Waltz Toronto – Waltz workshops, classes and dances!

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FEATURED

Saturday, December 7, 2024

2:00pm – 6:10pm

Yule/Holiday Waltz Dance & Beginner Classes

DJ Simon Threlkeld

Vaccination proof NOT required. Masks optional.

PREREQUISITE

No prior experience or partner needed. Absolute beginners are welcome.

TEACHERS

TBA

LEARN MORE

VENUE

Upper Hall

Enter the Upper Hall from Hampton Avenue, just south of Danforth.

Use Bloor St. entrance towards west side of building

St. Barnabas on The Danforth Anglican Church
175 Hampton Ave, Toronto, ON M4K 2Z3

SCHEDULE

Saturday, December 7, 2024

Cross-step Waltz Beginner Lesson

2:00pm – 2:40pm

Viennese Waltz Beginner Lesson

2:40pm – 4:00pm

Yule/Holiday Waltz Dance Party (Music by DJ Simon)

4:15pm – 6:10pm

DETAILS

Come to the annual Yule/Christmas/Saturnalia/Holiday Edition of our monthly Waltz Dance!
Wearing green, white or red, or silver or gold, or dressing up, modern or vintage, is encouraged, but optional.

Learn Cross-step Waltz, the favourite Waltz style of many people, usually done to slower tempos, easy-to-learn.

Learn Traditional Viennese Waltz, easy-to-learn, popular since the early 19th century, done at all tempos from fast to slow, and perhaps the most romantic partner dance of all. This class has a different theme each time.

If you would like to bring snacks to share, you are very welcome to.

Come to Saturday Night Swing, the Yuletide Edition, after Waltz in the same venue.

PRICE

Prices are per person. HST INCLUDED.

Mother’s Day Special: Any Mom and their family can come to the lessons and dance for the price of two admissions to the lessons and dance!

$25

For the lessons (includes the dance). Same price whether you take one lesson or both. regular admission

$20

For the lessons (includes the dance). Same price whether you take one lesson or both. full-time students with ID

$10

Dance only, 4:15pm to 6:10pm, pay at the door

*Swing Toronto partners with Stripe for payment processing.

SWING TORONTO NEWSLETTER

Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest news about our dances, workshops, courses, and events! You can unsubscribe at any time. We will not spam you.

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FEATURED

Sunday, December 15, 2024

1:00pm – 3:20pm

Left Turning Rotary Viennese Waltz Intermediate

Vaccination proof NOT required. Masks optional.

PREREQUISITE

Having done our Right and Left Turning Viennese Waltz beginner workshops is recommended. At a bare minimum you have done our Right Turning Viennese Waltz beginner workshop this year, OR you can comfortably do some kind of Right Turning Viennese or Traditional Waltz.

TEACHERS

LEARN MORE

DETAILS

Learn the Rotary style of Left Turning Viennese Waltz (rotating to your left as you travel with a partner), as done in the 19th century and around the world today! We will do Left Turning and Right Turning Rotary Waltz, transitions between them and other Waltz movement, plus some variations and follower turns.

Note that Left Turning Rotary is different from the more linear style of Viennese Left Turning Waltz we teach at our Viennese Waltz Left Turning Beginner Workshops. Both come from the 19th century and are done around the world today. We think knowing and doing both of these traditional forms of Viennese Waltz is extra fun. We also think it is great to alternate between Right and Left Turning Viennese Waltz in the same song.

We will start with a review and fine tuning of Right Turning Rotary Waltz.

VENUE

Studio

Use Bloor St. entrance towards west side of building.

Trinity-St. Paul’s United Church and Centre for Faith, Justice and the Arts, 427 Bloor St W, Toronto, ON M5S 1X7

SCHEDULE

Sunday, December 15, 2024

Workshop

7:00pm – 9:40pm

PRICE

Prices are per person. HST included.

Regular Admission

$40

Full-Time Students with ID

$30

$15

You’ve done this wkshp w us before. Pay at door.

*Swing Toronto partners with Stripe for payment processing.

SWING TORONTO NEWSLETTER

Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest news about our dances, workshops, courses, and events! You can unsubscribe at any time. We will not spam you.

Back to tup…

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FEATURED

Tuesday, December 31, 2024

6:15pm – 11:00pm

New Years Eve Waltz Party & Lessons

DJ Simon Threlkeld

Vaccination proof NOT required. Masks optional.

PREREQUISITE

No prior experience or partner needed. Absolute beginners are welcome.

