Austrian folk dancing is mostly associated with

Schuhplattler The Schuhplattler is a traditional style of folk dance popular in the Eastern Alps, specifically originating in Upper Bavaria, Tyrol, and Salzburg (state), Salzburg. In this dance, the performers stomp, clap, and strike the soles of their shoes ( ...

Ländler The Ländler () is a European folk dance in time. Along with the waltz and allemande, the ländler was sometimes referred to by the generic term German Dance in publications during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Despite its associa ...

polka Polka is a dance style and genre of dance music in originating in nineteenth-century Bohemia, now part of the Czech Republic. Though generally associated with Czech and Central European culture, polka is popular throughout Europe and the ...

and

waltz The waltz ( , meaning "to roll or revolve") is a ballroom dance, ballroom and folk dance, in triple (3/4 time, time), performed primarily in closed position. Along with the ländler and allemande, the waltz was sometimes referred to by the ...

. However, there are other dances such as Zwiefacher, ''Kontratänze'' and ''Sprachinseltänze''.

Types of dance

In Austria,

folk dance A folk dance is a dance that reflects the life of the people of a certain country or region. Not all ethnic dances are folk dances. For example, Ritual, ritual dances or dances of ritual origin are not considered to be folk dances. Ritual dances ...

s in general are known as ''Folkloretänze'', i.e. "folklore dances", whereas the Austrian type of folk dance is known as ''Volkstanz'' (literally "folk dance"). Figure dancing is a type of dance where different figures are put together with a certain tune and given a name. Round dancing, which includes the

, the

, Zwiefacher etc., involves basic steps which can be danced to different tunes. In folk dancing, the waltz and the polka are in a different form to standard

ballroom dancing Ballroom dance is a set of European partner dances, which are enjoyed both socially and competitively around the world, mostly because of its performance and entertainment aspects. Ballroom dancing is also widely enjoyed on stage, film, and te ...

. ''Sprachinseltänze'' (literally "language island dances") are those dances which are actually by

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

-speaking minorities (see German as a Minority Language) living outside Austria, but which originate in Austria, e.g. those of

Transylvania Transylvania ( or ; ; or ; Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Siweberjen'') is a List of historical regions of Central Europe, historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and ...

. One example of this type of dance is the ''Rediwaire''.

Misconceptions

There are some misconceptions about Austrian folk tradition: *The "

", as performed in the film ''

The Sound of Music ''The Sound of Music'' is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is based on the 1949 memoir of Maria von Trapp, '' The Story of the Trapp Family Singers''. ...

'', is ''not'' a traditional Ländler, but a choreographed derivative of this Austrian form of folk dance. *The "

Chicken Dance The "Chicken Dance", also known and recorded as Der Ententanz, Tchip Tchip, Vogerltanz, the Bird Song, the Chicken Song, the Birdie Song, the Bird Dance, Danse des Canards, the Duck Dance, El Baile de los Pajaritos, O Baile dos Passarinhos, Il B ...

" is ''not'' an Austrian folk dance, nor is it from Austria. *The song "

Edelweiss ''Leontopodium nivale'', commonly called edelweiss () ( ; or ), is a mountain flower belonging to the daisy or sunflower family Asteraceae. The plant prefers rocky limestone places at about altitude. It is a non-toxic plant. Its leaves and f ...

" is ''not'' an Austrian folk song, and it is ''not'' the national anthem of Austria. The national anthem of Austria is "

Land der Berge, Land am Strome The National Anthem of Austria (), also known by its incipit "" (; 'Land of the Peaks, Land by the Stream'), was adopted in 1946. The melody, originally attributed to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, was matched with a text by Paula von Preradović the ...

". "

" was created specifically for ''

''.

Festivals

Austrian folk dance festivals follow a common sequence: *everybody gets onto the dance floor and dances the opening round *a welcoming speech is made *waltzes are danced in blocks, with breaks in between. *finally a special dance, often with a goodbye song.

Viennese Viennese may refer to: * Vienna, the capital of Austria * Viennese people, List of people from Vienna * Viennese German, the German dialect spoken in Vienna * Viennese classicism * Viennese coffee house, an eating establishment and part of Viennese ...

festivals usually have four long sets of dances, with long breaks and figure dancing in between. Other parts of Austria have a larger number of shorter blocks (three to five dances each) with shorter breaks between them, and more figure dancing. Though attended only by a tradition-minded minority, Vienna folk dance eventsCalendar
/ref> are carefully organized events often taking place at extraordinary locations, such as, the ''Alpenverein'', the Autumn Dance at baroque

Belvedere (palace) The Belvedere is a historic building complex in Vienna, Vienna, Austria consisting of two Baroque palaces (the Upper and Lower Belvedere), the Orangery, and the Palace Stables. The buildings are set in a Baroque park landscape in the third distr ...

, the

dances (the traditional music of which bears the rhythm from which in the 19th century the Vienna

music was developed), and the summer dances which take place twice each week during summer holiday season (July and August).

Musical instruments

Typical instruments for Austrian folk dance are the Styrian harmonica (a type of

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German language, German ', from '—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a Reed (mou ...

), the

fiddle A fiddle is a Bow (music), bowed String instrument, string musical instrument, most often a violin or a bass. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including European classical music, classical music. Althou ...

, the

clarinet The clarinet is a Single-reed instrument, single-reed musical instrument in the woodwind family, with a nearly cylindrical bore (wind instruments), bore and a flared bell. Clarinets comprise a Family (musical instruments), family of instrume ...

, the

harp The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orchestras or ...

, the

flute The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...

and

brass band A brass band is a musical ensemble generally consisting primarily of brass instruments, most often with a percussion section. Ensembles that include brass and woodwind instruments can in certain traditions also be termed brass bands (particularl ...

s. Dances are often accompanied by the

contrabass Contrabass (from ) refers to several musical instruments of very low pitch—generally one octave below bass register instruments. While the term most commonly refers to the double bass (which is the bass instrument in the orchestral string family ...

or the

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

. Unlike modern Austrian folk-pop music, drums are not used.

Clothing

Folk dances

*Boarischer *Eiswalzer *Hiatamadl *Jägermarsch *Krebspolka *Kreuzpolka *Kuckuckspolka *

*Lunzer Boarischer *

Mazurka The Mazurka ( Polish: ''mazurek'') is a Polish musical form based on stylised folk dances in triple meter, usually at a lively tempo, with character defined mostly by the prominent mazur's "strong accents unsystematically placed on the seco ...

*Neudeutscher *

Polka Polka is a dance style and genre of dance music in originating in nineteenth-century Bohemia, now part of the Czech Republic. Though generally associated with Czech and Central European culture, polka is popular throughout Europe and the ...

*Poschater Zwoaschritt *Rediwa (Sprachinseltanz) *Rheinländer *

*Siebenschritt *Studentenpolka *

Waltz The waltz ( , meaning "to roll or revolve") is a ballroom dance, ballroom and folk dance, in triple (3/4 time, time), performed primarily in closed position. Along with the ländler and allemande, the waltz was sometimes referred to by the ...

* Zwiefacher

Notes

External links

Videos and information of Austrian folk dances
(Site in German and English, see the flags)

in English)

no English) *http://www.dancilla.com in English

no sound, only lyrics/texts)
Calendar of events
no English, in German)

(no English, in German)
Folk dancing and Schuhplatteln from Austria
no English, in German)
Treu dem guten alten brauch founded in New York City in 1928
{{Dance Culture of Austria Dance in Austria

Types of dance

Misconceptions

Festivals

Musical instruments

Clothing

Folk dances

See also

Notes

External links