Tokyo, Japan, set the stage for the World Open Standard on Sunday. 57 couples started the competition. Francesco Galuppo – Debora Pacini (ITA) were the winners, Anton Skuratov – Alena Uehlin (GER) runners-up and Edgars Linis – Eliza Ancane (LAT) won the bronze. For all couples of the top three it was the second competition of the year, and a good preparation for the upcoming GrandSlam Series.

International Open Latin in Tokyo attracted 27 couples to the starting list. Timur Imametdinov – Nina Bezzubova (GER) were the winners, Andrey Gusev – Vera Bondareva (RUS) ranked second and Winson Tam – Anastasia Novikova (CAN) third. Winson and Anastasia surely had a full day with all dress changes, as they ranked sixth on World Open Standard. They had two competitions on the same day, and made it to the final in both of them!

A short report on PD Super GrandPrix Standard in Tokyo can be found here. 

We were able to watch the events from Kyiv live. World Open Latin had 73 couples registered on Saturday. Marius-Andrei Balan – Khrystyna Moshenska (GER) won the competition, Marek Bures – Anastasiia Iermolenko (CZE) ranked second and Yan Bangbang – Du Yujun (CHN) third. World Open Standard had 72 couples on the starting list on Sunday. The gold medals were presented to Madis Abel – Aleksandra Galkina (EST). Marco Sirocchi – Kilin Dora (ROU) ranked second and Yahor Boldysh – Irina Averina (BLR) third.

We were also happy to enjoy the events from Brno live. 96 couples took part in the World Open Standard competition on Saturday. The home crowd was happy to hear the results as David Odstrcil – Tara Bohak (CZE) were announced winners. Daniil Ulanov – Kateryna Isakovych (CYP) won silver, and Qiu Yuming – Wei Liying (CHN) started their competition year well by winning bronze medals. For International Open Latin, 82 couples started and after five rounds Charles-Guillaume Schmitt – Elena Salikhova (FRA) were announced winners. It was their first event of the year and it couldn’t have gone better as they won all five dances in the final. A new combination, Timur Yusupov – Valeria Remina (RUS) started their career together with a silver medal and Stefano Mendolia – Alexandra Koldan (ITA) won the bronze.

Moscow Region had International Open Standard on Saturday and International Open Latin on Sunday. 74 couples competed for Standard, and after five rounds Ilya Gasanov – Liudmila Raevskaya (RUS) were announced as winners. They won four dances out of five in the final. The runners-up, Alexey Barkov – Anna Vaniashkina (RUS) won the Waltz, ranked third in Quickstep and ranked second in three dances, and the whole competition. Vladislav Kozhevnikov – Eleonora Metelitsa (RUS) ranked third. For International Open Latin, 76 couples started. After five rounds Mikhail Koptev – Alexandra Atamantseva (RUS) took home the gold medals. Artem Efanin – Anna Efanina (RUS) ranked second and Vladislav Nikishin – Polina Golubeva (RUS) third.

WDSF Open Standard in Novosibirsk on Saturday had 41 couples on the starting list. Evgeny Nikitin – Anastasia Miliutina (RUS) were the winners, Konstantin Gorodilov – Dominika Bergmannova (EST) ranked second and Pavel Kopaev – Anastasia Vaniukova (RUS) ranked third. WDSF Open Latin on Sunday had 35 couples. Reigning Latin World Champions, Armen Tsaturyan – Svetlana Gudyno (RUS) were the winners, reigning Ten Dance World Champions Konstantin Gorodilov – Dominika Bergmannova (EST) took home the silver medals and Artem Semerenko – Valeriya Kachalko (KGZ) ranked third.

Again, it was a weekend full of high level DanceSport around the globe. And, if you look at the calendar... this is just the beginning! After this weekend, all the top couples are turning their focus on Bucharest. They will leave behind the trophies and medals they just won, and face each other in the first Big match of the season: the GrandSlam.

General Secretary Nenad Jeftic confirms that the WDSF Sports Commission has established an Enforcement Committee.

According to Mr. Jeftic, the mission of the committee is to make the Adjudicators aware that they are accountable and could very well be made responsible for their actions. The mission includes making the Adjudicators aware that the WDSF Sports Commission is responsible to take actions against them for safeguarding our sport.

Mr. Jeftic: ”The Enforcement Committee officials visit competitions to oversee the running of the competition by the organizer, and to observe the overall conduct of the Chairperson and the Adjudicators. The committee officials identify Adjudicators, who produce scores that are way under or over the average score of the computer detection system. The officials debrief and make a group assessment and recommendation after the debriefing session. Other measures include the Chairperson’s assessment of the Adjudicators’ conduct during each granted competition.”

