80 couples have entered the Championship, and by the end of the day they have left a mark in history books that will show their joy, commitment and determination for the quest of their own dreams. Youth, with the future ahead of them, will follow the footsteps of their predecessors hoping to reach them one day and to go even further.
For some, the dreams will come true on Saturday. For some, it will be just another step on the way towards reaching bigger dreams. And for some, the year might end up with a disappointment. But as they say, setbacks will build character, and on the verge of a new year it is a good chance to open an empty page in a notebook and start writing a whole another story for 2019.
Come what may, these young athletes are here to make a statement for the future. Let’s enjoy it!
We will broadcast the 2018 World Championship Youth Latin and World Open Standard via our partner Flodance.com starting from the 2018 World Youth Latin Quarterfinal.
UPDATE: The schedule is running late, the live stream should begin at 19:00 local time (18:00 CET) in the beginning of the Evening Session.
QWapBc_jyb8|2018 WDSF World Championship Youth Latin Riga - Teaser
Out of the 79 young representatives of different nations the top six couples worked hard through five rounds of the competition and showed the Latvian crowd what the future will look like.
You could see it in their faces, the determination to end the year with a bang. For many of the couples it would be the last competition, not only for the year, but also in Youth age group.
The Big Step ahead of them they held their heads high, feet on the ground and did what they do best. They enjoyed, they had fun, and they kept their spirits up throughout the whole long day.
The final result:
1. Egor Kulikov - Maria Goroshko, RUS 2. Vladislav Untu - Polina Baryshnikova, MDA 3. Tian Wang - Jieruo He, CHN 4. Tomer Zveniatsky - Stefany Tzukerman, ISR 5. Evgeny Nikitin - Julia Khurtina, RUS 6. Axel Sampino - Anna Zgonnikova, FRA
Congratulations to all couples! Have a lovely holiday season and all the best for the New Year!
TZAeZuFcuFs|Kulikov - Goroshko, RUS | 2018 World Youth Latin Riga
The DanceSport year 2018 will come to an spectacular end with 2018 PD World Championship ShowDance Standard in Riga, Latvia on Sunday.
The timetable shows that the first round begins at 16:00 local time (15:00 CET) and the final rounds will be in Evening Session, which is scheduled to start at 19:00 local time (18:00 CET).
There will be new World Champions, as the winners of 2017, Vadim Garbuzov - Kathrin Menzinger (AUT) are not on the starting list.
There are, however, 13 couples on the starting list:
Valentin Lusin – Renata Lusin, GER Stanislaw Wolyniec – Katarzyna Tunska, POL Sean Smullen – Aimie Leak, IRL Andriy Turkiv – Elyzaveta Vysotska, UKR Pietro Ciraci – Rosy Rodia, ITA Denys Fedorchenko – Anastasiia Molchanova, UKR Evgeny Klochkov – Lilia Semina, RUS Steeve Gaudet – Marioara Cheptene, FRA Kamil Kedra – Aleksandra Fron, POL Attila Budai – Lilla Barna, HUN Anatoly Kupchik – Julia Koliagina, RUS Andrey Motyl – Ekaterina Kim, RUS Krzysztof Musiol – Karolina Aniol, POL
Member of the WDSF Communications Team, Helmut Roland, will be there, too, to capture the best moments with his camera.
The themes of the total of thirteen ShowDance Standard performances varied somewhere between love, life circle, Mamma Mia, The Great Hunger, space and fiction. The performances, including the outfits and the music, were built to support the theme and vice versa.
There were two finalist couples from Poland: Kamil Kedra - Aleksandra Fron (Mamma Mia) and Stanislaw Wolyniec - Katarzyna Tunska (Interstellar). There were also two finalist couples from Russia: Anatoly Kupchik - Julia Koliagina (Medusa Gargona) and Andrey Motyl - Ekaterina Kim (Still Loving You). The other three finalists were Sean Smullen - Aimie Leak, IRL (The Great Hunger), Steeve Gaudet - Marioara Cheptene, FRA (Piano Forte) and Valentin Lusin - Renata Lusin, GER (Avatar).
