WDSF World DanceSport Championships
See also: Categories: Organizations, Federations
Officially Founded: May 12, 1957
Current President: Shawn Tay
Headquarters: Maison du Sport International - Lausanne, Switzerland
Magnitude: 90 member countries
Definition
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
- Otto Teipe, Germany (May 12, 1957 – May 13, 1962)
- Heinrich Bronner, Germany (May 13, 1962 – June 23, 1963)
- Rolf Finke, Germany (June 23, 1963 – June 27, 1965)
- Detlef Hegemann, Germany (June 27, 1965–1998)
- Rudolf Baumann, Switzerland (1998 – June 11, 2006)
- Carlos Freitag, Spain (June 11, 2006 – 2016)
- Lukas Hinder, Switzerland (2016 - 2018)
- Shawn Tay, Singapore (2018 - current)
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
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
- SportAccord (formerly General Association of International Sports Federations (GASIF))
- International World Games Association (IWGA)
- Association of IOC Recognised International Sports Federations (ARISF)
- International Masters Games Association (IMGA)
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