WDSF BREAKING CONGRESS DEEMED SUCCESSFUL, STANDARD & LATIN CONGRESS TO FOLLOW 22/06/2021

The World DanceSport Federation (WDSF)’s Breaking Congress was successfully held on the 15^th, 17^th and 19^th of June, attracting close to 1,000 people and generating both positive feedback and interest in additional workshops in the future.  

Led by experts from the Breaking community, lectures were offered free of charge on topics ranging from how to meet the requirements of the Olympic scoring system to the historic context of moves and order of progression.

It was the first opportunity for b-boys and b-girls to receive a clearer idea of the judging system that will be used at Paris 2024, one based on the Trivium system used at the Youth Olympic Games Buenos Aires 2018.

“The Congress was a great success,” said Storm, who together with DJ Renegade are responsible for creating Trivium. “People from all over the world showed up. I am hoping people keep spreading the knowledge. Each one reaches one teach one.”

The WDSF received many requests following the end of the Congress for the workshops to be shared online so those who were unable to attend live could also have the opportunity to benefit from them.

Joining Storm (Germany) and Renegade (UK) as lecturers were Nemesis (USA), Focus (Finland), Kareem (USA), and Roxy (UK).

Storm and Renegade provided a workshop on “What judges look for in a Trivium Judging System” that proved to be the most popular of the three-day Congress.

On Day 2, Nemisis presented on “The Historic Context of Moves and Order of Progression,” while Focus delivered a presentation on “Qualifying at High Level Events.” The third and final day saw Roxy discuss “Battling at a High Level as a B-girl” and Kareem detailing “How to Structure High Level Rounds.”

“We will not stop providing opportunities for our dancers to keep educating themselves,” said WDSF President Shawn Tay. “And that means all dancers, from Breakers to our Standard and Latin pairs. As the pandemic continues to limit travelling, training and competition opportunities, we will continue to assist our athletes in their ongoing learning and improvement as well as providing alternative sources of motivation during these difficult times. We are pleased with the success of the Congress and especially all the positive feedback we received and vow to organise more on the road to Paris 2024.”

The Congress, which was open to all b-boys and b-girls worldwide, was also an opportunity for local Breaking communities to strengthen ties with their WDSF National Member Bodies (NMBs) and vice versa.

A similar Congress for Standard and Latin dancers will be held this week on 23rd and 25th June. The WDSF Athletes' Standard and Latin Online Congress will also be free-of-charge and open to athletes, coaches, judges and other members of the DanceSport community.

Some of the top athletes in both Standard and Latin are confirmed as lecturers, including Marius Balan & Kristina Moshenska, Armen Tsaturyan & Dominika Bergmannova, Francesco Galuppo & Debora Pacini, and Evaldas Sodeika & Ieva Zukauskaite, making it a must-attend event.

The schedule (subject to change) is as follows:

Wednesday, 23 June 2021

1pm to 2pm CET

• Topic: Live Panel Discussion on Training and Motivation during Challenging Times
• Speakers: Marius Balan & Kristina Moshenska, Armen Tsaturyan & Dominika Bergmannova, Francesco Galuppo & Debora Pacini, Evaldas Sodeika & Ieva Zukauskaite 

2.15pm to 3.15pm CET

• Topic: What Do I Look for in Tango as a Judge?
• Lecturer: Emanuel Valeri (Denmark)

3.30pm to 4.30pm CET

• Topic: How Can We Utilize the WDSF Technique Books to Improve our Dancing? 
• Lecturer: Stefan Green (Italy)

Friday, 25 June 2021

1pm to 2pm CET

• Topic: How Do We Dance an Effective Quickstep?
• Lecturers: Benedetto Ferruggia and Claudia Koehler (Germany)

2.15pm to 3.15pm CET

• Topic: What Does it Take to Create a Formation Team Effectively?
• Lecturer: Roberto Albanese (Germany)

3.30pm to 4.30pm CET

• Topic: What Would I Like to See in a Paso Doble Routine?
• Lecturer: Peter Maxwell (UK)

 REGISTRATION LINK: https://tinyurl.com/wdsfathlete

If the response to the WDSF Athletes' Standard and Latin Online Congress is positive, the WDSF will organise similar meetings in the future. 

The WDSF would like to thank all the lecturers for sharing their invaluable time and knowledge with the athletes.