Please see updated page at www.viennesewaltz.org
Herbert and Carol Traxler have taught the Viennese waltz to hundreds in the Washington, DC, area -- at the Meridian House, the Smithsonian, and the Austrian Embassy. They will teach a one-day Viennese waltz lesson at Meridian House on Sunday afternoon, February 8, 2004. To be put on a mailing list to receive notices of Viennese waltz lessons and balls, send your request (a blank email from your email address where you would like to receive the notices) to viennesewaltz-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.The Traxlers are planning another trip to Vienna for the ball season (with dancing friends) in late December 2003/January 2004. If you are interested in traveling to Vienna with them at some time in the future, please email traxler_tours-subscribe@yahoogroups.com and you will be put on a special email list.
Herbert and Carol Traxler have taught the Viennese waltz to the cotillion of young ladies and gentlemen who performed in the Opening Ceremonies of the two Viennese Opera Balls in Washington, as well as to hundreds of interested Washingtonians who attended their waltz lessons at the Austrian Embassy in 1997 and 1998. They also were invited to give lessons to Chelsea Clinton and her friends and young staffers at the White House. In Fall 2000, the Traxlers taught a series of eight lessons in cooperation with the Smithsonian Associates, held in the Victorian Rotunda of the Smithsonian Arts and Industries Building: In the Spirit of Vienna: Learn to Dance the Viennese Waltz. In Fall 2001 they taught a six-week lesson series in Viennese waltz and a six-week lesson series in Polka and Schottisch at Meridian House. In February 2002, they again taught the Viennese Waltz at Meridian House, and in July 2002, they taught the Viennese waltz at the National Museum of Women in the Arts Ballroom, in preparation for "An Evening In Vienna" held there that month, sponsored by Euronet International. In December 2002, they taught a four-lesson series in Viennese Waltz, Polka, and Mazurka at Meridian House, and in February 2003 they will again teach the Viennese waltz at Meridian House.
Their Viennese waltz lessons include the Viennese waltz (Linkswalzer, Rechtswalzer, hesitation step), posture, dance etiquette, and the Handkuss (hand kiss), as well as an introduction to the Viennese balls and to the Viennese waltz music of the Strauss dynasty. Other dances enjoyed at Viennese balls are also introduced.
Herbert Traxler served on many Opening Committees for Viennese balls during his university days in Vienna. During their February 1996 and February 1999 visits to Austria the Traxlers attended several Viennese balls, and another visit is planned for January 2001. In September 1996 the Traxlers were asked to teach the Viennese waltz to participants in a charity event at the Austrian Embassy, which was attended by Ambassador and Mme. Tuerk; this led to their demonstrating and teaching the Viennese waltz to dancers in the greater Washington area at the Embassy of Austria and many other locations, such as the Willard Hotel and the National Building Museum.
The Traxlers share interests in music and folk dance as well as in the waltz. They met while singing with the Washington Saengerbund, and they married in 1988. They founded the Alpine Dancers as a performing group in 1991. The Alpine Dancers perform Austrian and German folk dances throughout the greater Washington area, and from Pennsylvania to North Carolina. The Traxlers continually expand the dance repertoire of the Alpine Dancers by selecting and teaching dances from materials brought back from regular trips to Austria and from dance festivals and workshops in Austria and the United States. Among the most recent were the 1996 Kreuzbund Volkstanzfest, the 1998 and 1999 Kathreintanz and the 2002 Sommertanzen in Vienna, Austria, the 2000 Marchfelder Volkstanzfest in Schloss Hof, Austria, the 2002 Leopolditanz in Klosterneuburg, Austria and the 1996, 1998, and 2000 German-Austrian Folk Dance Association Tanz Treffen in Dayton, Ohio, Baltimore, Maryland, Cleveland, Ohio, and Lancaster, Pennsylvania; for the latter three they were among the dance instructors.
In March 1999 the Traxlers were honored by the Republic of Austria with the Decoration of Merit in Gold. In December 1999 they participated in the Smithsonian Associates program "The Splendor and Spirit of Vienna: The Music of Johann Strauss." This led to the series of lessons offered in cooperation with the Smithsonian Associates and eventually to the many series of lessons held at Meridian House.
For further detail, see the reports listed below.
" Goldenes Verdienstzeichen sterreichs an Carol und Herbert Traxler verliehen"
Viennese Waltz FAQ | Washington Area Cultural Events | Viennese Opera Ball 1998 | Viennese Opera Ball 1997
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Author: Carol Traxler
(caroltraxler@mail.com) Last update: June 2003 |