The final result: 1. Steeve Gaudet - Marioara Cheptene, FRA 2. Valentin Lusin - Renata Lusin, GER 3. Kamil Kedra - Aleksandra Fron, POL 4. Andrey Motyl - Ekaterina Kim, RUS 5. Sean Smullen - Aimie Leak, IRL 6. Stanislaw Wolyniec - Katarzyna Tunska, POL 7. Anatoly Kupchik - Julia Koliagina, RUS
Gaudet-Cheptene ended their career in competitions with a World Championship title. Marioara's message to their fans and fellow competitors: "Small things lead to big results." Thank you for the inspiring words! All the best for the future, Steeve and Marioara!
Congratulations to all amazing couples!
km48iQ7QA1A|ITV Gaudet - Cheptene, FRA | 2018 PD World ShowDance STD | Riga, Latvia
Fb5UvYvGnTA|Retirement Gaudet - Cheptene, FRA | 2018 PD World ShowDance STD | Riga, Latvia
In competitions, we have seen some reigning champions mastering the events in an impressive way. We have seen some new champions making their way to the top, step by step. We have seen some newcomers that will soon stand up and have their say on the dance floor. Young, and old, and everyone in between, all enjoying the sport as a big community, supporting each other and sharing the moments which will remain in their hearts for the rest of their lives.
DanceSport premiered in the Youth Olympics and made it to the Big League within all sports. Young, talented athletes wow’d the Buenos Aires crowd and made a statement which will be lasting for a long time. Only time will tell what the premiere as part of the Olympic family will bring for DanceSport – and, what DanceSport will bring for the Olympic family!
DanceSport experienced a change of presidency as Mr. Lukas Hinder stepped down and handed over the position to Mr. Shawn Tay.
And there were more. Many wonderful and memorable moments and stories have been filling the pages of a book called 2018. Now, it is time to take it easy, have a little rest and load the batteries for 2019. A whole another year, whole another possibilities, whole another challenges.
Season’s greetings to all friends of DanceSport! Happy and Successful New Year!
“For last year's words belong to last year's language And next year's words await another voice. And to make an end is to make a beginning."
Their record is outstanding. Dmitry and Olga have won every single competition since the World Games 2017. Four World Championship titles, three European Championship titles, 20 GrandSlam wins including winning the GrandSlam Series Finals for three times. In sports language: there was a hat trick after another.
We have recognized Dmitry and Olga not only as great competitors and great athletes, but they have also shown and shared wisdom to all involved in DanceSport, and all sport, how dreaming of something might turn out to reality if you believe in yourself. They have inspired us by setting up the main goal so high that reaching it might seem impossible, keeping on practising and improving even if some of the goals on the way have been reached, and enjoying the journey at the same time. Even when times were hard, there were tears of disappointments and bad moments they kept their chins up, found a strength of it all, and continued, more hard-working and more determined than ever.
DanceSport is about sport but it is also about artistry and emotions. Throughout their dancing career Dmitry and Olga have told us stories and raised emotions that will remain in our hearts and minds. We remember their reaction to the last scores of the final of World Championship 2018, when the impossible became reality and they won the historical fourth World Title. Dmitry took Olga to his arms and carried her off the dance floor. We remember the expression after the last dance of GrandSlam Final in Shanghai 2018, when it was clear that it was over. And later that same evening, we were holding back the tears with them as Olga announced that it was the last competition of their amateur career. And even during summing up their journey from the beginning they showed their sport spirit, tears in their eyes, by respecting and thanking their fellow competitors and adjudicators, and by saying that were proud of the younger ones for whom they handed over their place in the spotlight.
Not only great sport spirit, but these moments have shown their way of being good persons. Even though they won it all they remained at all times humble, respecting their fellow competitors, sharing the inspiring stories to their fans and the next generation of dancers. Dmitry and Olga have been true role models to all dancers and also to all athletes in every sport. As a couple they were one. As one unit they were bigger than 1+1.
