The following information is published with ROUNDALAB's permission from the ROUNDALAB Reference Manual compiled by Richard & Jo Ann Lawson, 1987.

A Dance Sequence for Teaching the Waltz

by Kay Anderson

My beginning round dance class is learning the waltz more thoroughly than any other group of beginning dancers I have EVER seen! The reason is that I followed some excellent advice from a ROUNDALAB publication I received last year: when teaching a new class, self-consciously sequence the dances so that new figures are introduced slowly and in an organized manner. It was even suggested that one construct a chart of the dance figures to insure a helpful sequence of the dances.

In appears to be to be very sound advice, so I took it to heart. I'm taking this opportunity to share my "practical" (and successful) application of that theory with you.

Selecting the Dances

First of all, I compiled a list of easy level, classic waltzes: ...

Next, I added popular dances: ...

Then, I added the easy level rounds I already owned records for: ...

And lastly, I scanned the February 1983 "Point System" material from ROUNDALAB to locate additional easy level waltzes and selected three more which appeared to supplement those I already had: ...

Sequencing the Dances

In sequencing the dances, first I ranked them according to their Fleck rating to establish an approximate level of difficulty.

Then I counted the number of different figures included in each dance, to discover that "Tips of My Fingers" had the fewest number of different figures, and would therefore be the logical dance to teach first. ...

After deciding that the figures which seemed the most troublesome for beginning dancers were (1) two right turns, (2) two left turns, (3) left-turning box, and (4) waltz box, I deliberately sequenced the dances to spread out the introduction of these figures as much as possible. I also attempted to limit the number of new figures introduced with each new dance. ...

My beginning class started the waltz rhythm in January (they worked on the two-step rhythm last fall). We spent two weeks on "Tips of My Fingers", then proceeded at the pace of one new waltz nearly every week, with an occasional break from the waltz with the introduction of another two-step dance. This sequence provided built-in drill for repetition of figures which prevented dancers from being overwhelmed with too much too fast; yet it also provided a good deal of variety, thereby maintaining interest.

Here's a confession that provides further "proof" that the sequence works. When I first started teaching the waltz in January, I started with "Tips of My Fingers" (including two right turns and left-turning box) and then proceeded to "Shenandoah" (which includes two left turns and waltz box). "Shenandoah" proved to be in the "too much too soon" category (creating undue confusion over too-closely related figures). By that time, I had completed the sequence chart ... and knew that the smart thing to do would be to drop "Shenandoah" until later in the sequence. I did, with very happy results. There were no other problems, and they are now dancing "Shenandoah" very well. In fact, my continuing dancers were heard to comment last Tuesday night about the beginning dancers, "They are doing so well!" "I wish I had learned that fast!"

I feel rather confident that the "secret" lies in the careful sequencing of dances. It's a cinch that I'll use this method again with my next beginning class, though possibly, I'll modify the list to incorporate other new and very popular dances.

Roundalab Journal, Summer, 1983