Vol 5 No 7, November 2011
©2011 Salt Lake Vienna Waltz Association
If you cannot waltz gracefully, do not attempt to waltz at all.
Thomas Hillgrove
San Francisco Waltzing Society hosted its annual Viennese Waltz ball Nov. 12, this year at the Scottish Rite Center
Ballroom near Lake Merritt in Oakland, Calif. The ball is a mustn’t miss event for us, and this year’s was our sixth
straight.
After a lovely and lengthy ─ but still too brief considering the adrenalin it spawns ─ opening Grand March,
choreographed by Society member Michael Silpa, dances were primarily Viennese Waltzes and an occasional Polka.
And when the Saratoga Symphony took its well-deserved breaks, recorded Foxtrot, Swing, and Latin numbers were
danced to. This year, the featured dance was the Ländler waltz, a southern German precursor to Viennese; see www.
youtube.com/watch?v=GK2kV5Qdf9I for an example.
The ballroom floor was a very generous 10,000 square feet, and the few times we ever felt the least bit crowded was
occasionally during the long run past the orchestra. Still, navigation through crowds keeps one’s floor craft sharp.
While we men, in our white tie and tails, look like so many penguins ─ albeit graceful penguins ─ out on the floor,
Viennese Waltz is for the women to show off their finery, and we saw some gorgeous gowns that night.
Still, of the five venues I’ve waltzed at in the Bay Area, last year's, the Presidio Officers Club within view of the Golden
Gate Bridge, is my favorite. Its Mission Revival architecture and the vast grassy expanses of the Golden Gate National
Recreation Area wherein it lies provide a counter-balancing serenity to fast-paced energetic Viennese Waltz. This
year, after last waltz, we hurried back to our car to drive to our hotel. Last year, at the Presidio, we strolled among the
lawns.
The mixer dances are always fun, when one dances with a partner selected at random from round-robin, and this year,
San Francisco held several of them. You can get a full variety of partners at mixers, from beginning box-steppers, to
accomplished waltzers who often teach you a new step or two. I’ve learned from mixers in the past that they’re not
dances to highlight one’s fancier steps, and usually limit myself to reverse and natural turns, plus change steps and an
occasional under-arm turn. This year, I was recovering from a cold and vowed to go easy on myself and my partner.
And then I drew accomplished dancer Jerri Silpa as my partner, one whom I could probably try any step with. But by
then it was late in the evening, the cold had me very tired, and it was all I could do to get Jerri around the floor in one
piece.
Dinner was served prior to Grand March. We were late and arrived during the salad. Of course, once the entrée was
served, we had to have our photograph taken, and by the time we returned to our table, the dinner plates had been
removed. The roast was delicious, I just wish I would have had more time to express my appreciation for it. That’s my
fault, however, and I hope the photo turns out well.
We had a lot of fun, danced far more than we had planned, met new friends, and finally collapsed happily exhausted in
our hotel room well into the wee hours of morning. I thank Gail Enright, Lizzie Bechtold, and the many members and
sponsors of the San Francisco Waltzing Society for a memorable evening.