The enforcement debriefing team consists of a chairperson, Mr. Nenad Jeftic, and the Enforcement Officers: Mr. Michael Eichert, Mr. Glenn Weiss, Mr. Gheorghe Raducan and Mr. Alberto Rodrigues.

The task of the debriefing team is to go a step forward to enforce a practice of strict monitoring of our Adjudicators’ performance, and to:

• identify the honest and well-performed Adjudicators 
• identify the Adjudicators who performed below expectation either with the intention to manipulate or simply incapable of a good assessment
• identify Adjudicators who simply use competition to make a point that they are different thus pen their assessment in an unusual manner
• present the findings to the Sports Commission
• make corrective recommendations such as removing Adjudicators who perform badly from the selection pool for a limited period, or long term

The Sports Commission had their meeting in Bucharest on Friday and Saturday.

The six-day event has already started in Pieve Di Cento with a two-day Adjudicator Congress on Tuesday and Wednesday, and many WDSF Open events on Thursday and Friday.

On Saturday it will be time for the WDSF PD Super GrandPrix Latin and WDSF World Open Standard. 41 couples have registered for the Super GrandPrix and 335 couples for the World Open Standard. The first round of the World Open begins at 10:14 am and the PD couples get to work at 17:53 in the evening.

On Sunday it is time for the WDSF PD Super GrandPrix Standard with 43 couples and WDSF World Open Latin with 334 couples. The WDSF World Open Latin starts at 10:26 am and the PD Super GrandPrix kicks off at 16:54. All times CET.

We have many of the WDSF Communications Team members present at Palacavichi, and we are able to send you some updates live. And that is not all, there is a live stream of the event through our partner Flodance.

Two-day events in Riga, Latvia, and Chelyabinsk, Russia offer WDSF Open competitions for Youth age group and Junior 2 age group (Riga only). These smaller international events might be a big stepping stone for the young athletes on their way to the bigger competitions. They all have to start somewhere, and who knows, there might be future World Champions on the starting list!

Last, but not least, there are 1086 entries to the two-day event in Kyiv, Ukraine! Many national competitions are brought to the same weekend as WDSF Open Standard and Latin for Adults and Youth. While the WDSF Opens are scheduled on Sunday, the organisers will surely have their hands full at Pochayna Event Hall during the whole weekend!

Best of luck to all couples who are competing this weekend!

On Saturday, the WDSF PD Super GrandPrix Latin Series kicked off with the first competition of the year. The reigning World Champions, Gabriele Goffredo – Anna Matus (MDA), returned to the international dance floor after a nearly five months break and secured the win. In the winners’ interview (see below) they said it was like coming home and they really enjoyed the event. Vincenzo Mariniello – Sara Casini (ITA) ranked second and Hou Yao – Zhuang Ting (CHN), the bronze medalists of the 2018 World Championship, ranked third.

On Sunday, the WDSF PD Super GrandPrix Standard Series had the second event of the year. On their first competition in 2019 and the first competition since the victorious 2018 World Championship, Bjorn Bitsch – Ashli Williamson (DEN) opened their season and dominated the event from the first round till the final. Winners of the first event of the Series in Tokyo, Nikolay Darin – Natalia Seredina (MDA) ranked second, and Cheng Dan – Li Zhenni (CHN) renewed their third position.

The weekend in Pieve Di Cento had gathered many of the best couples to the WDSF World Open competitions. Francesco Galuppo – Debora Pacini (ITA) won the World Open Standard (234 couples) on Saturday. Evgeny Moshenin – Dana Spitsyna (RUS) ranked second and Madis Abel – Aleksandra Galkina (EST) ranked third. On Sunday, Armen Tsaturyan – Svetlana Gudyno (RUS) won the World Open Latin (274 couples). Marius-Andrei Balan – Khrystyna Moshenska (GER) ranked second and Andrey Gusev – Vera Bondareva (RUS) third.

There were also events outside Italy. In Chelyabinsk, Russia there were WDSF Youth Open events on both days. Yaroslav Kiselev – Sofia Philipchuk (RUS) continued their fantastic year with another win in Youth Latin. The couple had competed in Italy on Thursday (ranked second) and just two days later they won the event in Chelyabinsk. Winners of the WDSF Youth Open Standard were Semen Ezhov – Marianna Butuzova (MNE).

In Riga, Latvia there were WDSF Youth Open events on both days aswell. Kaspar Kaldaru – Agneta Pukk (EST) won Standard and Aleksis Visockis – Kerija Keita Ziemele (LAT) won Latin.

In Kyiv, Ukraine, WDSF Open winners were Oleksii Halaktionov – Olha Shadrina (UKR) in Standard and Dmitry Marchenko – Anastasia Rybalko (AZE) in Latin. WDSF Youth Open Latin winners were Tim Grabenwoeger – Natalie Cremar (AUT) and WDSF Youth Open Standard winners were Andrii Buhlak – Anastasiia Ushenko (UKR).