DanceSport Legends – Dmitry Zharkov and Olga Kulikova. Voting begins on January 1st.
Roland Hilfiker has provided a range of services to WDSF over the course of the past eleven years. Contracted initially to perform a communications audit and to define the communications strategy for what was the International DanceSport Federation at the time, he provided above all consultancy services in the areas of communications and media through 2012.
Starting in 2013, he assumed a full-time role as WDSF Communications Director.
Marketing and the acquisition of sponsorships were added to his portfolio from 2015. From June 2017 to June 2018 Hilfiker was – ex officio – a member of the WDSF Managing Committee.
From the beginning of October 2018 his sole focus has been on ensuring a proper handover of tasks to his successors.
The WDSF Communications Team wants to thank Mr. Hilfiker for all his work during all those years and wants to wish him all the best for the future.
The World DanceSport Federation coined the term DanceSport in the early 1980s. While the Sport in the composite aspires to be consistent with the generally accepted definitions, Dance is to remain the distinguishing artistic mark.
DanceSport is an all-encompassing brand for an activity that is uniquely accessible and sociable, allowing participants to improve physical fitness and mental well-being, to interact, and to obtain results at all levels. Everybody is capable of moving to music. And dance transgresses all barriers of age, gender and culture.
It is the music, and the way of moving that touch our souls. Different rhythms and different dance styles offer different ways to express oneself. To feel the music intertwined with the body and the moves creates unique artistry. There are choreographies, there is improvisation, and everything in between. There’s technique to follow and learn, and then there’s artistic freedom of expression. You don’t have to be a dancer to enjoy it, to find it beautiful, to find it spectacular.
DanceSport is a learning and sharing experience. You can always do things a bit differently. You can always learn from others, get some ideas and adapt them to your own performance. And then someone else will learn from you. Learning and sharing is included in all DanceSport disciplines. Even our four-times World Champions Standard started their careers by watching videos of their favourite dancers, imitating and copying their first moves.
And now, these same four-times World Champions are running for the World Games Athlete of the Year 2018 -title. Although these DanceSport Superstars have been performing and competing to the rhythms and tunes of Standard dancing, at the same time we can all, in every DanceSport discipline, relate to the meaning of tempo, the flow, and the range of emotions spilled on the dance floor. The feelings of accomplishment, happiness, joy, or disappointment and determination to rise above it.
It is our heartbeat. It is the emotions it brings. Because this is DanceSport. We are proud of DanceSport. Because We Are DanceSport.
DanceSport Legends – Dmitry Zharkov and Olga Kulikova. Vote here.
We are calling all dancers and DanceSport fans around the World to show support to Dmitry and Olga because they have shown everyone in our DanceSport community great example of determination, goal-setting and excellence.
Voting for Dmitry and Olga means also voting for DanceSport. Let's do this, together!
Here is how it happens. Go to the World Games website. You can find all the candidates on this page. Find DanceSport and click Vote. To make sure you aren't a robot there will be a quick and easy clicking task to complete, and that's it! As soon as you receive a message saying "Thank you for voting" your vote has been registered. Simple as that!
You can vote once a day. Plus, if you subscribe to the World Games newsletter, your vote will count twice each time. On that same page you can also follow how the voting is developing.
You can vote until Jan 31st. But those candidates who are not among the top ten by Jan 15th will be eliminated from the race.
It is important to keep voting every day to maximize your impact on the result. And share the news to your friends, family and colleagues. Let's push Dmitry and Olga top 3!
g5cKRe6wnSw|Vote for Zharkov & Kulikova - Athlete of the Year 2018 Candidates
The WDSF Sports Commission has informed of the following:
Solo dances in 2019 will be Cha Cha, Jive, Slow Foxtrot and Quickstep.
