No 2 - Waltz Technique

Question: Traditional ballroom steps used for the modern waltz do not lend themselves to Scottish waltz tempo.Is it correct to adapt steps from the Viennese waltz, which is closer to the Scottish  waltz tempo?  Are there  any instructional videos depicting the Scottish Waltz?

Answer: The Society has never defined how to perform a Scottish waltz, so as there is no definition of "Correct", then using modified Viennese  waltz steps isn't "wrong".

Waltz Country Dance  is the only proper waltz  that has been published by the Society, but it is only during the last 8 bars  where the couples waltz round each other  that normal waltz steps are used.  There is a video "Step We Ceilidh - On We Go"  that shows this dance.

There are two other Society dances dances which are in waltz time,  The Yellow-Haired Laddie (Book 12), and Lochanside (MacNab 2), but neither of these are the couples in ballroom hold.

Doing proper waltz steps in shoes without a heel is very difficult, and Scottish dancers usually don't get as close together as ballroom dancers, which makes turning harder. Scottish dancers also have a problem in dancing a basic waltz movement of "step, step, close" because they spend so much time practising a pas de basque "step, close, beat".

There is therefore no problem in using any suitable step during the waltzes played at Scottish dances.