courses in the art of the Viennese waltz, but also other options with courses lasting a few weeks. The courses may also include other dances, such as the foxtrot or the tango. Most commonly, however, the bride and groom want to learn the Viennese waltz or the modern waltz. But there are also those who choose the foxtrot or the salsa, and the Argentine tango is now also popular.

The Viennese waltz

During the 19th century, the Austrian composer Johann Strauss the Younger composed several popular waltzes, such as ‘The Blue Danube’. The character of the Viennese waltz invites a sweeping glide across the dance floor in a billowing wedding gown. The waltz consists of right turns, left turns, forward steps and backward steps, and one full turn is completed in two steps.

The bridal waltz – an old tradition

Dancing is a common feature at weddings all over the world. The polka was the most common dance, known as the ‘Wedding Dance’, at peasant weddings in 18th-century Sweden, whilst the minuet was danced at bourgeois weddings. The waltz began to appear in the early 1800s. In the 1700s and 1800s, it was often the vicar, or alternatively the bride’s father, who opened the wedding dance with the bride; the groom was second. Nowadays, it is the bride and groom who open the dancing with their bridal waltz. Only then does the bride’s father dance with his daughter, whilst the groom dances with the bride’s mother. (However, there is nothing to stop the bride and groom from choosing a different dance instead of the waltz.)

Suggested music

On the Beautiful Blue Danube – Johann Strauss Jr
. Bridal Waltz – E. Taube
The Dream of Elin – P. Himmelstrand
Birthday Waltz for Mona – B. Ulvaeus / B. Andersson
Kaiserwalzer – Johann Strauss Jr.

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