Its existence as a salon dance began in 1815, during the Congress of Vienna (due to the numerous balls that accompanied it, it was ironically called the “dancing congress”). When this faster version of the waltz (tempo: approx. 60 bars/min), full of fast swirls, was danced in front of the court in Vienna for the first time, the reactions were different. Ladies ostentatiously left the ballroom, considering it immoral to embrace each other in public while dancing, others believed that constant spinning while dancing could cause various diseases and even lead to death. Despite these reservations, until the mid-19th century, the Viennese waltz was an integral part of balls at courts in almost all of Europe, except for England and Switzerland, where it was long forbidden. The music created by Johannes Strauss (Imperial Waltz, The Blue Danube) had a special contribution to the development of the waltz. The Viennese waltz is the oldest competition standard dance.
