Dancesport denotes competitive
ballroom dancingBallroom dance refers to a set of partner dances, which are enjoyed both socially and competitively around the globe. Its performance and entertainment aspects are also widely enjoyed on stage, in film, and on television....
at events that are sanctioned and regulated by dancesport organizations.
Internationally, dancesport is governed by the
World Dance CouncilThe World Dance Council Ltd , known as World Dance & Dance Sport Council Ltd until June 1, 2006, and as the International Council of Ballroom Dancing until 1996, was established at a meeting organised by P.J.S Richardson on September 22, 1950 in Edinburgh.Initially consisting of nine European...
(WDC). This operates through a General Council and two Standing World Committees:
- The World Dance Sport Committee, which deals with all matters of professional Dance Sport.
- The World Social Dance Committee, which deals with all matters of the dance profession that relate to the activities of Dance Schools and Dance Teachers.
- The WDC Amateur League is charged with developing this area.
The WDC amateur league is the largest free amateur governing body for ballroom dancing in the world.
Dancesport denotes competitive
ballroom dancingBallroom dance refers to a set of partner dances, which are enjoyed both socially and competitively around the globe. Its performance and entertainment aspects are also widely enjoyed on stage, in film, and on television....
at events that are sanctioned and regulated by dancesport organizations.
Internationally, dancesport is governed by the
World Dance CouncilThe World Dance Council Ltd , known as World Dance & Dance Sport Council Ltd until June 1, 2006, and as the International Council of Ballroom Dancing until 1996, was established at a meeting organised by P.J.S Richardson on September 22, 1950 in Edinburgh.Initially consisting of nine European...
(WDC). This operates through a General Council and two Standing World Committees:
- The World Dance Sport Committee, which deals with all matters of professional Dance Sport.
- The World Social Dance Committee, which deals with all matters of the dance profession that relate to the activities of Dance Schools and Dance Teachers.
- The WDC Amateur League is charged with developing this area.
The WDC amateur league is the largest free amateur governing body for ballroom dancing in the world. Dance is popular in many countries, and competitive ballroom dance is featured in television programs such as
Strictly Come DancingStrictly Come Dancing is a British television show, featuring celebrities with professional dance partners competing in Ballroom and Latin dances. The title of the show suggests a continuation of the long-running series Come Dancing, with an allusion to the film Strictly Ballroom...
,
Dancing with the StarsDancing with the Stars is the name of a group of international television series based on the format of the British TV series Strictly Come Dancing, which is distributed by BBC Worldwide - the commercial arm of the BBC...
and
Eurovision Dance ContestThe Eurovision Dance Contest is an international dancing competition that was held for the first time in the United Kingdom on Saturday 1 September 2007....
.
The status of the
International Dancesport FederationThe International DanceSport Federation , which was founded in 1957 as "ICAD," is the federation that governs the rules applied to, and the granting of, all international Dancesport competitions.IDSF is a member of various other federations:...
(IDSF) in this structure is now somewhat ambiguous. The
International Olympic CommitteeThe International Olympic Committee is an organization based in Lausanne, Switzerland, created by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas on 23 June 1894. Its membership consists of the 205 National Olympic Committees....
granted full IOC Recognition of DanceSport and of IDSF as sole representative body on September 5th, 1997. At that point, many dance organisations changed their titles to incorporate the words Dance Sport or Dancesport. However, it has become clear that so far no nation organising the Olympic Games will tolerate, let alone promote, Dancesport as an Olympic event. That applies even to London 2012, and England was for decades the centre of ballroom dancing. Thus the hoped-for flow of sport money from governments is unlikely to be realised. Consequently, the IDSF has receded in importance and influence.
The basic membership for both the EDC and the IDSF are the controlling bodies for ballroom dance in each individual country. It is quite consistent for countries to join as many international organisations as they see fit. For all practical purposes, the WDC is the world's senior organisation, and the IDSF is also significant.
History
The first world championship took place in 1909 and the first formation team competed in 1932. Dancesport was first broadcast on TV in 1960.
Styles
The term
dancesport applys only to the International Style of competitive ballroom (often referred to as Standard or Modern) dancing and Latin dancing. Today, it includes the following style categories:
- Standard
- Latin American
- Ten Dance
- Rock ‘n’ Roll
These categories apply to both individual couples and
formation danceFormation dance is a style of dancing in which is a choreographed dance routine is performed by several dance couples, called the formation team. The choreography may be based on a particular dance or a medley of dances...
.
Competitions
There are a wide variety of dance competitions, ranging from the well known
Blackpool Dance FestivalThe 8-day Blackpool Dance Festival is the world's first and most famous annual ballroom dance competition of international significance, held in the Winter Gardens, Blackpool, England since 1920. It is also the largest ballroom competition: in 2003, 1539 couples from 54 countries took part in the...
which is an event open to all competitors. Competitions conducted exclusively for university students, such as those hosted by the
Inter Varsity Dance AssociationThe Inter Varsity Dance Association is a non profit student, administrative organisation, which promotes dancing amongst UK university students...
in the UK.
Amateur competitions commonly include events that group dancers by age, experience, or both. For example, events might group young dancers by age, such as: juvenile (<12yrs), junior (12-16yrs), and youth (16-19yrs). Events may sometimes cover a wide range of ages, with groupings such as: under 21yrs, adult, Senior I (Over 35yrs), Senior II (Over 45yrs), and Senior III (Over 50yrs). Adult competitions are often further divided into categories such as beginner, novice, intermediate, pre-amateur, and amateur.
Rules
The music for competitions is kept confidential until the event. The music always follows a strict tempo and, for a couples competition, it will usually have a duration of no more than 90 seconds. Some competitions are restricted to "basic" steps and others to "open" steps, but the style of dance and tempo is strictly governed. Lifts are not allowed under the rules Couples are marked under the
skating systemThe Skating system is a method of compiling scores in ballroom dance competitions. It was introduced by the British Official Board of Ballroom Dancing in 1937...
and judged by timing, footwork, rise and fall, alignment, direction and floor craft. Competitors must meet World Anti-Doping Agency rules.
Dancesport and the Olympics
The IDSF, which has campaigned for dancesport's inclusion at the Olympic games, is recognized by the
International Olympic CommitteeThe International Olympic Committee is an organization based in Lausanne, Switzerland, created by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas on 23 June 1894. Its membership consists of the 205 National Olympic Committees....
as the governing body for dancesport. To date, dancesport has not been included in the Olympic games.
The physical demands of Dancesport has been the subject of scientific research.
See also
- List of DanceSport dances
- World Ballroom Dance Champions
- World Latin Dance Champions
- World 10 Dance Champions
- List of dance organizations
- Dance basic topics
- Dancesport at the 2005 Southeast Asian Games
Dancesport was an event at the 2005 Southeast Asian Games. The competition took place on November 27, 2005 in the Main Hall of the Waterfront Hotel in Cebu City, Philippines.Medals were contested in 2 dance categories.* Latin American dances...
- Formation dance
Formation dance is a style of dancing in which is a choreographed dance routine is performed by several dance couples, called the formation team. The choreography may be based on a particular dance or a medley of dances...
- English amateur dancesport association ltd
External links