Figure Skating: The Ravenburger Waltz

The Ravenburger Waltz

I. The opening section: it is a series of swings ... the lady and the Gentlemen face each other is waltz position and do a series of turns with big swooping free-leg swings.

Easy but hard to do in perfect unison ... the turns are simple three turns ... you want to see if the Lady's extenion reaches toward the man's free leg as they swing ....

The section ends with a twizzle. ... NOTE how closely she is spinning near the man, and easily the spin ends and goes into the following partner position.

II. From the twizzle there is another big swing that goes from the barrier out into the middle of the ice ... from this point the couple rotate around each other doing inner mohawks ... they are rotating clockwise from the mid line (runs lengthwise down the rink) back toward the barrier. NOTE: the turns they are doing (mohawks) should appear distinct ... i.e. the less like a big blur of feet and changing body positions the better.

III. this is the hardest section to follow cuz a lot happens quickly ... after the swoopy mohawks referenced-above ... they get back to the barrier and the Lady does a twizzle they they move around and the lady steps out in front of the man and does a really nifty series: she does an inner three turn from front to back which is rotating clockwise, then the man helps her check/stop that clockwise roation, and step into a backwards twizzle that rotates counter-clockwise ... NOTE: The most important thing about this section which is complicated ... is that it appear very very waltzy ... the steps are not particularly waltzy, they are fast, with a twizzle at the beginning and at the end ... and lots of steps in between including that cool inner three turn ... if it looks waltzy then they have accomplished something.

IV. Coming out of the twizzle , which is done close to the boards, the couple heads back from the barrier out into the center of the ice, and the lady does a rocking-like turn where she first rocks one way and then when she turns the couple rocks the other way ... it's a rocker turn she is doing. NOTE: the depth of this turn is critical as it the straight leg extention the lady can maintain as the turn happens. The more the sequences heads out into the middle of the ice and then rocks back toward the barrier the better.

After that there's a little hopping-y step and the dance pattern repeats with those big sweepy long-legged turns.

Kindly provided by the inestimable Ben Currie.