This is just a scratch of all the events and competitions in different age groups during the weekend. There were hundreds of dancers in these different events who had prepared well for this weekend, and yet remained unmentioned. Congratulations to all couples, to those who were mentioned and also to those who were unmentioned!

Entries are already rolling in as many of the National Member Bodies have held their qualifyers during March. 

The WDSF Sports Commission has confirmed the names of the WDSF Breaking Technical Delegates and Judges for the 2019 WDSF Breaking World Championship in Nanjing (CHN) in June.  

The WDSF Breaking Technical Delegates for the Nanjing World Championship:

• Amjad (SUI)
• Bojin (TPE)
• Ken Swift (USA)
• Renegade (GBR)

The Judges confirmed for the 2019 WDSF Breaking World Championship:

• Ken Swift (USA)
• Yan The Shrimp (RUS)
• Danny (CHN)
• Hurricane (FRA)
• Freeze (SWE)
• Katsu (JPN)
• Movie1 (ESP)

MC: Amjad (SUI)
DJs: Plash1 (POL) and Vientiane (FRA)
Organisers: Chinese DanceSport Federation, Social Sports Administration Centre of Jiangsu Province, Nanjing Sports Bureau, Lishui District People’s Government of Nanjing City

The terrible news were delivered by his long-term colleague Mr. Cor van der Stroet on early Sunday morning, and were confirmed by the NADB President Mr. Jeffrey van Meerkerk later on Sunday afternoon.

Mr. Boutkan served as a member of the NADB Sports Commission, as Ambassador of NADB and as WDSF Adjudicator.

Mr. van Meerkerk writes: ”Cees was a beloved person all over the world. We are going to miss him enormously. On behalf of the presidium of the NADB, I want to wish his wife Therese, their family and all friends, colleagues and students all over the world lots of strength in dealing with this big loss. 

Cees, we thank you for all you have done for the development of DanceSport in the Netherlands and for the NADB. ”

WDSF Communications pays homage to the memory of Mr. Boutkan and joins the grief by sending heartfelt condolences to the family and close ones of Mr. Boutkan.

WDSF Academy and WDSF General Secretary, Mr. Nenad Jeftic invite you to participate the first congress for WDSF Hip Hop, Disco Dance and Stage Dance on 17^th of May. The congress, hosted by the DanceSport Federation of Serbia, is a milestone in developing and including more dance disciplines into WDSF ongoing daily activity. 

“I’m really glad to finally getting here so we can meet the demand of our dancers and National Member Bodies. This will be the start of a series of competitions in WDSF Hip Hop, Disco Dance and Stage Dance during 2019-2020. I really hope all National Member Bodies having these disciplines on their agenda really take the opportunity to send judges,” said Chair of the WDSF DanceSport Discipline Development Commission, Mrs. Lena Arvidsson, and continued: “We’re starting with an overall judge’s license and we’ll develop the different levels further after having run and evaluated some competitions.” 

DATE

17 May 2019 

LOCATION

Nearest Airport: Belgrade, Airport Nikola Tesla
Venue/Address: Hotel Hyatt Regence, Milentija Popovica 5, Novi Beograd, Srbija. 

REGISTRATION

Participants can register only through National Member Body. 

If you already are a WDSF Official, please log in with your WDSF user name and password and register to the congress online. To be an observer or when visiting a WDSF congress for the first time please contact your federation, they will manage your registration to this congress. 

Registration for this congress will end on 14 May 2019 23:59 GMT. 

CONTACT PERSON

Organiser: DanceSport Federation of Serbia
Contact Person: Dragana Lukic 
Email: yudsf001@eunet.rs

TIME

10am to 7:30pm 

CONTENTS

Evolution and Introduction to WDSF Judging System

Quick Analysis of Technical Qualities of Hip Hop

Adjudicators Code of Conduct and Responsibilities

Quick Analysis of Technical Qualities of Stage Dance (Performing Art)

Quick Analysis of Technical Qualities of Disco Dance 

Lecturers: To be Confirmed
General Knowledge Test: YES
English Comprehension Test: YES

IOC Executive Board gives thumbs up for Breaking at Paris 2024

The World DanceSport Federation (WDSF) welcomes the decision today by the Executive Board of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to move forward with a proposal by the organisers of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 to include Breaking on the sports programme for their edition of the Olympiad.

When asked about Breaking at a press conference announcing the decision, IOC President Thomas Bach said: “It is a very authentic expression. With every performance you feel the personality of the athletes. It’s not just delivering an exercise, it’s expressing yourself. […] I admire the moves they make. Even in my time as an athlete I would have never even gotten close to this kind of motion and flexibility in the body.”

