WALTZ RHYTHM

The Single, Double and Triple are rhythm units and patterns applicable to dances we dance to 4/4 time music. 

      However, one popular ballroom dance is danced to 3/4 music. The Waltz music has only 3 beats in a measure instead of the usual 4 beats. The 3 beats are one “down-beat” and two “up-beats”. Since this is also the smallest number of beats in Waltz, a unit in the dance is 3 beats of music. In the Waltz, a measure of Music and a rhythm unit in Dance are equal in Time Value. 

     Because these Waltz rhythm units contain 3 beats of music, they are called “3 beat units”. They are encased in a rectangle just like the standard “2 beat units”. However, a BAR is added at the left side of the rectangle to alert the Dance reader to the “extra” beat of music. There are also four basic rhythms for the Waltz. As  in 4/4 Time Rhythm, simply count the dots to determine the number of weight changes in the unit and the pattern.
 

	Waltz BLANK Rhythm	Waltz SINGLE Rhythm
Count	1      2      3	1      2      3
Rhythm
Beat Value	1      1       1	1      1       1
Action	(hold)(hold)(hold)	STEP (hold) (hold)
	No steps or weight changes	One Step on the Down-Beat
	Waltz DOUBLE Rhythm	Waltz TRIPLE Rhythm
Count	1      2      3	1      2      3
Rhythm
Beat Value	1      1      1	1      1      1
Action	STEP (hold ) STEP	STEP STEP STEP
	Two Steps: on the Down-Beat & on the 2nd Up-Beat	Three Steps on  all 3 beats