About the dance performance of the Ländler during the Biedermeier period there remains considerable ambiguity. [Like the Deutscher,] the genre title Ländler represents a category encompassing both the so-called "almeric" (alpine) couple dances ("Steirische," "Wickler" "Schuhplattler") and the "ländlerisch" (rural) group dances. We can say with certainty only that the Ländler is a figure-dance for whose performance a moderate tempo is assumed.Ernst Hamza has noted that the Ländler originally was a couple dance in which "the individual dance couples...had a large individual space at their disposal." The rich choreography of the almeric dances was (and still is) characterized by a number of figures with embracing movements, so that this Ländler type often appears as a lovers' dance. One can infer from dance illustrations in the Biedermeier period that similar arm figures were also typical of social dance, where in fact they were integrated into not the Ländler but [the urban dance most directly derived from it,] the "Straßburger." [the figures in this blog's logo are illustrations of this dance][The Ländler was apparently already being danced in Viennese society as early as 1790.] Around 1818 one can trace several variants of this dance in the repertoire of middle class house balls, where it was often danced in rural costumes. Because of the decorative character of the arm figures, the "Steierische" enjoyed great popularity at these festivities.In the dance instruction manuals of the early 19th century the Ländler is usually called a "Länderer" and its figures are labeled "Ländern."
Reference.
Litschauer, Walburga, and Walter Deutsch. Schubert und das Tanzvergnügen. Vienna: Holzhausen, 1997.
