This past week, the Oklahoma Christian University study abroad program had the opportunity to take an hour long waltzing class to learn the traditional Viennese ballroom dancing style. Each spring, the city of Vienna has over four-hundred balls during the season of Carnival from Nov. 11 through the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday, also known as Faschingdienstag.
Sarah Graves, a sophomore majoring in sports management from Lipscomb University, is studying abroad in Vienna with Oklahoma Christian University this semester.
“So far, studying abroad has been super cool, super fun. It’s been great to see all the great architecture all over Europe and specifically in Vienna. I also love the Ubahn, being able to walk everywhere, and the easy transportation,” said Graves.
The Ubahn is the local subway train in Vienna, which study abroad students have access to during their time in the city.
On her experience learning how to waltz with the program, Graves said:
“It was so fun, I decided to waltz with my now roommate, Haley-Kate Nelms, we only stepped on each other’s toes like maybe 30 times.”
During the waltzing class, students also learned about the history of the Viennese waltz and the ways waltzing has been incorporated into modern Austrian culture.
“In Vienna, there is a New Years Eve tradition that when it turns midnight, the first thing that happens is the [“The Blue Danube” by Johann Strauss II] famous Viennese waltz song plays and everyone just pairs up with somebody and starts waltzing,” said Graves. “It’s currently the Viennese ball season, so lots of big events are happening around Vienna. They dress up really nice, and then they all waltz. The expensive ones are towards the end of the season, like the Opera ball,” Graves said.
Hayley-Kate Nelms, a sophomore majoring in theater design and production at Lipscomb, is also studying abroad in Vienna this semester.
“My experience in Vienna has been amazing. I loved getting to try different coffee shops and different pastries at coffee shops, but mainly every time I go somewhere, I just order an espresso because it is just unmatched,” said Nelms.
On her experience in the waltzing class, Nelms said:
“Learning how to waltz was so fun, especially with my waltzing partner, Sarah. I learned how to waltz in high school, but it was a different type of waltzing. So it was interesting seeing the knowledge that I already had, how it translated and how it was different. I don’t think I’d ever really experienced something like that before. Not just waltzing, but traditional dancing isn’t really something that happens in America, at least not in my personal culture. So I think it was interesting just seeing how other people live and how I could learn from them and make my own culture more interesting. I thought the instructors were really fun and really engaging, and actually, they gave good feedback too. Even though it was a short session, I feel like I learned a lot and improved, even just in that one hour.”
Throughout the study abroad program, students have been prompted to be mindful of culture differences and be observant of the ways European culture may differ from American culture and how it can be similar, too.
“I think the biggest thing that I learned was the New Year’s Eve dancing in the streets. I thought that was really, really interesting and very different from our culture in America. If people are out in the streets on New Year’s Eve, they’re just kind of partying. I’m sure they probably do that to some extent in Vienna, but starting the year with waltzing, it feels very classical. I think that’s just an interesting insight,” Nelms said.
While Viennese ball season has come to an end, students are now equipped with the art of the Viennese Waltz. The Oklahoma Christian study abroad program is heading into their second weekend of international travel, with nine more weeks left in the semester.
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