The IOC President, an Olympic gold medallist in fencing, added that he admires how Breaking perfectly combines the sports aesthetic with personal expression.

Breaking joins Skateboarding, Sport Climbing and Surfing as the four shortlisted sports for possible inclusion at the XXXIII Olympiad. The package of sports will now be submitted to the IOC Session for provisional approval during meetings in Lausanne, Switzerland from 24-26 June. It was announced today that the final decision on Breaking’s inclusion at Paris 2024 will only be taken after the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, in December 2020. In the meantime, the IOC will have a monitoring programme in place that will look at the performance, management, governance and integrity of each of the four sports.

“The WDSF is very pleased to have overcome this latest hurdle en route to Paris 2024,” said WDSF President Shawn Tay. “We would like to thank everyone, especially the Breaking community itself, for the overwhelming support and commitment we have received from around the world. We could not have come this far without you and look forward with great anticipation to the IOC Session in June.”

The Paris 2024 organisers proposed the four sports in response to a new level of flexibility afforded to Olympic Games Host Cities to encourage innovation in the Olympic programme. Host Cities, beginning with Tokyo 2020, now have the option of suggesting new sports and events for inclusion in their edition of the Games that are not binding on future Games hosts. Skateboarding, Sport Climbing and Surfing were also included on the programme for Tokyo 2020, making Breaking the only new sport under consideration for the 2024 programme.

“I am extremely pleased that the IOC continues to show its confidence in the proposal of Paris 2024 from last month,” said French b-boy Mounir. “I am personally delighted to see that the IOC firmly believes in the potential of Breaking to contribute to the success of the 2024 Games. Today’s decision is warmly welcomed by the Breaking community, and it gives us extra motivation as we work toward this historic occasion.”

Given the outstanding success of Breaking at last year’s Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires, the WDSF remains convinced that the discipline can add significant value at low cost to the Summer Olympics and the Olympic Movement as a whole.

While its origins are in the United States, today’s elite-level b-boys and b-girls come from all corners of the globe. Breaking is very popular in France, with an estimated 1 million people practicing the sport and 350 registered clubs.

The country hosts 560 national and 11 major international Breaking events every year. There is also a powerful development programme at the national level in place, aimed at supporting competing b-boys and b-girls with coaching and training preparation. More than 10,000 athletes have already benefited from the programme.

The 2024 Summer Olympic Games are scheduled to take place in the French capital from 26 July to 11 August.

Contact:
WDSF Communications Team:

media@wdsf.org

City of Skopje, capital of North Macedonia, hosts WDSF World Open Standard and Latin and several WDSF Open competitions on Saturday. More than 300 couples have entered from more than 25 countries to show their best at Sport Center ”Boris Trajkovski”.

Palanga, the seaside resort of Lithuania, hosts WDSF Youth Open Standard and Latin, WDSF Senior 1 Open Standard and DSE Children GrandPrix on Saturday. The event in Lithuania is a two-day event with national competitions, including National U21 Latin Championship on Sunday, and the organiser happily informed us that there are couples from 15 countries participating. Gerli Padar will be performing live, and Latin and Breaking shows have also been added to the program on Saturday night.

Ostroda, Poland, hosts WDSF Open Junior 2 Standard and Latin, WDSF Open Senior 2 Standard and Latin and WDSF Open Senior 3 Standard competitions, in addition to national competitions, on Saturday. There are about 240 couples registered for the day.

This weekend also marks a special moment as the four-times World Champions, Dmitry Zharkov and Olga Kulikova return to the dance floor and make their debut in a national PD competition in Moscow.
We wish them, and all the competitors this weekend in all events, good luck and good dancing!

Skopje, Macedonia, hosted WDSF World Open Latin and Standard competitions on Saturday. A new combination Giacomo Lazzarini – Michelle Nazarenus (BIH) won the Latin in their first competition together. Stefan Grigore – Laura Filipescu (ROU) ranked second and Andrea Civita – Eleonora De Mitri (ALB) ranked third. 57 couples had started the Latin competition. In Standard, Vadim Shurin – Anastasia Meshkova (LAT) had the third competition weekend in a row, and took home the gold medals. Daniil Ulanov – Kateryna Isakovych (CYP) ranked second and Dariusz Mycka – Madara Freiberga (POL) ranked third. 61 couples had started the Standard competition.

A beautiful town of Ostroda, Poland, hosted a two-day event with regional, national and WDSF Open competitions with about 245 couples, on Saturday, and local Disco, Hip Hop, Modern Dance and Jazz competitions, with about 2000 competitors, on Sunday. There were double winners announced in two age groups. Kamil Tarach – Michalina Buczynska (POL) were the winners of both WDSF Open Junior 2 Standard and Latin competitions while Tomasz Kucharczyk – Roza Kucharczyk (POL) were the winners of WDSF Open Senior 2 Standard and Latin (in photo). Emil Gajda – Dorota Gajda (POL) reached the top podium in WDSF Open Senior 3 Standard.

