Hi! I wondered what simple steps are available to negotiate the corners? I can do the Closed Changes and Natural Turn (after a fashion). Thanks for the help.

i caught sight of something which reminded me of a topic i wanted to raise - dizziness.
Is it the case that the dizziness 'problem' can be tackled by simply practising..practising.. until the brain adapts?
I once read this assertion in the context of ballet dancing.
Here in Ireland we have a dance called "old-time" or "irish" waltz. It's like viennese but no Fleckerels, and is danced to a slower tempo of 52 - 55 bars per minute. It's very popular since it's easy to learn, and it's danced by EVERYone socially. Of course, there's a dizziness 'problem' which seems to be solved in the social context by minimisisng the turning or doing lots of naturals and reverses.
In competitions (there are "waltzing competitions" - very popular) most dancers try to do mainly naturals because it looks better. But then there's the dizzines.....

In Viennese, I'll spot with my eyes (not with my head) for a couple of seconds at a time...ie, as I go by a spot on the wall, I'll watch it for as long as I can without moving my head out of position. Then I'll pick another spot, and so on. This way the view isn't constantly moving! Between this and changing directions from time to time, I never get dizzy in Viennese. Tired, yes. Afraid for my life, often. Dizzy, no.

In Int'l style, there are no figures made specifically for getting around corners. Generally you just underturn a couple of Naturals and gradually curve around.

In American style, you can use some combination of Hesitations, such as

(1) LF forward Hes down LOD, then 4-6 Reverse Turn (lady won't cross) with 1/4 turn to L to face new LOD,

(2) 1-3 Natural Turn, then LF diag back Hesitation toward DW turning an additional 1/8 to R to set up for a Natural down the new LOD, or

(3) 1-6 Natural Turn with 3/4 total turn to end facing new LOD, then side Hes on RF (or side & slightly back), preparing a Rev Turn down new LOD.

Have fun with 'em!

Regards,
Jonathan Atkinson

It's substantially easier to make naturals turns curve slightly than it is to accomplish the 180 degrees of turn per measure you would need to take them straight down the line of dance. So simply do a series of naturals that curves around the short end of the ballroom. Then switch to something else (reverses turns) for the long walls so as not to get dizzy.

(You did mean viennese waltz and not slow waltz, right?)

Have you tried just looking at a spot on the ceiling?

Gil.

Only if you're lucky. Honestly, if I'm so fortunate as to dance with a follow that can fly down the floor in VW, I'm usually more concerned for the welfare of others ... that whirling dervish has an awful lot of momentum behind it.