AJS JS 3.0 should be used from the round of Semi-Final and Finals in all World Opens.
With effect from 1 Jan 2019, Paso Doble up to 3rd Highlights shall be played mandatorily for all rounds of competitions/Championships using AJS JS 3.0. For example from Quarter Final round in Championships and from Semi-Final Round for World Opens. All other rounds can be at the discretion of the Chairpersons.
From 1 Jan 2019, three new world ranking lists featuring Senior 3 Latin and Under 21 Standard and Latin will be formulated and published on the WDSF website. This is to provide recognition for the performances and achievement of our athletes in the Senior 3 and Under 21 categories. Results will be taken and calculated from the best 4 events of each eligible competing couple in each category in 2019.
The competition format in WDSF PD Super GrandPrix finals will be the 1-on-1 format, as seen in 2018 WDSF GrandSlam Final in Shanghai.
In addition to these Sports Commission decisions, we have gathered here some of the highlights on what to expect in 2019. This is only a scratch on the surface of the event calendar and there are also many more wonderful events scheduled for 2019. Please remember that the competition dates are subject to change and the latest info can be found at the competition calendar.
General Meetings:
The WDSF and WDSF PD Annual General Meetings will be in Budapest, Hungary, on June 8-9.
WRRC General Meeting will be in Prague, Czech Republic, on March 10.
World Championships:
The 2019 World Championship Latin in Moscow, Russia on September 7
The 2019 World Championship Ten Dance in Ashdod, Israel on September 14 – the date subject to change
The 2019 World Championship Standard in Vilnius, Lithuania on November 30
The 2019 PD World Championship Latin in Bangkok, Thailand on May 5
The 2019 PD World Championship Standard in Leipzig, Germany on October 19
The 2019 PD World Championship Ten Dance in Vila Nova de Famalicao, Portugal on November 9
The 2019 World Championship Boogie Woogie in Schaffhausen, Switzerland on November 9
The 2019 World Championship Rock’n’Roll in Moscow, Russia on November 23
Continental Championships:
The 2019 WDSF Asian Pacific Standard and Latin Championship/Rock’n’Roll World Cup in Shijiazhuang, China on May 4
The 2019 WDSF European Championship Standard in Salaspils, Latvia on May 11
The 2019 WDSF European Championship Latin in Paris, France on May 25
The 2019 WRRC European Championship Rock’n’Roll in Paris, France on May 25
The 2019 WDSF PD European Championship Latin in Karlsruhe, Germany on June 22
The 2019 WRRC European Championship Boogie Woogie in Stuttgart, Germany on August 16-17
The 2019 WDSF European Championship Ten Dance in Bratislava, Slovakia on September 21
The 2019 GrandSlam Series:
March 16-17 in Bucharest, Romania
June 1-2 in Taipei, Chinese Taipei
July 13-14 in Rimini, Italy
August 15-17 in Stuttgart, Germany
October 25-26 in Moscow, Russia
The 2019 GrandSlam Series Final on December 7-8 in Shanghai, China
The Benidorm event started with Adjudicators' Congress on Thursday, Jan 10th, and has continued with competitions in different age groups on Friday.
WDSF World Open Standard and WDSF PD Open Latin will highlight the Saturday evening. WDSF World Open Latin together with WDSF PD Open Standard will complete the first full weekend of DanceSport in 2019 on Sunday.
It is exciting to see so many couples of GrandSlam Finals in Shanghai starting their competition year in Benidorm, Alicante, this weekend.
Here is a provisional timetable of the main events:
Saturday WDSF World Open Standard 1st round at 14:10 CET, quarterfinal at 19:10 CET, semifinal at 21:10 CET, final at 22:10 CET WDSF PD Open Latin semifinal at 20:50 CET, final at 22:00 CET
Sunday WDSF World Open Latin 1st round at 16:50 CET, quarterfinal at 20:20 CET, semifinal at 21:10 CET, final at 21:50 WDSF PD Open Standard semifinal at 19:50 CET, final at 21:30 CET
Livestream will be available here. According to the schedule the livestream begins at 16:00 CET on both days.
