Dancesport (also stylized as DanceSport) is competitive dancing, as contrasted with social or exhibition dancing. The term dancesport encompasses many dance disciplines (e.g., Acrobatic Rock'n'Roll, Boogie Woogie, Breaking, Hip Hop, and Ballroom). Most dancesport disciplines are competed by couples, but there are solo styles (e.g., Breaking) and group styles (e.g., Formation dance). In the case of Para dancesport, at least one of the dancers is in a wheelchair.
Dancesport events are sanctioned and regulated by dancesport organizations at the national and international level, such as (for Ballroom dance) the World DanceSport Federation, the World Dance Council, and the World Dance Organization.
The name was invented to help competitive ballroom dancing gain Olympic recognition.McMain, Julie 2006. Glamour addiction: inside the American ballroom dance industry. Wesleyan, Middletown CT. p1 The physical demand of dancesport has been the subject of scientific research.Biomechanics of dancesport: a kinematic approach ISSN 0025-7826Blanksby & Reidy 1988Dancing as a Sport Article IDSF Research Paper
History The first unofficial world championship for Ballroom dance took place in 1909, and the first formation teampattern or shadow dancing to a rehearsed routine by groups of couples was presented in 1932 by Olive Ripman at the Astoria Ballroom, London.Spencer, Frank and Peggy 1968. Come dancing. Allen, London. Chapter 3, p33. The first Ballroom dancesport competition to be broadcast on TV was in Germany in 1960.
Styles of Ballroom dancesport Dancesport competitions are held in the Ballroom discipline in four styles, two in International Style and two in American Style. These include the following categories: International Standard International Latin American Smooth American Rhythm
These categories apply to both individual couples and formation dance. Some competitions under USA Dance and WDSF also offer solo events where individuals compete by themselves (i.e., without a partner) in either the leader or follower role and are judged on their form and execution of technique. These events were added to give more opportunities for dancers without partners to compete.
International governing organizations
World Dance Council
The World Dance Council (WDC) is a registered limited company, and the legal successor to the International Council of Ballroom Dancing (ICBD), which was formed in 1950 in Edinburgh.Wainwright, Lyndon . The story of British popular dance. International Dance Publications, Brighton. 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". 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.
In 2007 the WDC Amateur League was created. This organisation runs a number of competitions and has its own world ranking 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.
World DanceSport Federation
The World DanceSport Federation (WDSF), formerly the International DanceSport Federation (IDSF), is the international governing body of dancesport, as recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
Founded in 1957 as the International Council of Amateur Dancers (ICAD), it took up the name International DanceSport Federation in 1990. In 2011 it changed its name to World DanceSport Federation to emphasise the organization's global character.
In the past, the IDSF's focus was on administering amateur dancers and competitions. However, in 2010 the IDSF Professional Division was created (formerly known as the IPDSC), which extended this focus to professional dancesport.
WDSF members are only allowed to dance in competitions that are on the WDSF's official competition calendar, unless the member has obtained the WDSF's written permission to compete in an event that is not on the WDSF's calendar.
World Dance Organization The World Dance Organization (WDO) was founded with the name World Dance Organizers in 2019 with the first meeting being held on May 30, 2019, in Blackpool, England. The named was changed to the current World Dance Organization in December 2020. The controlling legal entity is the non-profit WDO Community Interest Company which was registered in England in September 2019.
Competitions
There are a wide variety of dance competitions. They range from the well known Blackpool Dance Festival, an event open to all, to 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), senior III (over 55yrs), and senior IV (over 65yrs).
Competitors may also be grouped by experience level, with categories such as Beginner, Novice, Intermediate, Pre-Amateur and Amateur. These generally correspond to the number of the dances to be performed in the competition, with Beginners performing one dance, and those at Amateur level performing five. In some competitions these are categorized into grades from A to E, with "A" the equivalent of the Amateur level, and "E" corresponding to the "Beginner" level.
WDSF minimum competition dance area size standard WDSF governing bodies in different countries have the flexibility to decide on the dance area size for competitions held in the country.
