The World DanceSport Federation (WDSF), formerly the International DanceSport Federation (IDSF), is the international governing body of dancesport and Para dancesport, as recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the International Paralympic Committee (IPC).
Founded in 1957 as the International Council of Amateur Dancers (ICAD), it took the name IDSF in 1990. In 2011, it was renamed to WDSF to emphasise the global character of the organization.
Presidents NameCountryPresidencyOtto TeipelGermany12 May 1957 – 13 May 1962Heinrich BronnerGermany13 May 1962 – 23 June 1963Rolf FinkeGermany23 June 1963 – 27 June 1965Detlef HegemannGermany27 June 1965 - 6 November 1997elected honorary life president in 1998Peter PoverUS6 November 1997 – 14 June 1998Rudolf BaumannSwitzerland14 June 1998 – 11 June 2006retired as honorary life presidentCarlos FreitagSpain11 June 2006 – 23 January 2016Lukas HinderSwitzerland23 January 2016 - 17 November 2018Shawn TaySingapore17 November 2018 – present
History 1909 First unofficial ballroom championships in Paris 1957 ICAD founded in Wiesbaden on 12 May 1957 1960 First television broadcast of Dancesport 1990 Name changed to IDSF 1992 Becomes a member of the General Association of International Sports Federations (GAISF) 1995 World Rock & Roll Confederation (WRRC) joins IDSF as an associate member 1997 Recognised by the IOC 2001 Subscribes to World Anti-Doping Code 2004 International Dance Organisation (IDO) joins IDSF as an associate member 2007 Presentation of the VISION 2012 project to the IDSF General Meeting 2008 IDSF and the International Paralympic Committee "enter into a collaboration agreement to promote Wheelchair DanceSport jointly" 2008 United Country and Western Dance Council (UCWDC) joins IDSF as an associate member 2008 IDSF General Meeting delegates the praesidium to pursue a restructure of the federation under VISION 2012 2010 Launches the IDSF Professional Division 2011 Changes name to WDSF on 19 June
Members Regions The WDSF has 97 national member associations (On 5 October 2023: 14 in Americas, 48 in Europe, 2 in Oceania, 11 in Africa and 20 in Asia), 76 of which are recognised by their National Olympic Committee. 77 of them are full members while 20 are provisional members:
Asia (17+3): DanceSport Asia (DSA-1996-Taipei, Taiwan): India-China-Kyrgyzstan-Kazakhstan-Hong Kong-Indonesia-Japan-South Korea-Lebanon-Macau-Malaysia-Philippines-Singapore-Thailand-Uzbekistan-Vietnam + (Cambodia-Mongolia-Turkmenistan) Oceania (2+0): DanceSport Oceania (DSO): Australia-New Zealand Africa (3+8): DanceSport Africa: Botswana-South Africa-Lesotho + (Namibia-Cameroon-Democratic Republic of Congo-Morocco-Senegal-Tunisia-Uganda-Zimbabwe) Europe (47+1): DanceSport Europe (DSE-Stuttgart, GER): Albania-Russia-Ukraine-Armenia-Austria-Azerbaijan-Belarus-Belgium-Bulgaria-Croatia-Cyprus-Czech Republic-Poland-England-Luxembourg-Ireland-Serbia-Slovenia-Denmark-Germany-Estonia-Portugal-Andorra-France-Italy-Finland-Georgia-Hungary-Iceland-Israel-Latvia-Liechtenstein-Lithuania-Macedonia-Malta-Moldova-Montenegro-Greece-Netherlands-Norway-Romania-San Marino-Switzerland-Slovakia-Spain-Sweden-Türkiye + (Bosnia and Herzegovina) Americas (6+8): DanceSport Americas: Argentina-Canada-United States-Colombia-Ecuador-Trinidad and Tobago + (Guatemala-Panama-Uruguay-Brazil-Peru-Chile-Dominican Republic-El Salvador)
Associate Member: World Rock'n'Roll Confederation
Full members Country Member name NOC recognized Albania Albanian Dance Sport Federation Yes Argentina Asociación Argentina de Baile Deportivo No Armenia Armenian Dance Sport Federation Yes Australia Dancesport Australia Ltd. Yes Austria Austrian DanceSport Federation No Azerbaijan Azerbaijan Dance Sport Federation Yes Belarus Belarusian Dance Sport Federation Yes Belgium Belgian Dancesport Federation Yes Bosnia and Herzegovina Dance Sport Association of Bosnia and Herzegovina No Bulgaria Bulgarian Dance Sport Federation No Canada Canada DanceSport Yes Colombia Colombian DanceSport Federation Yes Chile Federación Chilena de Baile Deportivo y Competición Yes People's Republic of China Chinese DanceSport Federation Yes Chinese Taipei Chinese Taipei DanceSport Federation Yes Croatia Croatian DanceSport Federation Yes Cyprus Cyprus Federation of Social and Sport Dance Yes Czech Republic Czech Dance Sport Federation Yes Denmark Danmarks Sportdanserforbund Yes Ecuador Federación Ecuatoriana de Baile Deportivo Yes England DanceSport England No Estonia Estonian DanceSport Union Yes Finland Finnish Dance Sport Association Yes France Fédération Française de Danse Yes Georgia Georgian National DanceSport Federation Yes Germany Deutscher Tanzsportverband e.V., Yes Greece National DanceSport Federation of Greece No Hong Kong Hong Kong DanceSport Association Limited Yes Hungary Hungarian Dancesport Association Yes Iceland Icelandic Dance Sport Federation, DSI Yes India All India Dance Sport Federation No Indonesia Indonesian Dancesport Association, IODI Yes Ireland DanceSport Ireland, LTD No Israel