Palanga, Lithuania, hosted WDSF Open Youth Latin and Standard, and there were double winners also in this event as Karolis Burneikis – Izabele Sekaite (LTU) dominated the both Youth age group competitions. WDSF Open Senior 1 Standard winners were Tomas Rimkus – Nerija Surblyte (LTU).

Next weekend there will be events in Portugal, Belgium, Czech Republic and Russian Federation. In addition to these Standard and Latin events, our associate member WRRC has the European Championship Rock’n’Roll Formation Main Class and World Cup Rock’n’Roll on Saturday and World Championship Rock’n’Roll Formation Juniors and World Cup Rock’n’Roll on Sunday in Krakow, Poland. We are already looking forward to that, and the other events, and we will share the info of the live stream later this week.

On 20/03/2019 in Abu Dhabi, during Special Olympics World Games Abu Dhabi 2019, a solemn signing of the proclamation of cooperation between World DanceSport Federation and The Special Olympics was held. The agreement was signed by Antoni Czyzyk, WDSF Vice-President for Development and Mary Davies, CEO Special Olympics International.

On the same day, during the Special Olympics DanceSport Demonstrations, Timothy Shriver, Chairman of the Board of Special Olympics announced solemnly from the stage that DanceSport was recognized as the official sport discipline within Special Olympics.

About Special Olympics (https://www.specialolympics.org/):

The mission of Special Olympics is to provide year-round sports training and athletic competition in a variety of Olympic-type sports for children and adults with intellectual disabilities, giving them continuing opportunities to develop physical fitness, demonstrate courage, experience joy and participate in a sharing of gifts, skills and friendship with their families, other Special Olympics athletes and the community.

In every corner of the earth, Special Olympics is changing the lives of people with intellectual disabilities. Through the power of sports, people with intellectual disabilities discover new strengths and abilities, skills and success. Special Olympics athletes inspire people in their communities and elsewhere to open their hearts to a wider world of human talents and potential.

Today, WDSF is pleased to announce two partners from the Breaking community, who will support, share expertise and assist the local organizers in Nanjing in making sure everything is well run.

And8, registered in Austria, will manage competition scoring in Nanjing using the Trivium Value judging system approved for use at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games (YOG). Further information regarding the Trivium Value judging system can be found on the WDSF website under Competition Rules. The And8 website address is: www.and8.dance.  

WDSF is very pleased with these two partnerships and strongly believes that the relationships will be mutually beneficial. Together with the line-up of the Technical Delegates, MCs, DJs and the panel of Judges, the WDSF expects the 2019 World Breaking Championship to be of highest quality and setting the standard for all future WDSF Breaking Events.

The World Urban Games 2019 programme includes six competition sports and two showcase sports. Breaking has been chosen for the inaugural competition programme.

Breaking, together with 3x3 basketball, BMX freestyle park, freestyle flying disc, parkour and freestyle roller skate, has been chosen as a competition sport at the inaugural World Urban Games 2019 Budapest. Indoor rowing and laser run will feature as showcase sports.

WDSF President, Mr. Shawn Tay, said: ”Breaking is a spectacular, energetic, fresh and entertaining sport that not only has the power to inspire youth, but also offers a great spectator experience for all. We are sure that Breaking will find its space and fit well into the spirit of the World Urban Games. Breaking represents a true urban sport; it is part of a new trend, and has the possibility to engage the community through social, cultural and educational activities.”

The varied sports programme is a reflection of GAISF’s vision for the Games, providing a global stage for it’s International Federations to highlight their emerging sports disciplines. The pioneering event presents a great opportunity for IFs to reach a new generation of fans in urban communities. In addition to the competition and showcase sports, demonstrations of music, dance and urban culture will also feature as part of the event.

The World Urban Games Budapest 2019, powered by GAISF, will take place in September 13-15, 2019.

source: GAISF 

A weekend full of Rock'n'Roll! That is what we expect as the best Rock'n'Roll formations and couples travel to Cracow, Poland to show their latest choreographies and music, which just makes everyone tap the floor in rhythm.

There are six formations competing for the European Championship on Saturday, and 11 Junior Formations competing for the World Title on Sunday. In World Cup competitions there are 30 Girls Formations and 25 Ladies Formations, and altogether 291 Rock'n'Roll couples. The event is huge and we wish all the competitors, officials and the organisers all the best for the weekend!

