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World DanceSport Federation

See also: Categories: Organizations, Federations

Category: International Sport Federation
Officially Founded: May 12, 1957
Current President: Shawn Tay
Headquarters: Maison du Sport International - Lausanne, Switzerland
Magnitude: 90 member countries

Definition

The World DanceSport Federation (WDSF), formerly known as the International DanceSport Federation (IDSF), refers to the International Sports Governing Body of DanceSport and Wheelchair DanceSport. WDSF is recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the International Paralympic Committee (IPC).

Overview

The World DanceSport Federation (WDSF) was originally founded in 1957 as the International Council of Amateur Dancers (ICAD) in Wiesbaden, Germany. It then took up the name of the International DanceSport Federation (IDSF) in 1990. In 2011, it was renamed as the World DanceSport Federation (WDSF) to emphasize the global character of the organization.

WDSF is now a non-governmental international organization constituted under Swiss law. It has its headquarters at Maison du Sport International in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Mission

The mission of WDSF is to regulate, administer and develop DanceSport for the benefit of millions of athletes at every level and on all continents.

Historical Events

  • 1935 - Fédération Internationale de Danse pour Amateurs (FIDA) is founded in Prague, Czech Republic.
  • 1956 - FIDA is dissolved.
  • 1957 - WDSF is founded under the name of International Council of Amateur Dancers (ICAD) in Wiesbaden, Germany on May 12.
  • 1960 - First TV broadcast of a DanceSport competition airs in Germany.
  • 1990 - ICAD changes its name to the International DanceSport Federation (IDSF).
  • 1992 - IDSF becomes a member of the General Association of International Sports Federations (SportAccord).
  • 1995 - IDSF and DanceSport are provisionally recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). World Rock 'n' Roll Council (WRRC) joins IDSF. IDSF becomes a member of the the International World Games Association (IWGA).
  • 1997 - IDSF and DanceSport are granted full recognition by the 106th Session of the International Olympic Committee in Lausanne, Switzerland. IDSF becomes a member of the Association of IOC Recognized International Sports Federations (ARISF). IDSF enters into a representation agreement with the International Management Group (IMG) for the production and worldwide distribution of DanceSport television coverage. DanceSport premieres in The World Games held under the auspices of IWGA and the patronage of the IOC.
  • 2001 - IDSF establishes an Anti-Doping Commission and subscribes to the World Anti-Doping Code.
  • 2003 - IDSF creates the WDSF Grand Slam Series for Latin and Standard.
  • 2003 - International Dance Organization (IDO) joins IDSF.
  • 2006 - IDSF establishes an Athletes' Commission and a Disciplinary Council.
  • 2007 - IDSF celebrates the golden jubilee of its founding at the Annual General Assembly (AGM) held in Barcelona, ESP. IDSF presents its development plan VISION 2012 to the AGM. IDSF launches the Eurovision Dance Contest in association with the European Broadcasting Union. IDSF assists professional athletes in creating their own organisation, the International Professional DanceSport Council (IPDSC), and collaborates with it in all matters pertaining to competitions, rules and compliance with the Anti-Doping Code.
  • 2008 - IDSF starts implementation of the VISION 2012 plan.
  • 2009 - IDSF VISION 2012 Working Group meets for the first time. IDSF beats all existing attendance records with the DanceSport events at The World Games 2009 Kaohsiung, TPE. IDSF draws up the first blueprints for games of the artistic sports under the working title “Sport & Art” and involves SportAccord in their development.
  • 2010 - IPDSC dissolves and becomes the IDSF Professional Division. IDSF urges all National Member Bodies to organise tournaments for professional athletes within their competition structures. DanceSport premieres in the Asian Games held in Guangzhou, China.
  • 2011 - The IDSF Annual General Meeting held in Luxembourg agrees to change the name of the federation to World DanceSport Federation - WDSF.
  • 2013 - The World DanceSport Games were held in Kaohsiung, Taipei.
  • 2016 - On 6th December Breaking was accepted into the 2018 Youth Olympic Games.
  • 2017 - Marked the 60th Anniversary for the WDSF.