It has been interesting two weeks. With a slow start Dmitry and Olga started climbing up the numbers and now they are really on the verge of continuing to top 10 - or to be the first ones to be cut from the final shortlist.
We are talking about a margin of only about 100 votes.
Surely we can all make the effort and vote for the couple today. To vote for DanceSport.
Because today, at 21:00 CET there will be a cut - only the ten with the most votes will continue to run for the World Games Athlete of the Year 2018 -title.
Let's do this, together! Let's do it for the four-times World Champions. Let's do it for DanceSport!
Over 150 000 votes were cast by January 15 in the World Games Athlete of the Year 2018 -vote. Of the 25 excellent candidates, the best of the best now continue the race until 31st January.
A huge thank you to all who have voted! You have given a voice for DanceSport, and it has been heard.
Dmitry and Olga ranked eighth by the time of the cut, and continue the race together with nine other fantastic athletes.
You can still keep voting, there are 14 days left to show support to Dmitry and Olga, and to DanceSport. You can vote once a day. Plus, if you subscribe to the World Games newsletter, your vote will count twice each time.
The final result of the race will be published on February 1st.
v73B0ioa9Sk|Zharkov and Kulikova - Motivation to practise - Athlete of the Year Candidate
Following fantastic and exciting Hip Hop and Breaking competitions in the 2013 World DanceSport Games in Kaohsiung (TPE), further to the 2018 World Youth Breaking Championship in Tokyo (JPN), and after making its successful Olympic debut at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires (ARG), the World DanceSport Federation continues to promote Breaking alongside with the other disciplines in the worldwide DanceSport family by announcing the WDSF World Breaking Championship to be organised in Nanjing (CHN) on June 23rd, 2019. The Championship will be held as one of the qualifier events for the first GAISF World Urban Games in Los Angeles (USA) in September 2019.
At the press conference held in Nanjing Hengda Conference and Exhibition Centre on January 18th, 2019, Mr. Ken Swift, one of the legends in Breaking, was present to answer the questions with his wide expertise pertaining to Breaking. The press conference was attended by many newspapers, TV channels and magazine publishers, and it was also streamed live.
The 2019 WDSF World Breaking Championship is granted by the World DanceSport Federation, Social Sports Guidance Centre of the General Administration of Sport of China, and Chinese Dance Sport Federation. The local organisers are Social Sports Administration Centre of Jiangsu Province, Nanjing Sports Bureau, and Lishui District People’s Government of Nanjing City.
We get lots of messages through different social media channels. Sometimes a comment in Facebook, a Messenger's mail, Instagram, Twitter, Youtube... Sometimes they include some really interesting material, but they come late, we notice them too late, or the message is confusing. We are here to help spreading DanceSport, and we really would love to help sharing either the photos or videos of your WDSF competitions or special events.
By opening a new communication channel, a dedicated inbox for it, we would like you to send us information and news of your WDSF events, to upload videos, and to share the best photos of your events with us, and with the whole DanceSport community. Of course, we won't be able to partake of everything, but we'll do our best to be close to you and circulate it through our channels.
Let’s start spreading the news with all DanceSport fans! We are waiting for all your news and information at communication@wdsf.org.
These couples have been dancing for decades. Some have started as Juveniles or Juniors, and some of them might have become interested in DanceSport and competing during the adult age. Nevertheless, they represent perfectly the fact that dancing is for everyone, not only for the young and the restless. These couples demonstrate good health, balance, coordination and stamina, which will be necessary to complete the six-round competition day. Seven-round, if redance is included.
There are 185 couples on the starting list representing 18 countries. There is an impressive number of 72 couples representing Italy and 50 couples representing Germany. Five of the six finalists of 2018 are on the starting list and only four couples of the semifinalists of 2018 are missing.
