The Viennese waltz originally comes from the South German Alps Area. During the 18th century the dances: Weller, Walzer and Ländler were found, this last dance the Ländler is originally the forerunner of our Viennese Waltz. Between 1800 and 1820 the steps and figures from the Ländler were reduced due to the speed of music and the 6 step Viennese Walz was born.

The Viennese Waltz, so called to distinguish it from the Waltz and the French Waltz, is the oldest of the current ballroom dances. It emerged in the second half of the 18th century from the German dance and the Ländler in Austria and was both popular and subject to criticism. The Waltzen, as written in a magazine from 1799, is performed by dancers who held on to their long gowns to prevent them from dragging or being stepped on. The dancers would lift their dresses and hold them high like cloaks and this would bring both their bodies under one cover. This action also required the dancers' bodies to be very close together and this closeness also attracted moral disparagement. Wolf published a pamphlet against the dance entitled "Proof that Waltzing is the Main Source of Weakness of the Body and Mind of our Generation" in 1797. But even when faced with all this negativity, it became very popular in Vienna. Large dance halls like the Zum Sperl in 1807 and the Apollo in 1808 were opened to provide space for thousands of dancers. The dance reached and spread to England sometime before 1812. It was introduced as the German Waltz and became a huge hit. It gained ground due to the Congress of Vienna at the beginning of the 19th century and the famous compositions by Josef Lanner, Johann Strauss I and his son, Johann Strauss II.

At the beginning of the 1935s the Viennese Waltz had its comeback as a folk dance in Germany and Austria. The former military officer Karl von Mirkowitsch made it acceptable both for society and ballroom, and since 1932 the Viennese Waltz has been present on ballroom dance floors. About the same time, the Viennese Waltz had its comeback as a folk dance in The Greater Cleveland Ohio U.S.A. Area, due to the population of Slovenians (60,000 - 80,000) settled in the area. Slovenia, situated south of Austria, was influenced in its folk dance by the Viennese Waltz. Frankie Yankovic, a Slovenian from Cleveland Ohio traveled the world playing his version ("Cleveland Style" as per Polka Hall of Fame, Euclid Ohio) of the Viennese Waltzes. His Blue Skirt Waltz went Platinum 1949. Even today, there are many opportunities to waltz every week in The Greater Cleveland Area. In 1951 Paul Krebs, a dance teacher from Nürnberg, combined the traditional Austrian Waltz with the English style of waltzing and had great success at the dance festival in Blackpool in the same year. Since then the Viennese Waltz is one of the five International Standard ballroom dances; in 1963 it was added to the Welttanzprogramm which is the fundament of European dancing schools.

The Waltz is a dance performed to music with three beats to the bar, and gives the dance a delightful romantic lift. Typically, there are three steps of equal duration per measure, with the Hesitation being the exception. The lead foot alternates with each measure (i.e., Left-2-3-Right-2-3). Because of this, Waltz combinations are usually written in a series of six steps. There are three beats to each measure, counted as "1-2-3" or "quick-quick-quick."

	BRONZE	SILVER	GOLD
	Forward Change Steps	Left Box Turn
	Progressive Basic	Open Left Box Turn
	Right Turn Box	Advanced Twinkle
	Simple Twinkle	Progressive Twinkle
	Hesitations	Left Side Rock & Spin
	Promenade Hesitation	Open Right Turn
	Promenade Turn	Twinkle & Twist
	Twinkle & Walk Around	Twinkle & Fallaway
	Left Turn Cross	Twinkle & Pivots
		Fallaway & Rock

	BRONZE	SILVER	GOLD
	Closed Changes	Weave from P.P	Left Whisk
	Natural Turn	Closed Telemark	Contra Check
	Reverse Turn	Open Telemark & Cross Hesitation	Closed Wing
	Natural Spin Turn	Open Telemark & Wing	Turning Lock to Right
	Whisk	Open Impetus & Cross Hesitation	Fallaway Reverse
	Chasse From Promenade Position	Open Impetus	Hover Corte
	Closed Impetus	Outside Spin
	Hesitation Change	Turning Lock
	Outside Change
	Reverse Corte
	Back Whisk
	Basic weave
	Double Reverse Spin
	Reverse Pivot
	Backward Lock
	Progressive Chasse to R