Relations with the World Dance Council (WDC)

The WDSF is not the only international organization in the field of competitive dance. The World Dance Council is another prominent international dance organization.

In the past, the focus of the World Dance Council was administering professional dancers and competitions. However, the launch of the World Dance Council Amateur League in 2007 put the two organizations in direct conflict. The launch of the IDSF Professional Division in 2010 has since become an additional point of conflict.

The WDSF prohibits its members from participating in any competition that is not listed and registered by either WDSF or a WDSF National Member Body. WDC competitions fall into this prohibited category. This policy was revoked in 2012 at the Annual General Meeting by vote of the members. The WDSF now supports an athletes "right to dance".

WDSF Professional Division (PD)

The WDSF Professional Division was legally established in June 2010 at the IDSF Annual General Meeting in Vienna by the amendment of the IDSF Statutes. The Division became operational within the structures of IDSF by the decision of the General Meeting of the International Professional DanceSport Council (IPDSC) on August 15 in Stuttgart to dissolve IPDSC as an independent body and to merge it into IDSF (with the new name WDSF since June 19, 2011, adopted at the General Meeting in Luxembourg).

IPDSC, as predecessor of the WDSF Professional Division, was established in 2007 following the proposal of the Italian DanceSport Federation and supported by IDSF. Its first President was Mr. Peter Maxwell, followed by Mr. Daniele Tondon when Peter Maxwell had to retire for personal reasons and was awarded with the title Honorary Life President.

Even prior to merging IPDSC into the IDSF Professional Division, IDSF President Mr. Carlos Freitag and IPDSC President Mr. Daniele Tondon had been encouraging IDSF National Member Bodies as well as IPDSC Members to work on establishing professional divisions or departments within the IDSF National Member Bodies. In the WDSF Professional Division, this process has been further encouraged under the leadership of Mr. Aleksandr Melnikov who took over the position of WDSF Professional Division Director from Daniele Tondon in 2011. The same policy is carried on under the actual Professional Division Director Mrs. Verena Sulek.

WDSF Champions

See the full list of WDSF Champions here.

Vision

“Vision 2012” is an ambitious development plan for WDSF to redefine its mission and to serve an even broader constituent base. At the core of the vision is the holistic view on DanceSport, an interpretation of DanceSport as the single and encompassing brand uniting all forms of dance practiced as sport.

Presidents

Members

WDSF has 91 national member associations, 67 of which are recognized by the National Olympic Committee (NOC). Eighty-one of them are full members while 10 are provisional (temporary) members.