Location Official Standard Compare Square Meter Compare Square Feet Europe 26m x 16m 416 4478 China 23m x 15m 345 3714 USA 60' x 36' 201 2160 Canada 60' x 35' 195 2100
In December 2011, the WDSF Open and the Australian Nationals were held at the Hisense Arena located within the Olympic park in Melbourne. The floor was at 84 by 37.7 meters which was 7.61 times the size of what WDSF requires.
Rules The World Dance Council (WDC) rules for international competitions are lengthy and detailed. 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 seven 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.
Dancesport as an Olympic event After a long campaign, the World DanceSport Federation (WDSF), formerly IDSF, was recognized by the International Olympic Committee as the sole representative body for dancesport, on September 5, 1997.Long, Daniel 1999. Qualifying for Olympic status: the process and implications for competitive ballroom dance. Master's thesis, Brigham Young University. At that point, many dance organisations changed their titles to incorporate the word sport. This recognition gives the IDSF, potentially, a unique status. The WDSF website shows letters and certificates from the IOC that recognise dancesport as an eligible sport for inclusion pursuant to rule 29 of the Olympic Charter. On its website, the IDSF gives an upbeat appraisal of the chances of dancesport being included in a future summer Olympic Games. However, dancesport has not been included as an official event at the Olympics since its recognition, and there are many who doubt that it ever will.McMain, Julie 2006. Glamour addiction: inside the American ballroom dance industry. Wesleyan, Middletown CT. p101 note 2.Hanley, Elizabeth A. 2000. A perennial dilemma: artistic sports in the Olympic Games. Journal of Olympic History p39–46. The 2008 Beijing Olympics did not include ballroom dancing and neither did the 2012 London Olympics. However, it was announced in December 2016 that breakdancing would form part of the programme for the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics under the "dancesport" label, with men's, women's and mixed-team events included in a one-on-one battle format. Breakdancing competitions at the 2024 Summer Olympics ran from 9 to 10August at Place de la Concorde, Paris, marking the sport's official debut in the program and the first dancesport discipline to appear in Summer Olympic history.
Physical demands
Over the years, competitive ballroom dancing has evolved in its choreography, requiring a higher level of athleticism. Many individuals that spectate or dance socially often underestimate the physical attributes and demands of dancesport competitive dancing . In order to compete at a world level, elite competitive dancers undergo rigorous training to help and enhance their competition performance. These dancers seem to perform at very high levels of energy expenditure, and a deeper understanding of these energy demands may help build specific training programs used to sustain a high quality dance performance consistent over a few rounds of a competition.
In 1988, an Australian study was conducted to determine the heart rate and estimated energy expended during ballroom dancing. Professors Blanksby and Reidy of the Department of Human Movement and Recreation Studies at the University of Western had ten competitive ballroom dance couples simulate a dancesport competition, dancing their competitive routines in either the Latin American or Standard division. After administrating all required laboratory tests (in order to record their height, weight, body fat percentage, fat free mass and the resting/maximal heart rate and VO2 values), the couples danced a five-dance final, given a 15 to 20 second break between each dance. Throughout the final their heart rates were telemetered and recorded. The purpose of this study was to estimate the energy requirements from heart rates acquired during competition simulation and previously recorded measures of VO2 and HR.
The average heart rate for male dancers in Standard was 170 beats min−1 and 168 beats min−1 in the Latin American. Females elicited 179 beats min−1 and 177 beats min−1 respectively. Astrand and Rodahl (1977) classify any exercise being extremely heavy if it results in a heart rate above 150 beats min−1. They also classify an exercise as extremely heavy if oxygen consumption is higher than 2.0L min−1. All but the females in the Standard dance sequence did not exceed an oxygen consumption level of 2.0L min−1. Finally, the energy expenditure for male athletes was estimated to be 54.1 ± 8.1 kJ min−1 for Standard and 54.0± 9.6kJ min−1 in the Latin American dances. For females it was 34.7 ± 3.8 kJ min−1 and 36.1 ± 4.1 kJ min−1 respectively.