The Israel Dance Sport Association Yes Italy Federazione Italiana Danza Sportiva Yes Japan Japan DanceSport Federation Yes Kazakhstan National Association of Dance of Kazakhstan Yes Kyrgyzstan Dance Sport Federation of the Kyrgyz Republic Yes Latvia Latvian Dance Sport Federation Yes Lebanon Lebanese Dance Sport Federation Yes Lesotho Lesotho Dance Sport Association Yes Liechtenstein Liechtensteiner Tanzsportverband Yes Lithuania Lithuanian Dance Sport Federation Yes Luxembourg DanceSport Federation Luxembourg Yes Macao Macau DanceSport Federation Yes Macedonia Macedonian Dance Sport Federation No Malaysia Malaysia DanceSport Federation No Malta Malta Dancesport Association Yes Mexico Federation Mexicana De Baile A.C. No Moldova Moldova Dance Sport Federation Yes Monaco The Monaco DanceSport Association Stade Louis II No Mongolia The Mongolia DanceSport Federation Yes Montenegro Montenegro Dance Sport Federation Yes Nepal Nepal Breakin and Dance Sports Association No Netherlands Nederlandse Algemene Danssport Bond Yes New Zealand New Zealand Dancesport Association Yes Norway Norges Danseforbund Yes Philippines DanceSport Council of the Philippines, Inc Yes Poland Dance Sport Federation Poland Yes Portugal Federacao Portuguesa de Danca Desportiva Yes Romania Romanian DanceSport Federation Yes Russia All Russian Federation of DanceSport and Acrobatic Rock'n'Roll Yes San Marino San Marino DanceSport Federation No Scotland DanceSport Scotland No Serbia DanceSport Federation of Serbia Yes Singapore Singapore DanceSport Federation Yes Slovakia Slovak Dance Sport Federation Yes Slovenia Slovene Dancesport Federation Yes South Africa Federation of Dance Sport South Africa Yes South Korea Korean Federation of DanceSport Yes Spain Spanish DanceSport Federation Yes Sweden Svenska Danssportförbundet Yes Switzerland Schweizer Tanzsport Verband Yes Thailand Thailand DanceSport Association Yes Trinidad and Tobago National Ballroom Dance Association of Trinidad and Tobago Yes Turkey Turkish DanceSport Federation No Uganda Uganda DanceSport Federation Yes Ukraine All Ukrainian DanceSport Federation Yes United States USA Dance Yes Uzbekistan Uzbekistan Dance Sport Federation Yes Vietnam Vietnam DanceSport Association Yes Wales DanceSport Wales No
Provisional members Country Member name NOC recognized Bosnia and Herzegovina The Association of Sports Dance Clubs in Bosnia and Herzegovina No Bolivia Federacion Boliviana de Baile Deportivo No Brazil Conselho Nacional de Dança Desportiva e de Salão No Cameroon Fédération Camerounaise Des Danses Sportives et Assimilé Yes Cambodia Cambodian DanceSport Federation Yes Dominican Republic Federacion Dominicana Baile de Salón Deportivo Yes Guatemala Asociación Deportiva Nacional de Baile de Guatemala No Mongolia Mongolian Dancesport Federation YesPanamaAsociación Panameña de Baile DeportivoYes Peru Federación Deportiva de Danza Deportiva No Turkmenistan Turkmenistan Federation of DanceSport Yes Uruguay Asociación Uruguaya de DanceSport No Zimbabwe Zimbabwe Amateur Dance Sport Association No
Associate members Country Member name International federation, legal seat Switzerland World Rock 'n' Roll Confederation
Sport directors NameCountryDirectorshipHeinz SpeakerGermany1994 - 10 June 2010Marcus SietasSpain10 June 2010 - 31 December 2016Thomas ShaughnessyIreland21 January 2017 - 21 January 2018Nenad JeftićSerbia21 January 2018 – present
Membership in other organisations Global Association of International Sports Federations (GAISF; formerly SportAccord) International World Games Association (IWGA) Association of IOC Recognised International Sports Federations (ARISF) International Masters Games Association (IMGA)
Relationship with the World Dance Council The WDSF is not the only international organisation in the field of competitive dance: the World Dance Council (WDC) is another prominent international dance organisation.
In the past, the WDC focus was on administering professional dancers and competitions. However, the launch of the WDC Amateur League in 2007 put the two organisations in direct conflict. The launch of the IDSF Professional Division in 2010 has since become an additional point of conflict.
The WDSF formerly prohibited 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 Meeting by vote of the members and since then WDSF encourages athletes to support only WDSF DanceSport and imposes certain restrictions on athletes who compete outside the WDSF DanceSport system.
Like the WDC, WDSF bans same-sex couples from entering competitions, under rule D2.1.1, which states a couple must consist of a man and a woman.
Publications The International News (Tanzsportmagazin), which served as WDSF's official publication since 1998, was replaced in 2004 by DanceSport Today, and in 2009 by World DanceSport magazine.
See also List of dance organizations SportAccord Association of IOC Recognised International Sports Federations List of DanceSport dances Formation dance Ballroom dance Dance basic topics Wheelchair DanceSport
References