The Valse Imperiale is an easy waltz sequence dance composed by R. T. Almond around 1917.
Both facing LOD, holding inside hands.
Part I - Forward and Back (4 bars): Walk three steps forward along LOD (1, 2, 3), then balance forward on inside foot (4). Then walk three steps back against LOD (1, 2, 3), and step side against LOD (4), facing partner.
Part II - Rollaway and Promenade (4 bars): A complete waltz rollaway along LOD, Lead turning left and Follow turning right (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6). Then take two hands and promenade two slow steps (1, 4) along LOD (forward, cross through), dipping slightly on the second step.
Part III - Underarm Turn and Sway (4 bars): Keeping only the leading hands, the Follow waltzes under the hands as the Lead walks forward along LOD (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6). Then sway along LOD (1) and against LOD (4).
Part III - Waltz (4 bars): Two full turns of waltz (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 / 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6).
Repeat from the beginning.
Waltz music.
R. T. Almond's "Valse Imperiale" was written specifically for the dance, but it doesn't look like it was ever recorded.
© 2019 Nick Enge
For more dance descriptions, see our three books on dancing:
The Book of Mixers: 100 Easy-Teach Dances for Getting Acquainted (2022) by Richard Powers and Nick & Melissa Enge,
Cross-Step Waltz: A Dancer's Guide (2019) by Richard Powers and Nick & Melissa Enge, and
Waltzing: A Manual for Dancing and Living (2013) by Richard Powers and Nick Enge.
For full-length teaching videos, visit: University of Dance.
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