!!!Volkstanz

Folk Dancing: The roots of Austrian folk dancing lie not only in the 
rural peasant milieu, but numerous elements of dances cultivated at 
the Imperial Court and in towns can also be found in the folk dance. 
Folk dancing in Austria takes on a variety of forms and is performed 
for various reasons: to cultivate social contacts and preserve 
traditions and for prestige or image purposes. Organised dances only 
take place at specific times (Carnival season, May dances after 
Easter, harvest dances in autumn) or on certain occasions (weddings, 
fairs, balls). Ritual mask dances are mostly related to customs of the 
Christmas season. Among the most widespread dance forms are the 
"Kranzltanz" (taking off of the bridal wreath,  Wedding 
Customs), "Bandltanz" (ribbon dance), 
"Sechsertanz" (six-dance, Austrian contredanse from 
Vorarlberg),  Schuhplattler (originally a courtship dance performed 
and freely interpreted by single dancers during which the dancer hits 
his shoe soles with the flat hand, today always performed by groups of 
dancers), and  Laendler. The basic dance forms, which are danced in 
all of Austria, are the open waltz, "Hiatamadl" 
(shepherdess´s dance), "Bauernmadl" (peasant 
girl´s dance), "Schottischer", 
"Neudeutscher" ("new German" dance), 
"Siebenschritt" (seven-step), "Studentenpolka", 
"Kreuzpolka" (cross polka), "Jaegermarsch" 
(hunter´s march), "Rheinlaender", 
"Schwedischer", "Bayrisch-Polka" or 
"Boarischer" (Bavarian polka), "Neubayrischer" 
(new Bavarian polka), and "Krebspolka" (crab polka). There 
is a close connection between the emergence of the folk dancing 
movement in Austria and the first attempts to document and describe 
folk dances, with R.  Zoder starting his activity in this field before 
the First World War. Availing himself of the precise language of 
gymnastics, he was the first in Austria to link the description of 
dance movements to the leading melody of a particular dance, and his 
students continued his analyses in the German-speaking areas of the 
Austro-Hungarian Monarchy. In the time between the two World Wars, the 
cultivation of folk dancing, which has always been associated with the 
cultivation of the  Folk Song and folk costumes ( Trachten), was 
actively supported by the Austrian state. In some areas, the 
traditional folk dance culture has been handed down through the 
generations without interruption and is still very much alive today. 
Dance events, both for training and entertainment, are organised by 
the various folk dance groups and circles which exist in all the 
provinces. The oldest among them is the "Arbeitsgemeinschaft der 
Wiener Volkstanz-Gruppen" (association of Viennese folk dance 
groups, founded in 1949), the organiser of the famous "Wiener 
Kathreintanz" (Vienna St. Catherine´s dance), which 
attracts more than 1,000 dancers every year. The federal umbrella 
organisation "Bundesarbeitsgemeinschaft oesterreichischer 
Volkstanz" publishes the journal "Der froehliche 
Kreis".

!Literature
R. Wolfram, Die Volkstaenze in Oesterreich und verwandte 
Taenze in Europa, 1951; I. Peter, Tanzbeschreibungen, Tanzforschung, 
1983; O. Schneider, Tanzlexikon, 1985; Schriftenreihe Volkstanz, 
1988ff. - Tanzbeschreibungen: R. Zoder, Oesterreichische Volkstaenze, 
3 parts, 1946-1955; A. Novak, Steirische Taenze %%sup 2/%1949; H. 
Lager and H. Derschmidt, Oesterreichische Taenze, 1959; E. 
Schuetzenberger and H. Derschmidt, Spinnradl, unser Tanzbuch, 
5 parts, without date; H. Dreo, Volkstaenze aus dem Burgenland, 
1961; F. Koschier, Kae. Volkstaenze, 2 parts, 1963; K. Horak and 
E. Hofer, Vorarlberger Volkstaenze, 1971; K. Horak, Ti. Volkstanzbuch, 
1974; L. Berghold, Volkstaenze aus Niederoesterreich, 2 parts, 
1975-1988; I. Peter, Salzburger Taenze, 1975; H. Lager and H. Seidl, 
Kontratanz in Wien, 1983; H. Derschmidt, Taenze aus Oberoesterreich, 
1985.


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