Dancesport denotes competitive ballroom dancing,[1] as contrasted to social or exhibition dancing. The name was invented to help competitive ballroom dancing gain Olympic recognition.[2] Dancesport events are sanctioned and regulated by dancesport organizations. National events are supervised by the ruling body of the country concerned, and competitions for continental and world championships are regulated by the World Dance Council. The physical demands of dancesport has been the subject of scientific research.[3][4][5][6]
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International organizations
World Dance Council
The World Dance Council (WDC),[7] is a registered limited company, and the legal successor to the International Council of Ballroom Dancing (ICBD), which was formed in 1950 in Edinburgh.[8] In practice, it is democratic in its operation. All major decisions are taken on the basis of one full member, one vote. The full members are (with a few exceptions) individual countries. There are some Affiliate members, such as the Ballroom Dancers Federation International. The WDC operates through a general council and two committees:
- The World Dance Sport Committee regulates professional dancesport at the international level.
- The World Social Dance Committee "deals with all matters of the dance profession that relate to the activities of Dance Schools and Dance Teachers".[9] It does not regulate social dance directly: that is the business of individual organisers, the dance teacher organisations, such as the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing, and the chains of dance teaching schools in the United States (such as the Arthur Murray organisation).
- On advice from its Coaches Commission,[10] the WDC started the Amateur League in 2007. This regulates and designates the World and continental Amateur championships, and runs a rating system for amateur dancers.
Each member country in the WDC has its own national organisation, such as the British Dance Council, which acts as a forum for the many interested parties in that country. The national bodies decide on their delegates to the WDC.
International DanceSport Federation
The International DanceSport Federation (IDSF) is a separate organisation from the WDC, covering some of the same territory, with many of the same members. Its origin and majority membership lies in continental Europe.[11] The IDSF is primarily an organisation for amateur dancers, whereas the WDC is primarily for professional dancers.
Conflicts among principal organizations
A dispute exists between IDSF and WDC with regard to which organization is entitled to authorize amateur competitions at the world level. This conflict is exemplified by the following warning, issued by IDSF:
"The 2009 WDC Amateur League Open Amateur World Championships scheduled to be held at Paris, Euro Disney, France on December 4-6, 2009, is not granted by IDSF and is not registered by the IDSF Member for France, Comite National de Danse Sportive (CNDS). Accordingly the IDSF Presidium may take action against any athlete, adjudicator or other official, person or body associated with IDSF or an IDSF Member, who participates in this competition in any way, without any further notice to any of them." [12]
History
The first unofficial world championship took place in 1909,[13] and the first formation team[14] was presented in 1932 by Olive Ripman at the Astoria Ballroom, London.[15][1] Dancesport was first broadcast on TV in 1960.[16][17]
Dancesport as an Olympic event
After a long campaign,[18] the International DanceSport Federation (IDSF) was recognized by the International Olympic Committee as the sole representative body for dancesport, on September 5th, 1997.[19] At that point, many dance organisations changed their titles to incorporate the word sport. This recognition gives the ISDF, potentially, a unique status.
On its website, the IDSF gives an upbeat appraisal of the chances of dancesport being included in a future summer Olympic Games.[20] However, dancesport has not been included as an official event at the Olympics since its recognition,[21] and there are many who doubt that it ever will.[22][23] China, the country with by far the largest number of social and competitive dancers, did not include ballroom dancing in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and to date there are no plans to include it in the 2012 London Olympics.[24]
Styles
The term dancesport applies only to the International Style of competitive ballroom (often referred to as Standard or Modern) dancing and Latin dancing.[25] Today, it includes the following style categories:
- Standard
- Latin American
- Ten Dance
- Rock ‘n’ Roll
These categories apply to both individual couples and formation dance.
Competitions
There are a wide variety of dance competitions, ranging from the well known Blackpool Dance Festival which is an event open to all competitors. Competitions conducted exclusively for university students, such as those hosted by the Inter Varsity Dance Association in the UK.
