World DanceSport Federation


The World DanceSport Federation, formerly the International DanceSport Federation, is the international governing body of dancesport and Para dancesport, as recognised by the International Olympic Committee and the International Paralympic Committee.
Founded in 1957 as the International Council of Amateur Dancers, it took the name IDSF in 1990. In 2011, it was renamed to WDSF to emphasise the global character of the organization.

Presidents

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
  • 1995 World Rock & Roll Confederation joins IDSF as an associate member
  • 1997 Recognised by the IOC
  • 2001 Subscribes to World Anti-Doping Code
  • 2004 International Dance Organisation 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 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, 76 of which are recognised by their National Olympic Committee. 77 of them are full members while 20 are provisional members:
  1. Asia : DanceSport Asia : India-China-Kyrgyzstan-Kazakhstan-Hong Kong-Indonesia-Japan-South Korea-Lebanon-Macau-Malaysia-Philippines-Singapore-Thailand-Uzbekistan-Vietnam +
  2. Oceania : DanceSport Oceania : Australia-New Zealand
  3. Africa : DanceSport Africa: Botswana-South Africa-Lesotho +
  4. Europe : DanceSport Europe : 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 +
  5. Americas : DanceSport Americas: Argentina-Canada-United States-Colombia-Ecuador-Trinidad and Tobago +
Associate Member: World Rock'n'Roll Confederation

Full members

Provisional members

Associate members

Sport directors

Membership in other organisations

The WDSF is not the only international organisation in the field of competitive dance: the World Dance Council 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, which served as WDSF's official publication since 1998, was replaced in 2004 by DanceSport Today, and in 2009 by World DanceSport magazine.

Latin World champions - Adult

Latin European champions - Adult

Standard World champions - Adult

YearWorld championsCountryChampionship held inName of organization
1959Peter Eggleton - Diana GradwellGBRICAD
1960Michael Houseman - Valerie WaiteGBRICAD
1961Anthony Hurley - Fay SaxtonGBRICAD
1962Len Armstrong - Elain WelchGBRICAD
1963John Westly - Betty WestleyGBRICAD
1964John Westly - Betty WestleyGBRICAD
1965John Westly - Betty WestleyGBRICAD
1966George Coad - Patricia ThompsonGBRICAD
1967George Coad - Patricia ThompsonGBRICAD
1968Mervin Higgins & June HuntGBRICAD
1969Richard Gleave - Janet WadeGBRICAD
1970Richard Gleave - Janet WadeGBRICAD
1971Byron Charlton - Maureen AlexanderGBRICAD
1972Michael Barr - Vicky GreenGBRICAD
1973Michael Barr - Vicky GreenGBRICAD
1974Frank Venables - Linda HorwoodGBRICAD
1975Glen Boyce - Lynette BoyceGBRICAD
1976Robert Grover & Barbara GroverGBRICAD
1977Greg Smith - Marion AlleyneAUSICAD
1978Stephen Hillier - Lindsay HillierGBRICAD
1979Hans-Henrik Laxholm- Anne Margrethe LaxholmDENICAD
1980Hans-Henrik Laxholm - Anne Margrethe LaxholmDENICAD
1981Kenny Welsh - Kathy GilmartinGBRICAD
1982Max-Ulrich Busch & Renate HilgertGERICAD
1983John Wood - Heather StuartGBRICAD
1984Glenn Weiss - Gillian ThickettDENICAD
1985Glenn Weiss - Gillian ThickettDENICAD
1986Oliver Wessel-Therhorn - Martina Wessel-TherhornGERICAD
1987Oliver Wessel-Therhorn - Martina Wessel-TherhornGERICAD
1988Andrew Sinkinson & Lorraine BarryGBRICAD
1989Andrew Sinkinson & Lorraine BarryGBRICAD
1990Lasse Ödegaard & Leila KragebölNORIDSF
1991Kim Rygel & Cecilie BrinkNORIDSF
1992Kim Rygel & Cecilie BrinkNORIDSF
1993Augusto Schiavo & Caterina ArzentonITAIDSF
1994Jens Werner - Charlotte JörgensenDENIDSF
1995Massimo Giorgianni & Alessia ManfrediniITASlagharen - NetherlandsIDSF
1996Massimo Giorgianni & Alessia ManfrediniITAVienna - AustriaIDSF
1997Christopher Hawkins - Hazel NewberryGBRKarlsruhe - GermanyIDSF
1998William Pino - Alessandra BucciarelliITATokio - JapanIDSF
1999William Pino - Alessandra BucciarelliITALondon - EnglandIDSF
2000Jonathan Crossley - Kylie JonesGBRBratislava - SlovakiaIDSF
2001Jonathan Crossley - Kylie JonesGBRMiami - United statesIDSF
2002Mirko Gozzoli - Alessia BettiITAEspoo - FinlandIDSF
2003Mirko Gozzoli - Alessia BettiITAVienna - AustriaIDSF
2004Domenico Soale - Gioia CerasoliITAVilnius - LithuaniaIDSF
2005Domenico Soale - Gioia CerasoliITAKrefeld - GermanyIDSF
2006Paolo Bosco - Silvia PittonITAAarhus - DenmarkIDSF
2007Paolo Bosco - Silvia PittonITAMoscow - RussiaIDSF
2008Paolo Bosco - Silvia PittonITAVienna - AustriaIDSF
2009Benedetto Ferruggia - Claudia KoehlerGERAarhus - DenmarkIDSF
2010Benedetto Ferruggia - Claudia KoehlerGERWetzlar - GermanyIDSF
2011Emanuel Valeri - Tania KehletDENMoscow - RussiaWDSF
2012Benedetto Ferruggia - Claudia KoehlerGERMelbourne - AustraliaWDSF
2013Emanuel Valeri - Tania KehletDENKyiv - UkraineWDSF
2014Simone Segatori - Annette SudolGERVienna - AustriaWDSF
2015Dmitry Zharkov - Olga KulikovaRUSVilnius - LithuaniaWDSF
2016Dmitry Zharkov - Olga KulikovaRUSAarhus - DenmarkWDSF
2017Dmitry Zharkov - Olga KulikovaRUSChengdu - People's Republic of ChinaWDSF
2018Dmitry Zharkov - Olga KulikovaRUSVienna - AustriaWDSF
2019Evaldas Sodeika - Ieva ZukauskaiteLTUVilnius - LithuaniaWDSF
2020No championship heldPandemic - COVID-19WDSF
2021Evaldas Sodeika - Ieva ZukauskaiteLTUBrno - Czech RepublicWDSF
2022Francesco Galuppo - Debora PaciniITARimini - ItalyWDSF
2023Evaldas Sodeika - Ieva ZukauskaiteLTUWuxi - People's Republic of ChinaWDSF