The reigning World Champions, Renato Sibillo – Anna Cartini (ITA) ended their year in November with a double win while their runners-up of the 2018 Worlds, and current number ones on the World Ranking List, Luciano Ceruti – Rosa Nuccia Cappello (ITA) had three more competitions in 2018 – and they won them all! The bronze medalists of 2018, Vittorio Guida – Fortuna Canta (ITA) started their competition year already in Benidorm, where they ranked third.
For many of the couples this is the first competition of the year. There are also some new couples, who have moved from Senior 3 to Senior 4 category, and among these youngsters there just might be some surprises to look forward to.
It might be pretty safe to say that these couples on the dance floor on Friday have been dancing on the same path for years and there are friendships involved which will last a life time. And this is one of the best aspects of watching the Senior age groups: you just can’t help noticing such calmness and confidence of these couples, only which comes with life experiences. It brings out the power in them. That is something the future talents can not show to the audience.
After three World titles in 2015-2017 and a silver medal in 2018, Luciano Ceruti - Rosa Nuccia Cappello (ITA) came back to Antwerp with such energy and determination, which made them reach the highest step on the podium for the fourth time in World Championship Senior 4 Standard.
At the winners interview the couple said they were tired, but very happy. They also announced that they would retire and give room to other competitors in Championships and Cups from now on.
The runners up, Renato Sibillo - Anna Cartini (ITA) and Vittorio Guida - Fortuna Canta (ITA) had also a good competition day and they were awarded with silver and bronze medals, respectively.
During the weekend there were also World Open competitions in Antwerp. Anton Aldaev - Natalia Polukhina (RUS) ranked first, Winson Tam - Anastasia Novikova (CAN) ranked second and Artur Balandin - Anna Salita (GER) third at World Open Latin on Saturday. Evgeny Nikitin - Anastasia Miliutina (RUS) won the World Open Standard on Sunday. Tomas Fainsil - Violetta Posmetnaya (GER) ranked second and Anton Besedin - Ekaterina Strelkova (RUS) ranked third.
Here are the best moments of the World Championship.
The semifinal reel:
v7408NCIGBw|The Semi-Final Reel | 2019 World Senior IV STD
The final reel:
22R1sQme7F0|The Final Reel | 2019 World Senior IV STD
Dance of Honour:
FuXE2doHZmw|Dance of honor Ceruti - Nuccia, ITA | 2019 World Senior IV STD
The Winners Interview:
q0760iX47jM|Winners ITV w. Ceruti - Nuccia, ITA | 2019 World Senior IV STD
We are working hard to produce high quality programs for TV. “Best of DanceSport” or “The GrandSlam Series” are two examples: our best competitions with our best athletes appeal to all kind of audiences in a selected number of sports TV channels around the World.
From kids to the elderly, everyone can enjoy DanceSport. And by bringing the beauty, aesthetic and sport aspects of Dance close to them on as many channels as possible we can expand the knowledge and familiarity of our wonderful sport to wider audiences worldwide.
Joana Subirana, a professional DanceSport athlete and a commentator for a Spanish TV network wrote to us:
“I got the job commentating on TDP after working on TV1's “Mira quién Baila” and later “Más que baile” on Telecinco. During that time, I met the director of Teledeporte Barcelona, with whom I stayed in more or less regular contact, thanks to her interest in DanceSport. One day, a few years later, I got a call from her. She was still interested in DanceSport and suggested we had a meeting to discuss a TV competition format. I suggested that instead of creating a television format, we should try and acquire the rights to DanceSport leagues, such as the international, European, World and GrandSlam leagues. The idea was to reach a wider audience and show the highest level of this kind of dance on TV. They liked my idea, so they decided to do one season and see how the audience responded. Everyone at TDP was very happy with the results and they've been commissioning new seasons ever since.”
In an upcoming newsletter later this week, we will ask and offer help for our National Member Bodies to reach their national tv-channels with a broadcasting package and a deal that is easy, cheap and yet offers the highest quality of production and the highest quality of DanceSport. Promoting DanceSport on a local, national TV network helps NMBs to promote their operations and events to the existing but also to new audiences.
