Is there a difference in the steps of the English waltz & the Viennese waltz?

Answer 1

English (Diagonal) Waltz
The English Waltz is danced to music played in 3/4 time at roughly 30 bars per minute. The music is usually romantic and somewhat dreamy. There is a clear ebb and flow in the music, with a rather strong first beat and a third beat that often appears to linger. The dance expresses the music with strong movement on the first beat and a hovering effect towards the end of the bar. Turning motion is a very characteristic feature of the Waltz. It is the least linear of the ballroom dances. The term "diagonal" comes from the pattern made on the floor by the basic figures, two thirds of which are danced diagonally to the line of dance, rather than along it or perpendicular to it.

Slow Foxtrot
The Foxtrot is the dance that represents the purest expression of the English style of dance. The music is played in 4/4 time at a tempo of roughly 30 bars per minute. The odd beats, one and three, have more emphasis than the others, with beat one strongest of all. The fundamental figures each consist of three steps to a bar, the first step taking two beats and the remaining steps danced on beats three and four. Thus "slow quick quick" is the essential rhythm of the Foxtrot. The dance is characterised by long gliding steps that flow together to produce a seamless continuity of progression around the dance floor. The man's feet are only rarely closed; the lady closes her feet regularly, but only for her heel turns. Once mastered this difficult dance often becomes the ballroom dancer's favourite.

Quickstep
Quickstep is a joyous dance. A riot of inventive and energetic steps, it represents the most infectious expression of rhythm to be found on the dance floor. Of all the dances you may learn this one could never become stale. Initially students may feel ungainly, skipping in the chasses, finding the timing hard to get to grips with. But once the basic movements are cracked there is no looking back. Like the Foxtrot, the music is played in 4/4 time. Indeed the two musical forms are intimately related, having sprung from the same source in the 1940s. However, Quickstep music is played at 50 bars per minute. The first and third beats are given extra emphasis, with beat one strongest. However, the difference in emphasis is somewhat less than for the Foxtrot.

Viennese Waltz
The Viennese Waltz is conceptually a simple dance, involving little more than left and right hand turns, made complicated by the speed of the music (60 bars a minute, double that of English Waltz), and by the requirement to make a complete turn every two bars (i.e. every two seconds!) The music is, in theory, that of Strauss, but orchestral music is usually of widely varying tempo which makes things difficult for most English dancers, accustomed as they are to strict tempos. The Viennese Waltz is a lovely dance in small doses.

Answer 2

English Waltz Steps

Answer 3

You might want a more detailed description of the difference from, say, the ISTD syllabus, but here are two examples of the difference in the basic patterns:
In slow waltz, two measures get you through roughly 3/4 of a turn, and you're through a full turn in Viennese.
In the reverse turn, the feet are next to each other on steps 3 and six for both the man and the lady for slow waltz. In quick waltz, the man's feet are crossed on three and the lady's on six. It's a very characteristic look.
Also, because of the tempo, Viennese doesn't lend itself, even in the American style, to so many different figures as slow waltz, with its large number of figures in syncopated rhythms, promenade position, etc.
And finally, though this may be stretching the definition of "steps" a bit, the rise and fall are different, being later and less pronounced in the quicker waltz.

Answer 4

Yes, very much so. Natural Turn have a lot in common for both, that is where you place your feet is similar, but the action (*) is completely different. If you try to do English walts action to the tempo of Vienneese you will run out of breath in 20 seconds.

(*) action is the way you manage your weight and create movement.

Answer 5

Yes, you cant dance vienesse steps in the English/Slow waltz because the vienesse steps dont work with the timing of the english/slow waltz.
Although there are a few steps that can be danced it both eg. Pivots can be danced in all ballroom dances because you can change the timing on them so they can be danced in every ballroom dance.