Tom Roby's Waltz Notes and Videos

Here are notes and videos for waltz lessons that I've taught, frequently with Diane Gonzales. She organizes the Folk Arts Center's monthly Mostly Waltz for Boston, where I'm in the regular rotation (!) of teachers.

Beginning Rotary Waltz sessions at the New England Folk Festival ("NEFFA").

From 2011 through 2015 I've taught Beginning Waltz sessions at NEFFA. All of them have been graced by the extraordinary musicianship of Tom Pixton. In these 75-minute slots we have the luxury of much time to work on the very basics of waltzing:

Connecting with the music, hearing the beat clearly, then the phrases;
Connecting with your feet: stepping on every beat, larger step with more emphasis on count 1;
Connecting with your partner: the basics of frame, stepping between your partners legs;
How to turn 360 degrees in six steps;
How to avoid getting dizzy, or bumping into others.

The sessions incorporate plenty of time for questions and comments, which seem to be beneficial.

Intermediate Waltz Lessons

Diane and I have done a number of lessons at the intermediate level, most of which haven't been adequately captured for this website. But we'll start this out with a video from an session at NEFFA 2015.

NEFFA 2015: Shadow Waltz Variations. We taught a sequence incorporating some of our favorite moves to do in shadow (aka "Varsouvienne") position.

Useful links:

Richard Powers's website is a fountain of useful information about couple dancing in general (including teaching it) and waltz in particular.

Please don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or I can help in any way!

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