Hi,
I need advice from a lady dancer on how not to get dizzy to the point of nausea while dancing the Viennese Waltz. I've been dancing in the Pro-Am category( American Style) for almost two years. I thought I'd try the International style and so for the past few weeks, I've been learnig the Viennese Waltz.The problem is not so much that I get dizzy, but I do so to the point of being nauseaus and on the verge of... My stomach is upside down and it takes a while before I get to feeling better. I get discouraged but I don't want to quit. My teacher tells me do Spot as I turn just like I do in mambo or any other latin dance. But I can't find a place to spot, the spins are too fast.
So please, if someone could help me,I would greatly appreciate it. I'm sick of feeling sick.

Most people initially get dizzy in viennese waltz, but get over it in time.

Do you know the steps well enough to do them on your own? You might try practicing them alone, setting a challenge such as making it down the length of the room in a straight line of reverse turns, or even just try to do a few more of them each day. A little bit each practice, just pushing what is comfortable but not until you get sick. Then with your teacher - once around the room might be a goal. Then twice the next week - whatever pace works for you.

Also if you do them on your own, you may get a better sense of the directions in the room.

I wonder you get dizzy because you think so much about turning instead of going straight line. If you can think of going straight instead of going around your partner, it will be easy to spot. I also heard some ladies try not to see anything at all by half-closing their eyes.

It is true that the dizziness will become less of a problem if you keep performing the movement, either on your own or with partner. Take some travel sickness tablets and keep at it.
I was watching a really good viennese waltzer this weekend. I noticed the man was doing some very good looking head movements. Then i realized he was spotting. THe ladies also can do a little exaggerated head turn, which helps to spot. Don't keep your head fixed realtive to your frame. As you go forward (as a lady) in a natural turn, keep your head looking along the line of dance for a fraction longer than you would normally.

The more you do it the easier it gets.

While I'm a guy, the basic Viennese steps are the same for man and woman, just done at different times, lol.

When we first started dancing Viennese, we did it "me around her, her around me" etc. and we literally wore ourselves out. Our instructor showed us the proper way of thinking about going in more of a linear fashion, and that helped greatly.

...and then there are the fleckerels... whee!

Muff. If you go to www.emotiontv.es
You will see the V. Waltz as it is supposed to be. When the screen says loading you must click on Campeonatio if you want Modern. Latin is Baile Latino. The V. Waltz can be likened to putting your head in a washing machine.

Viennese makes most people feel a little sick when you start out. Your instructor is right that spotting can help; however, this can quickly become dangerous, especially as a leader. The most obvious problem is that it is harder to keep track of where you are going, keeping an eye out for where the other dancers and avoiding them, if you are worried about spotting. Spotting is far better when you are doing spins in place rather than with a moving dance like Viennese. Another problem with spotting is that it will cause you to constantly be flipping your head around. Head weight is very important in dancing as your head weighs a great deal. Whenever you change its positioning, you change the balance in the partnership. Try dancing down the floor with a lady who keeps turning her head back and forth. The reason for dance position is that you are each counter-balancing each other. If one of you were to start shifting around, it would thrown the balance off.

I would agree that it is best to start out slowly and let speed come with time. Also, keep in mind that it is meant to be a linear dance. The point of it is to get you down the length of the floor, not spin in tiny circles all the way down. Also, start with American style Viennese. This is slower than international which will give you more time to think/dance.

I think the main problem with dizziness comes from keeping your eyes too low. Note if you just stand normally and keep your head straight you can look as low as the floor 5 feet in front of your toes or as high as the ceiling!
When done properly, WV feels like going mostly in straight lines, there is not much of a rotary feeling to it.
But when you're just starting out, it's hard to do it correctly right away. So what really helped me is to look at the line where the ceining meets the walls. If you're looking too low, at the walls, they are "going too fast" and you get dizzy. Try looking higher. You don't need to lift your chin up more than you should, just do it with your eyes.