Full Members

Country Member Name NOC recognized
Albania Albanian Dance Sport Federation Yes
Andorra Federació Andorrana de Ball Esportiu No
Argentina Asociación Argentina de Baile Deportivo No
Armenia Armenian Dance Sport Federation Yes
Australia Dancesport Australia Ltd. Yes
Austria Austrian DanceSport Federation No
Azerbaijan Azerbaijan Dance Sport Federation Yes
Belarus Belarusian Dance Sport Federation Yes
Belgium Belgian Dancesport Federation Yes
Bosnia and Herzegovina Dance Sport Association of Bosnia and Herzegovina No
Bulgaria Bulgarian Dance Sport Federation Yes
Canada Canada DanceSport Yes
Chile Federación Chilena de Baile Deportivo y Competición Yes
People's Republic of China Chinese DanceSport Federation Yes
Chinese Taipei Chinese Taipei DanceSport Federation Yes
Croatia Croatian Dance Sport Federation Yes
Cyprus Cyprus Federation of Social and Sport Dance Yes
Czech Republic Czech Dance Sport Federation Yes
Denmark Danmarks Sportdanserforbund Yes
Ecuador Federación Ecuatoriana de Baile Deportivo Yes
England DanceSport England No
Estonia Estonian Dance Sport Association Yes
Finland Finnish Dance Sport Association Yes
France Fédération Française de Danse Yes
Georgia Georgian National DanceSport Federation Yes
Germany Deutscher Tanzsportverband e.V. No
Greece National DanceSport Federation of Greece No
Hong Kong Hong Kong DanceSport Association Limited Yes
Hungary Hungarian Dancesport Association No
Iceland Icelandic Dance Sport Federation, DSI Yes
India All India Dance Sport Federation No
Indonesia Indonesian Dancesport Association Yes
Ireland DanceSport Ireland, LTD No
Israel The Israel Dance Sport Association Yes
Italy Federazione Italiana Danza Sportiva Yes
Japan Japan DanceSport Federation Yes
Kazakhstan DanceSport Federation of Kazakhstan Yes
Kyrgyzstan Dance Sport Federation of the Kyrgyz Republic Yes
Latvia Latvian Dance Sport Federation Yes
Lebanon Lebanese Dance Sport Federation Yes
Lesotho Lesotho Dance Sport Association Yes
Liechtenstein Liechtensteiner Tanzsportverband Yes
Lithuania Lithuanian Dance Sport Federation Yes
Luxembourg DanceSport Federation Luxembourg Yes
Macao Macau DanceSport Federation Yes
Macedonia Macedonian Dance Sport Federation No
Malaysia Malaysia DanceSport Federation No
Malta Malta Dancesport Association Yes
Mexico Federation Mexicana De Baile A.C. No
Moldova Moldova Dance Sport Federation Yes
Monaco The Monaco DanceSport Association Stade Louis II No
Mongolia The Mongolia DanceSport Federation Yes
Montenegro Montenegro Dance Sport Federation Yes
Netherlands Nederlandse Algemene Danssport Bond Yes
New Zealand New Zealand Dancesport Association Yes
Northern Ireland DanceSport Northern Ireland Ltd No
Norway Norges Danseforbund Yes
Philippines DanceSport Council of the Philippines, Inc Yes
Poland Dance Sport Federation Poland Yes
Portugal Federacao Portuguesa de Danca Desportiva Yes
Romania Romanian DanceSport Federation Yes
Russia Russian DanceSport Union Yes
San Marino San Marino DanceSport Federation No
Scotland DanceSport Scotland No
Serbia DanceSport Federation of Serbia Yes
Singapore Singapore DanceSport Federation Yes
Slovakia Slovak Dance Sport Federation Yes
Slovenia Slovene Dancesport Federation Yes
South Africa Federation of Dance Sport South Africa Yes
Korea Korean Federation of DanceSport Yes
Spain Spanish DanceSport Federation No
Sweden Svenska Danssportförbundet Yes
Switzerland Schweizer Tanzsport Verband Yes
Thailand Thailand DanceSport Association Yes
Trinidad and Tobago National Ballroom Dance Association of Trinidad and Tobago Yes
Turkey Turkish DanceSport Federation No
Ukraine All Ukrainian DanceSport Federation Yes
United States USA Dance Yes
Uzbekistan Uzbekistan Dance Sport Federation Yes
Vietnam Vietnam DanceSport Association Yes
Wales DanceSport Wales No

Provisional Members

Country Member Name NOC Recognized
Botswana Botswana DanceSport Association Yes
Brazil Conselho Nacional de Dança Desportiva e de Salão Yes
Cameroon Fédération Camerounaise Des Danses Sportives et Assimilé No
Colombia Federación Colombiana de Baile Deportivo No
Dominican Republic Federacion Dominicana Baile de Salón Deportivo Yes
Madagascar Comité de Mise en place de la Fédération Malgache de Danse Sportive No
Mongolia Mongolian Dancesport Federation Yes
Namibia Namibia Amateur Dance Sport Association Yes
Syria Syrian Federation of Sport- DanceSport Committee Yes
Zimbabwe Zimbabwe Amateur Dance Sport Association No

Provisional Members

Country Member Name
International Federation, Legal Seat Switzerland World Rock'n'Roll Confederation (WRRC)
United States

WDSF Membership in other Organizations


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