The waltz is associated with some of the greatest music ever composed and is often danced in the finest concert venues in the world. But the waltz has humble origins, appearing in the mid-18th century as the walzer and danced by peasants in the mountain villages of central Europe. But by the 19th century, the dance now known as the waltz was gaining so much popularity that musical pieces were being written especially for it, most famously 'The Blue Danube' by Johann Strauss II.
Click through and whirl and twirl through the history of the waltz.