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Issue 2015/03: Other Dances

::: ISSUE 2015/03 ::: 29 JUNE 2015 :::

Other Dances

Other Dances The 2015 WDSF General Meeting in Granada, ESP, amended the Competition Rules with a view to make their general provisions applicable to ‘Other Dances’ and to provide detailed rules for some of the dance styles falling under the rather non-descriptive name.

‘Other Dances’ in the context of two motions that were presented by the Presidium based on the recommendations of the Sports Commission refers to a list of dances ‘other than’ Standard and Latin.

Once WDSF started to take a more holistic view on DanceSport – consistent with its VISION 2012 – it soon chose to add a number of new dance styles to the generic. In September 2013, it was able to showcase the sport's full breadth in the inaugural edition of the WDSF World DanceSport Games. Altogether 14 different disciplines were contested during the games in Kaohsiung, TPE.

All competitions other than those in disciplines involving Latin and Standard were staged under rules administered by the respective WDSF Associate Member: the World Rock ‘n’ Roll Confederation (Rock ‘n’ Roll, Boogie Woogie), the World Country and Line DanceSport Federation (Line Dance), the International Federation of Cheerleading (Cheerleading) and the International Dance Organisation (Caribbean, Hip Hop).  Wheelchair was conducted under the Rules of the International Paralympic Committee, a WDSF Collaborating Organisation.

Applying all these different rules in a single event held under the banner of WDSF, the governing body arrived at the conclusion that there is a need for unification in the most pertinent parts. With the amendment of the WDSF Competition Rules as per 15 June 2015, the scope of influence of determined sections therein is extended to all the other DanceSport disciplines, and the WDSF Rules complement those of the Associate Members in important aspects such as the application of the WDSF Anti-Doping Code, the Codes of Conduct and Standards of Ethics for athletes and adjudicators, etc.

After the International Dance Organisation chose not to renew its Associate Membership with WDSF and withdrew from projects such as World DanceSport Games, the need arose for WDSF to author and administer its own rules for six DanceSport disciplines.  

  • Artistic
  • Caribbean
  • Folkloric
  • Performing, Stage and Theater
  • Smooth
  • Urban

“The objective of WDSF authoring detailed rules for these dances is to provide more athletes with more pathways to practise dance as sport,” WDSF Sports Director Marco Sietas explains. “By doing so we provide our National Member Bodies with the framework for them to continually develop and grow DanceSport in their countries,” he adds. “It is not a matter of simply organising World Championships in these other dances but to establish a comprehensive competition structure for each and every one of them. That is the ambitious project we pursue under our 2020 VISION!”