TEACHERS

TBA

LEARN MORE

VENUE

Upper Hall

Enter the Upper Hall from Hampton Avenue, just south of Danforth.

Use Bloor St. entrance towards west side of building

St. Barnabas on The Danforth Anglican Church
175 Hampton Ave, Toronto, ON M4K 2Z3

SCHEDULE

Tuesday, December 31, 2024

Cross-step Waltz Beginner Lesson

6:15pm – 6:55pm

Viennese Waltz Beginner Lesson

6:55pm – 8:15pm

New Years Eve Waltz Party

8:30pm – 11:00pm

DETAILS

Come to our New Years Eve Waltz Party & beginner lessons!
Dressing up, modern or vintage, is encouraged but optional.

If you would like to bring snacks to share, please do.

Learn Traditional Viennese Waltz! It is fun, easy-to-learn, popular since the early 19th century, done at all tempos from fast to slow, and is perhaps the most romantic partner dance of all. This class has a different theme each time.

Learn Cross-step Waltz, the favourite Waltz style of many people, done around the world, usually to slower tempos than Viennese Waltz.

Stay for the Dance Party!

This event is non-licensed and strictly alcohol-free.

PRICE

Prices are per person. HST INCLUDED.

Mother’s Day Special: Any Mom and their family can come to the lessons and dance for the price of two admissions to the lessons and dance!

$30

Regular Admission

$20

Full-Time Students with ID

$15

Dance only after 8:30pm, pay at the door

*Swing Toronto partners with Stripe for payment processing.

SWING TORONTO NEWSLETTER

Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest news about our dances, workshops, courses, and events! You can unsubscribe at any time. We will not spam you.

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Our Instructors

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Simon

Waltz, Polka, 1920’s Dances, Ragtime Dances, 19th Century Dances, Lindy Hop

Simon teaches and loves traditional Viennese Waltz, Cross-Step Waltz, Polka, 1920s dances, Ragtime dances, 19th century dances and Lindy Hop. He also teaches and loves lifts, drops, dips, floorials and Air Steps, and thinks this is some of the best and most fun stuff in dance.

Simon has been teaching dance for over 20 years, has taught many dance workshops and classes, has presented many Waltz dances and various Waltz and Vintage Dance workshop weekends, and has attended various Waltz and Vintage Dance workshop weekends and weeks in the USA. His favourite teacher for Waltz is Richard Powers, the renowned Stanford University historian and teacher of social dance.

Simon is the coordinator of Waltz Toronto and of Swing Toronto.

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Naum

Waltz, Polka, 1920s Dances

Naum has been dancing since 1998, taught dance for three years in the 2000s, and started teaching again in late 2021. Dance is his main passion and hobby. He takes every opportunity to dance and take lessons, and likes sharing this passion and his dance skills with others. His favourite dances are Viennese Waltz, Balboa and Cumbia style Salsa.

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Katherine

Waltz, Polka, 1920s Dances

Katherine started dancing at a young age, starting with folkdance. At 18, she became fascinated with latin and ballroom. She started dancing Lindy Hop and West Coast Swing in the early 2000’s. Katherine and Frank, her partner at the time, organized the Toronto International Swing Dance Championships in 2008; later, she organized the 2011 TISDC. Argentine Tango became her main focus in 2012. Katherine has taught dance since her university days in various studios, public schools, at Swing Toronto, and privately. While mostly dancing Argentine Tango, Lindy Hop, and West Coast Swing over the last decade, there is no doubt in her mind that every single social dance has a spirit of its own that cannot be duplicated by any other dance. As such, she believes that the greater the array of dances one is capable of studying in one’s lifetime, the deeper, wider, and higher one’s spirit soars through movement and music.

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About Us

A Swing Toronto production!

At Waltz Toronto, formerly known as Mostly Waltz Toronto, we take pride in offering a welcoming atmosphere to everyone, from the most inexperienced novice to long time social dance enthusiasts. Our events are among the most established and terrifically fun dances in the city of Toronto, and many would agree that they’re among Toronto’s best kept secrets.

We also like and teach Polka, Ragtime Dancing, Blues Dance, Peabody, Schottische, and other partner dances.

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Back to tup…

Our Waltz Favourites

Viennese Waltz is possibly the best, most fun, and most romantic partner dance ever, popular from the early 19th century onwards, and done to tempos from medium to fast. We teach and do traditional Viennese Waltz.

Cross-step Waltz is a new way of doing Waltz, and is the favourite Waltz style of many people. It is usually done to slower tempos than Viennese.