On Saturday the programme includes the following competitions:

• European Championship Rock 'n' Roll Formation Main Class
• World Cup Rock 'n' Roll Main Class Contact Style
• World Cup Rock 'n' Roll Children
• World Cup Rock 'n' Roll Juveniles
• World Cup Rock 'n' Roll Formations - Girls

• World Championship Rock 'n' Roll Formation Juniors
• World Cup Rock 'n' Roll Main Class Free Style
• World Cup Rock 'n' Roll Juniors
• World Cup Rock 'n' Roll Formations - Ladies

Our associate member, WRRC, hosts a Rock’n’Roll Championship event in Cracow, Poland. We have already published a separate article of it, and we have also added the links to the live streams for both days. We wish all the best to our friends in Poland!

In Standard and Latin there are events around Europe.

Moscow (RUS) hosts a WDSF World Open event at Sport Palace Megasport. 63 couples have registered for the World Open Latin, which will begin at 15:00 local time (14:00 CET) on Saturday. 81 couples have registered for the World Open Standard, which will have the first round at 13:30 local time (12:30 CET) on Sunday. The total number of couples for the weekend is close to 600. We are expecting to have the link to the live stream from Moscow, and we will add it below as soon as we have received it.

Ostrava (CZE) hosts WDSF International Open and WDSF Open events on Sunday at Trojhali Karolina. The organiser informed us that it’s a new competition and there are overwhelming number of 400 entries for the day. They feel happy about it and they are hoping everything will go according to plans. 85 couples are on the starting list for the International Open Latin and 72 couples for the International Open Standard. The Standard competition is expected to start at 11:00 CET and the Latin competition will take place at 18:30 CET. We are expecting to have the link to the live stream from Ostrava, too, and we will add it below as soon as we have received it.

Vagos (POR) hosts WDSF International Open Latin and WDSF Open events this weekend at Pavilhao Desportivo Do Colegio De Calvao. The organiser informed us that one of the Portuguese television channels promoted the event on Thursday. 32 couples have registered for the International Open Latin competition on Saturday, and the first round is expected to start at 17:30 local time (18:30 CET). On Sunday, the WDSF Open competitions start at 16:30 local time (17:30 CET) with WDSF Open Rising Stars Latin. Watch the live stream from Vagos below. 

In addition to these three events, which we will be able enjoy live, La Louviere (BEL) hosts WDSF Open competitions on Youth Latin, Senior 3 Standard and Senior 4 Standard on Sunday at Hall Omnisport de Bouvy.

All the best for the couples and the organisers for the weekend!

Live stream from Vagos (POR), Day 1, Saturday:


Live stream from Vagos (POR), Day 2, Sunday:

For the first time the National Championships included Standard and Latin, and also Hip Hop, Showdance, Rock’n’Roll, Cheerleading and Disco Dance. In addition to the best Danish couples in all age groups, the event had gathered many duos, solos and groups of the different disciplines for the two-day event. The Danish Federation had successfully included all disciplines and styles – with style.

Mrs. Karen Pedersen, the President of the Danish DanceSport Federation, told us in an interview about the keys to the recent success and about the plans for the future:

"I have a dream that we can become bigger and develop new content. We need to establish new kind of memberships. We must think outside the box." 

The WDSF First Vice-President for Communications, Mrs. Leena Liusvaara, congratulated the Danish DanceSport Federation on behalf of the WDSF Presidium, and wished the Federation all the best for the future:

”This weekend we gather together for celebrating the new Danish Champions in different disciplines, but also to remember and cherish the previous, as well as those people who started the Federation 50 years ago. Without the bold and brave ones who had the vision decades ago, we wouldn´t be here where we are today. Having a vision and following it, always requires open-mindedness and especially in DanceSport, also the willingness to expand the definition of traditional DanceSport. When DS started 50 years ago, the discussion was about whether to accept DanceSport as a sport – and today, we have a clearer definition of DanceSport. In that sense, what you have succeeded in your adult-aged forbund, is a great model for many other member federations in WDSF.
--
Allow me to propose a toast for Danmarks Sportsdancerforbund) for its 50^th anniversary and wish the federation a prosperous future – like you say, guld til Danmark! Tillykke med födselsdagen og Skål!”

In Cracow (POL), our associate member WRRC organised the European Championship Rock’n’Roll Formation Main Class on Saturday. Total of six formations were competing for the European title. The winners came from Russian Federation as Strategic Brilliant earned the highest scores. Also the runners-up, Fenix, and the bronze medalists, Rock Comets, represent Russian Federation. On Sunday, the World title was out there for the 11 Rock’n’Roll Junior Formations. The top two of the competition came from Hungary, as Home Alone won the World Championship and Vis Amoris reached silver medals. Moscow River’s Kids, representing Russian Federation, ranked third.