Amateur competitions commonly include events that group dancers by age, experience, or both. For example, events might group young dancers by age, such as: juvenile (<12yrs), junior (12-16yrs), and youth (16-19yrs). Events may sometimes cover a wide range of ages, with groupings such as: under 21yrs, adult, Senior I (Over 35yrs), Senior II (Over 45yrs), and Senior III (Over 50yrs). Adult competitions are often further divided into categories such as beginner, novice, intermediate, pre-amateur, and amateur.
Rules
The WDC rules for international competitions are lengthy and detailed.[26] The music for competitions is kept confidential until the event. The music always follows a strict tempo and, for a couples competition, it will have a duration of no less than 90 seconds, and no more than two minutes. Some elementary competitions are restricted to "basic" steps, but international competitions are open as to choreography, within the limits of the traditional style of the individual dances. Only the Viennese waltz has defined choreography: it is limited to nine well-specified figures. Lifts are not permitted, except for Show Dance titles. The tempo for each dance is defined. In the finals, couples are marked under the skating system and judged by timing, footwork, rise and fall, alignment, direction and floor craft. Competitors must meet World Anti-Doping Agency rules.
See also
- List of DanceSport dances
- World Ballroom Dance Champions
- World Latin Dance Champions
- World 10 Dance Champions
- List of dance organizations
- Dance basic topics
- Dancesport at the 2005 Southeast Asian Games
- Formation dance
- English amateur dancesport association ltd
References
- ^ a b "History of Dancesport by Dancesport Ireland". http://www.dancesportireland.org/about_dancesport.html. Retrieved 2009-03-29.
- ^ McMain, Julie 2006. Glamour addiction: inside the American ballroom dance industry. Weslyan, Middletown CT. p1
- ^ Biomechanics of dance sport: a kinematic approach ISSN 0025-7826
- ^ Blanksby & Reidy 1988
- ^ Dancing as a Sport Article
- ^ IDSF Research Paper
- ^ http://www.dancewdc.org/
- ^ Wainwright, Lyndon [1997]. The story of British popular dance. International Dance Publications, Brighton.
- ^ http://www.dancewdc.org/index.php?set_ActivMenu=95
- ^ http://www.wdcamateurleague.com/news_detail.php?news_id=68
- ^ http://www.idsf.net/index.tpl?id=45
- ^ http://www.idsf.net/index.tpl?style=news&action=newsItem&id=20
- ^ Wainwright, Lyndon [1997]. The story of British popular dance. International Dance Publications, Brighton.
- ^ pattern or shadow dancing to a rehearsed routine by groups of couples
- ^ Spencer, Frank and Peggy 1968. Come dancing. Allen, London. Chapter 3, p33.
- ^ http://www.idsf.net/documents/history_of_idsf.pdf IDSF History
- ^ http://www.idsf.net/index.tpl?style=news&action=newsItem&id=19 IDSF Media Guide
- ^ Long, Daniel 1999. Qualifying for Olympic status: the process and implications forcompetitive ballroom dance. Master's thesis, Brigham Young University.
- ^ http://www.idsf.net/
- ^ http://www.idsf.net/press02/idsf0213.pdf
- ^ "International DanceSport Federation". Olympic.org - Official website of the Olympic Movement. http://www.olympic.org/uk/organisation/if/fi_uk.asp?id_federation=43.
- ^ McMain, Julie 2006. Glamour addiction: inside the American ballroom dance industry. Weslyan, Middletown CT. p101 note 2.
- ^ Hanley, Elizabeth A. 2000. A perennial dilemma: artistic sports in the Olympic Games. Journal of Olympic History p39–46.
- ^ http://www.london2012.org/en/ London 2012] Official site
- ^ Lomax, Sondra (2000-09-22). "Sweeping a dance floor near you". Austin American-Statesman: p. F1.
- ^ http://www.dancewdc.org/download/7eTsDviYCPXgCx6LN7itu9WLM/WDC%20Competition%20Rules%20current%20-%20June%202009.pdf
External links
- International DanceSport Federation
- World Dance Council
- International Professional DanceSport Council
- World Rock'n'Roll Confederation
- Dancesport Info Comprehensive list of dance competition results and photos
- Information about Dancesport at University Level
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