Waltz & Other Dance Videos

Netflix

Cross-step waltz. Leaves of October

Forbes

Viennese Waltz in Highschool Musical 3

Intel

Stanford Viennese Ball 2011: Accelerating Waltz

CNN

Cross-step Waltz Mixer at Jammix

T-home

Cinderella & The Prince Viennese Waltz

Coca Cola

Viennese Waltz performance outdoors in Kiev, 2021

Mashable

Waltz scene in War and Peace, 1966/67 movie.

Burger King

Gone With the Wind (Viginia Reel, Viennese Waltz)

Philips

Romany Polka at a Moscow Ball

Atlassian

Bohemian National Polka @ Stanford Viennese Ball

Pizza Hut

Original 1829 Gallopade taught by Richard Powers

Pizza Hut

Cross-step Waltz variations

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Waltz Music We Like

Forbes

Flora’s Secret – Enya

Intel

Girls Just Want to Have Fun – Postmodern Jukebox

Coca Cola

The Merry Widow Waltz

Mashable

Eartha Kitt – Under The Bridges Of Paris

Disney

Log Driver’s Waltz – Kate & Anna McGarrigle

Atlassian

The Times They Are A Changin’-Blackmore’s Night

Pizza Hut

Montmartre – Ian Whitcomb

Pizza Hut

Aram Khachaturian – Waltz from Masquerade

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Links

Waltz groups in the U.S. and Canada
Richard Powers

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Dance Etiquette

Good dance etiquette is important.

Waltz Toronto social dances are just that – social – and we are committed to maintaining a friendly, welcoming environment for everyone. Please be mindful of floorcraft, courtesy and etiquette.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Q. Do I need a partner?

A. No, there is no need to bring your own dance partner. The custom at social dances is to change partners for each song. In lessons dance partners rotate; this helps you to learn better by exposing you to many dance partners and gives you a chance to briefly meet other people.

Q. What is the average age of people at the dances?

A. We enjoy a varied group of attendees at our dance events. Though most of those who come are in their 20s, 30s and 40s, the age of our participants ranges from those in their late teens to retirement.

Q. Do we need to reserve tickets in advance?

A. There is no need to reserve or pay in advance for Saturday Night Swing nor any other Swing Toronto event, nor for any Toronto Waltz event in Toronto. Simply show up and pay at the door.

The only events for which advance registration is suggested are special event weekend workshops with internationally known teachers coming to teach in Toronto and teaching a full set of day-time workshops on Saturday and Sunday.

Q. What is the average age of people at the dances?

Q. What can I expect at dances?

A. Dances may feature an outstanding line up of live bands, DJs, teachers and classes! The evening begins with dance classes open to everyone including absolute beginners.

Q. What should I wear?

A. Wear comfortable clothes that you can dance in. Casual to dressy attire is all fine. If the dance is described as a Ball most people will be dressed up.

Q. What kind of shoes should I wear?

A. Anything comfortable, whether dressy or casual, ideally with some glide under the sole under the balls of your feet. Wear shoes that are smooth enough under the front part of your foot to allow swiveling on a wooden floor – this can be a leather sole, or it could be a smooth or somewhat slidey rubber or plastic sole, or can even be tape put on the soles of otherwise very grippy shoes. Rubber heels are fine – the heel can be more grippy than the rest of the sole.

Q. Is there a code of behaviour or etiquette?

A. Yes. See Dance Etiquette for details. In particular, please treat everyone with courtesy and respect, be mindful of good floorcraft when dancing (avoid collisions, don’t “drive dangerously”), and do not wear perfume or cologne (as it bothers some people and makes a small minority of people unwell). Any kind of harassment of those who attend our events is not acceptable.

Q. Where can I take classes and workshops in Toronto?

A. At Waltz Toronto’s various courses and workshops! Also, once regular dances commence again, there will be beginner classes before each party! No prior experience is needed and there’s no need to bring your own dance partners. Quality instruction and a welcoming vibe. Please visit our website regularly for updates, or sign-up for our newsletter!

Q. Does Waltz Toronto provide dance performances, lessons and dance animators for special events?

A. Yes we do this all the time and have been doing so for many years. Ask us about your special event, we are happy to help. See Our Services for an outline of what we offer.

Q. What is Peabody?

A. Peabody is a fun hugely popular Swing Era and 1920s partner dance suited for tempos from medium speed to blazing fast. It travels and can be mixed with Lindy Hop and Charleston.