Moscow (RUS) hosted WDSF World Open Latin with 74 couples on Saturday. The reigning World Champions, Armen Tsaturyan – Svetlana Gudyno (RUS, in photo) took home the gold medals, Andrey Gusev – Vera Bondareva (RUS) ranked second and Konstantin Gorodilov – Dominika Bergmannova (EST) ranked third. On Sunday, the WDSF World Open Standard had 86 couples on the starting list. Evgeny Moshenin – Dana Spitsyna (RUS) earned the spot on the highest step of the podium. Alexey Glukhov – Anastasia Glazunova (RUS) ranked second and Evgeny Nikitin – Anastasia Miliutina ranked third.

Vagos (POR) hosted WDSF International Open Latin on Saturday with 30 participating couples. Vicenc Torremade – Megija Dana Morite (LAT) won three of the five dances and ranked first. Maruster Sergiu – Anastasia Stan (GER) won two dances and ranked second while Matteo Pappa – Arianna Del Frate (AUS) ranked third.

Ostrava (CZE) hosted WDSF International Open Latin with 74 couples, and Standard with 60 couples on Sunday. Winson Tam – Anastasia Novikova (CAN) won all five dances and ranked first at the International Open Latin. Sutu George – Tereza Florova (CZE) ranked second and Ivan Korotchenko – Julia Skorovarova (RUS) ranked third. In the International Open Standard Piotr Paszewski – Marta Mozdyniewicz (POL) earned the best scores and ranked first over their fellow Polish couple Armand Fazullin – Klaudia Iwanska. Edgaras Baltaragis – Indre Kucinskaite (LTU) ranked third.

The fifth location with events last weekend was La Louviere (BEL), which hosted three WDSF Open competitions on Sunday. Andrei Petcu – Barna Nicole-Vanessa (HUN) won the WDSF Youth Open Latin, Enrico Pratesi – Mariella Landini (ITA) scored best at the WDSF Senior 3 Open Standard, and Thomas Kreuels – Annette Kreuels (GER) won the WDSF Senior 4 Open Standard.

As the speed is accelerating towards May, there will be WDSF events in 10 locations in Europe and one location in the US during the next weekend. There will be a lot to report with hundreds of couples filling up the dancefloors from Friday to Sunday.

Vienna (AUT) and Paphos (CYP) host three-day events, starting on Friday. The historic building of the Vienna City Hall serves as a spectacular venue to the exclusive event for Senior age groups only. There are WDSF Opens for all Senior age groups twice during the weekend. The organiser informed us that as a special feature of the event it also includes a Team Match of Colours, where the team will be selected during the day. According to the organiser, it will bring emotions and happiness to the venue!

Paphos (CYP) hosts the WDSF World Open Standard on Saturday, World Open Latin on Sunday, and WDSF Open categories from Friday to Sunday at King Evelthon Beach Hotel & Resort. It will be the only World Open event during the busy weekend.

Orem (USA) hosts WDSF Open Standard, Latin, Smooth and Rhythm competitions for Adult and Senior 2 age groups at Utah Valley University Orem, Utah Campus on Friday and Saturday. In addition to WDSF Open competitions, the 2019 USA Dance National DanceSport Championships are included in the event and the couples are competing for national titles, membership on National teams, and at the highest levels, the opportunity to represent the United States at WDSF World Championship.

Thessaloniki (GRE) hosts WDSF International Open and WDSF Open competitions on Sunday. The organiser informed us that during the event they will have simultaneously competitions in six disciplines: WDSF Standard and Latin, Hip Hop, Breaking, Salsa, Oriental and Argentine Tango, and the number of participating dancers is more than 2500.

There are two WDSF events in Italy during the weekend. Brendola hosts a two-day event with WDSF International Open Standard and Latin on Saturday and Sunday. Livorno hosts a two-day event at Modigliani Forum. The WDSF International Open Standard and Latin, in addition to WDSF Open competitions to all age groups from Junior 2 to Senior 4 fill up the two floors of the venue (three floors on Sunday), and, according to the organisers ”bring the athletes to the center stage in an unforgettable show”. The first round of the International Open Standard starts at 14:15 CET on Saturday and the International Open Latin starts at 19:05 CET on Sunday.

Jurmala (LAT) hosts WDSF Open competitions for Youth and Junior 2 age groups. The organiser informed us that traditionally the event (in photos) is an international competition for Juvenile, Junior, Youth and U21 age groups. This year there are more than 650 couples competing in four WDSF Open competitions, and 21 other Open and Beginners’ competitions. It will be an interesting event for the young dancers at Semarah Hotel Lielupe.

Portoroz (SLO) hosts WDSF Junior 2 Open competitions on Saturday and Sunday. The event also includes DSE Children’s GrandPrix, which means the former monastery church of St. Bernardine, which has been rebuilt to the wellness Hotel Histrion on Portoroz shore, will be filled with young and enthusiastic talents for the whole weekend.

