100 Years of DanceSport in Germany 28/09/2012

On 10 of December 1912 the first DanceSport competition in Germany was held in Berlin, in the Admiral`s Palace. Until then, dancing was above all an accepted form of socialising and/or personal amusement. With this competition the preception started to change. The people realised that special skills, physical fitness, creativity and even artistic expression were required. That Dance can be Sport!

In the first competition, three dances were on the programme: the Boston, the Onestep and the Tango. The couples had to dance these  dances, but did not know the order in advance. They had to show their creativity in finding new steps and to connect the dances in a perfect way. So creativity was one of the criteria that they were judged on. The competitions of 100 years ago and today's competitions have one thing in common: everybody discusses the markings and their results.

Within the last hundred years the sport programme has changed a lot, we don't have only the Standard and Latin dances. Many different dance styles became very popular too: Rock`n Roll, Boogie Woogie,Jazz and Modern Dance, Carnival Dance, Baton Twirling, Western and Country Dance, Wheelchair Dancing, Salsa, Disco Fox, Formation. With many of them uniting under the common label "DanceSport," the WDSF Vision 2012 turns into reality.

DanceSport Germany (the new brand of DTV) and, as host of the gala, DTV President Franz Allert and his charming wife Marion celebrated the centennial on 22 September 2012 with a Gala and Ball in Berlin, Hotel Maritim. Many World,  European and German Champions of the different disciplines were presented in a show programme as well as in videos.

All guests enjoyed the memories and the performances of the dance couples and teams. I am quite sure that they will remember the evening for a long time.