We have compiled a turnkey deal for the 2019 GrandSlam Series. Twelve one-hour programmes as a series, all with international sound and cleared music, graphics, dope sheets and music cue sheets. For each programme the package includes also a 30-second trailer.
We hope many NMBs already have contacts to local broadcasters – and if they don’t this is their easy and effortless chance to start creating them. You speak the same language, you have the same interest.
One representative of a National Member Body informed us:
“For years, we have been struggling to get any DanceSport on TV. Our members were always complaining about this and the lack of visibility in media. After offering our local broadcaster a simple and easy turnkey package of the GrandSlam Series, with dates and all, and also some ideas for up-to-date commentators, they took the offer. And now we have twelve programmes coming up, by the national broadcaster, all over the country! This is a huge chance for us, as an NMB, to spread DanceSport to new audiences and to get wider exposure.”
DanceSport deserves to have bigger audiences and more viewers around the World, but we need help of our National Member Bodies to achieve it. And we are here to help them to do it.
Just like before, six couples proceed to the final. From there on The Final Showdown will begin. Two couples at a time will share the dancefloor. They will boost and challenge each other to perform better, to rise to the next level, and to do their best to steal the spotlight. The crowd will be able to focus on every couple’s performance.
The heats will be drawed so that each finalist couple will face each of the five fellow couples once. After the draw everybody will know which couples will share the dance floor in which dance.
Five dances and six couples, one-on-one on the dance floor. Three heats per dance, total of 15 dances. At the end of each dance a double kiss & cry.
Since the Duel format had its debut in 2018 WDSF GrandSlam Final, we thought we would ask some of the couples how they felt it and what was it like to replace solo dances and group dances with a duel.
The WDSF Presidium has approved the inclusion of Social Media Regulations to the Adjudicator’s Code of Conduct.
Below is the new addition which will be included in the Chairperson’s briefing for all adjudicators at the beginning of the competition:
Adjudicators Code of Conduct - SOCIAL MEDIA REGULATIONS
Self-Promotion vs. Selfless Behavior.
On the day and the following morning of a competition an adjudicator’s loyalty must be to adjudication at the competition and to all of the ethical duties of the adjudicator. So on the day and the following morning, an adjudicator shall not make speeches, pose for photographs, post or send or sponsor/contribute to messages in social media, about any matter. This prohibition is impossible to define exactly but it extends beyond the boundaries of the hall, the competition, the competition hotels and the streets of the host city or town. If in doubt, an adjudicator should politely decline to take part in any activity that suggests a relationship or alliance with any other adjudicators, any athletes, any producer or competition. Adjudicators have a right to be proud and happy of their achievements and of being appointed to a prestigious competition; but the adjudicator may not engage in activities which, however innocently, celebrate his or her position and participation in the competition in question. S/he must remember in his or her behavior that s/he is not a star, s/he is part of a proud, select, but unified team of experts whose role is to work rationally and materially and not to create their own centre of attention. Accordingly, self-promotion is inappropriate and is not permitted. Self-promotion includes, but is not limited to, writing and publishing commentaries in print or on social media, promotion by selfies, promotion on their own or other web pages, and generally drawing attention to themselves in a self-centred way. If the adjudicator is in doubt about the limits on her or his behavior, s/he should decline opportunities for self-promotion by his or her own actions or the actions of others, in connection with a competition at which s/he is a member of the panel. Furthermore it is a cardinal responsibility for an adjudicator to refrain from making any kind of disparaging or personal communications about athletes, coaches, other adjudicators, and other members of the DanceSport community whether they are present or absent from the competition, because such behavior immediately lowers the tone and reputation of the competition and affects the efforts of all concerned to practise and project standards of fairness and objectivity.
Additional requirements will also be included in the future WDSF competition invitation letters to all Adjudicators and Chairpersons.
