Waltz
100 performances · avg 25.02
Waltz
Charts
Article
Waltz
Category: International Standard (Slow Waltz)
Also known as: Slow waltz, English waltz, Modern waltz
DWTS performances in dataset: 100
Average total score: 25.02
First appearance: Season 1, Week 1 — Rachel & Jonathan (Three Times A Lady)
Lift rule on DWTS: Not allowed (core ballroom/Latin style on DWTS).
Origins and history
The waltz grew from Austrian and German turning folk dances such as the Ländler. Its closed couple embrace shocked early 19th-century society even as composers like the Strauss family made waltz music fashionable. English teachers later slowed and refined the dance into the modern Slow Waltz of International Standard, distinct from the faster Viennese waltz.
Sources
- Encyclopaedia Britannica / OUP overview: Waltz — German-Austrian turning dance origins
- World Dance Foundation: History of ballroom dance — Ländler → closed hold controversy
- Wikipedia: List of DanceSport dances — WDSF waltz tempo 28–30 MPM
How it is danced
| Aspect | Detail |
|---|---|
| Time signature | 3/4 |
| Tempo (MPM) | 28–30 (WDSF) |
| Tempo (BPM, approx.) | 84–90 |
| Character | Elegant, romantic, continuous rise and fall with pendulum swing; progressive anti-clockwise travel. |
| Hold / frame | Closed Standard ballroom hold: tone through the frame, lady slightly to the man’s right, heads poised. |
| Basic steps & figures | Closed changes, natural and reverse turns, whisk, chasse from promenade, natural spin turn, hesitation change. Heel leads on forward steps; toe leads on back. |
| What judges look for | Continuous swing and rise-and-fall, soft knee action, elegant lines, travel around the floor, correct hold; no lifts. |
Competition tempi cite WDSF Competition Rules E.3.2 and related DanceSport charts where applicable; theatrical styles are song-driven.
History on Dancing with the Stars
Statistics below are computed from the Data with the Stars SQLite performance and score tables (not invented).
- Times danced: 100
- Score range: 13.0 – 40.0 (total judges’ score as stored)
- Perfect nights (every judging mark = 10): 7
Average score by era
| Era | Performances | Average total |
|---|---|---|
| S1-10 | 45 | 22.93 |
| S11-20 | 27 | 27.59 |
| S21-30 | 21 | 26.05 |
| S31+ | 7 | 25.43 |
Best scores
- 40.0 — S23 W9: Jana & Gleb — She Used to Be Mine (Sara Bareilles)
- 40.0 — S31 W5: Selma & Sasha — What the World Needs Now Is Love (Andra Day)
- 37.0 — S18 W5: Amy & Derek — So This Is Love (Ilene Woods)
- 37.0 — S23 W9: Calvin & Lindsay — Memory (Leona Lewis)
- 36.0 — S24 W8: David & Lindsay — Humble and Kind (Tim McGraw)
Lowest scores
- 13.0 — S1 W1: Kelly & Alec — I Have Nothing
- 13.0 — S10 W3: Buzz & Ashly — What a Wonderful World
- 15.0 — S4 W4: Clyde & Elena — Foolish
- 15.0 — S33 W2: Eric & Britt — The Godfather Waltz
- 17.0 — S4 W7: Billy Ray & Karina — Play Me
First perfect nights (all marks 10)
- S1 W7: John & Charlotte — You Light Up My Life (total 30.0, 3 judges)
- S8 W10: Gilles & Cheryl — Come Away with Me (total 30.0, 3 judges)
- S11 W9: Jennifer & Derek — Way Over Yonder (total 30.0, 3 judges)
- S13 W8: J.R. & Karina — What the World Needs Now (total 30.0, 3 judges)
- S21 W10: Alek & Lindsay — America the Beautiful (total 30.0, 3 judges)
Most-used songs
- Come Away with Me — Norah Jones (3×)
- You Light Up My Life — Debby Boone (3×)
- Open Arms — Journey (3×)
- (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman — Aretha Franklin (2×)
- I Wonder Why — Curtis Stigers (2×)
- What a Wonderful World — Louis Armstrong (2×)
- What the World Needs Now Is Love — Jackie DeShannon (2×)
- Take It to the Limit — The Eagles (2×)
Charts
Watch top performances
- Connor Wood and Rylee Arnold’s Disney Night Waltz | Dancing with the Stars — S35 W8, score 32.0, _ I See the Light _
- Maura Higgins and Mark Ballas’s Mariah Carey Night Waltz | Dancing with the Stars — S35 W4, score 25.0, _ If It's Over _
- Jackson Olson and Emma Slater’s Mariah Carey Night Waltz | Dancing with the Stars — S35 W4, score 21.0, _ Without You _
- Jake Wood & Janette Manrara Waltz to 'Godfather Waltz’ - Strictly Come Dancing: 2014 - BBC One — S33 W2, score 15.0, The Godfather Waltz
Educational fan reference. Dance histories paraphrased from cited sources; DWTS stats from project data. Not affiliated with BBC Studios or Disney.
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