There are two events in Russian Federation, as Krasnodar and Odintsovo host WDSF International Open and WDSF Open events on Saturday and Sunday.

Lodz (POL) hosts WDSF Open Standard and Latin competitions for Junior 2 and Youth age groups, and WDSF Open Adult Latin at Hala Mosir on Saturday.

We are looking forward to the next three days, and wish all the couples in all age groups and organisers best of luck for the weekend!

There were total of 76 WDSF competitions in 11 events during the weekend: 39 in Standard, 32 in Latin, two in Smooth, two in Rhythm and one in Ten Dance. These competitions were hosted in Europe and in the US.

The total number of participating couples was 2402: 1440 in Standard, 927 in Latin, 11 in Smooth, 3 in Rhythm, and 21 in Ten Dance. So far we haven’t received numbers for three Latin competitions and two Standard competitions, which means the final numbers are a bit higher. It also means the number of athletes on the dance floor in WDSF competitions was more than 4800! Think about the number of rhinestones!

There were total of 731 Adult couples on the dance floor in 18 competitions. 361 couples in Standard (in 7 competitions), 342 couples in Latin (8), 6 couples in Smooth (1), 1 couple in Rhythm (1) and 21 couples in Ten Dance (1 competition). Numbers of one Latin competition are missing. There were also two Rising Star competitions, one in Standard (37 couples), and one in Latin (29 couples).

The total number of Youth couples was 402 in 14 competitions: 185 couples in Standard (in 7 competitions) and 217 couples in Latin (in 7 competitions). For the U21 age group the respective numbers were 12 couples in three competitions: seven in a Standard competition and five couples in two Latin competitions. Here were are missing numbers of one Latin competition in both age groups.

For all the numbers take a look at the two tables below.

As always, WDSF competitions do not fill the whole event and there have been many other national or regional competitions during the three days. If there were more than 4800 athletes in WDSF competitions only, there could have been the same amount of athletes participating these other categories, too. Nevertheless, the number of dancers last weekend has been thousands, and the athletes in all age groups have been demonstrating how dancing is possible and suitable for everyone, for the young and also for the older generations.

The second WDSF World Championship event of the year takes place in Berlin, Germany on Saturday as the Senior 1 Standard couples hit the dance floor at Sport Centrum Siemensstadt. Total of 197 couples representing 25 countries have registered for the Championship, which is scheduled to start at 13:00 CET.

The reigning World Champions, the home town heroes, Fabian Wendt – Anne Steinmann (GER) defend their title against Corentin Normand – Laura Lozingue (FRA) and Silvian Adrian Nedelcu – Nicoleta Nedelcu (ROU), who took the silver and bronze medals in the 2018 World Championship in Miami in October. The current runner-up couple on the World Ranking List, Dmitry Vorobiev – Oxana Skripnik (RUS) is also on the starting list, which means there will be an interesting competition between these top Senior 1 couples of the World waiting for us, and them, on Saturday. And, as always, the first part of the year means there are some new couples in this age group, making their first appearance on the dance floor as Seniors.

The second title event of the weekend as well as the first WDSF European Championship event of the year takes place in Chisinau, Moldova on Saturday as the couples of Youth Latin enter the scene at the Palace of Republic. The reigning European and World Champions, Egor Kulikov – Maria Goroshko (RUS) (in photos) have moved forward to Adult age group, which means the title is available for new Champions. The 2018 European and World Championship silver medalist couple, and the current number one on the World Ranking List, Vladislav Untu – Polina Baryshnikova (MDA) might become one of the favourite couples in front of their home crowd.

In addition to these two title events and all the other WDSF competitions in Berlin and in Chisinau, there are WDSF Open competitions for Adults and Youth in Bucharest (ROU) and WDSF Youth Open competitions both in Krasnogorsk (RUS) and in Volgograd (RUS).

Cambrils (ESP) hosts a three-day event with WDSF World Open Latin on Saturday and World Open Standard on Sunday. As there will be a live stream by our partner FloDance, the FloDance staff has already previewed the upcoming weekend in their posts here. See the trailer below.

Inside the Cambrils event there will also be a qualifier for the 2019 World Breaking Championship. The Spanish DanceSport Federation (FEBD) has taken steps to establish a Breaking division within their Federation and they are working on establishing a long term vision plan to have a Spanish B-Boy and a Spanish B-Girl qualified for Paris 2024, should Breaking be included in the programme. The plan includes for example organising Breaking Open competitions for kids and organising workshops and seminars in collaboration with the Breaking community. As the first milestone they have included the Spanish Championship Breaking B-Girl to the schedule on Saturday.

With all this, it will be another fabulous weekend in DanceSport!