The New Sports Series is a competition format which differs from the other competitions at the final stage of the competition.

The semi-final will be the same format as any WDSF title event: with 12 couples, and with AJS adjudicating system.

Good to Know: the WDSF New Sports Series

1. Eight couples will qualify for the final, which will be danced in a Duel (Battle) format. There will be a total of 12 duels in 3 stages. Each stage will have 4 duels. The seeding in the bracket is based on the semi-final result.

2. The music length is 2,5 mins / medley of three dances.

3. The bracket for the final:

1^st stage: C/R/J or W/T/QS

Duel 1: 4^th ranked couple vs. 8^th ranked couple
Duel 2: 3^rd ranked couple vs. 7^th ranked couple
Duel 3: 2^nd ranked couple vs. 6^th ranked couple
Duel 4: 1^st ranked couple vs. 5^th ranked couple

2^nd stage: PD/R/S or W/VW/SF

Duel 5: Losers of Duel 1 vs. Losers of Duel 3 
Duel 6: Losers of Duel 2 vs. Losers of Duel 4
Duel 7: Winners of Duel 1 vs Winners of Duel 3
Duel 8: Winners of Duel 2 vs Winners of Duel 4

3^rd stage: S/C/J or T/SF/QS

Duel 9: The battle for the 7^th place: Losers of the Duel 5 vs. Losers of the Duel 6
Duel 10: The battle for the 5^th place: Winners of the Duel 5 vs. Winners of the Duel 6
Duel 11: The battle for the 3^rd place: Losers of the Duel 7 vs. Losers of the Duel 8
Duel 12: The battle for the 1^st place: Winners of the Duel 7 vs. Winners of the Duel 8

4. The first edition of the New Sports Series saw light in Singapore in August 2019.

The editions of the New Sports Series in 2019 and 2020 act also as the WDSF World Games Qualifying Events.

In the third part of the Series of WDSF Competition Series we will find out more about the Qualifying System for The World Games 2021. Stay tuned!

Vladislav Untu – Polina Baryshnikova (MDA) have been reigning the Youth title events in 2019. The World Championship Youth Latin in Vienna (AUT) on Saturday did not make an exception to this rule, as Vladislav and Polina once again won the title with a unanimous assessment by the adjudicator panel – with number one rankings awarded in all five dances.

Rankings for the runners-up were just as clear. German Pugachev - Ariadna Tishova (RUS) won the silver medals and Nitu Eric Marius - Iosub Antonia Ioana (ROU) were awared the bronze. Both of the runners-up have a strong record with World Championship medals already in Junior II age group in 2017, which means there is a lot to look forward to in the future with these talented young athletes.

Many of the Saturday’s finalists will be on the floor again next Saturday at the 2019 WDSF World Championship Youth Standard in Timisoara (ROU). It will be the third and the last World Championship event for the Youth in 2019. History is in the making, and it couldn’t get more exciting than this. The next generation has really got us wrapped around their little fingers!

The WDSF World Open New Series Latin winners in Vienna were Marius-Andrei Balan – Khrystyna Moshenska (GER), and the World Open New Series Standard title went to Alexey Glukhov – Anastasia Glazunova (RUS).

At the same time in Kaunas (LTU), the WDSF World Open New Series Standard winners were Vaidotas Lacitis – Veronika Golodneva (LTU), and Alexey Dolgushin - Ksenia Piatakhina (RUS) won the WDSF International Open Latin.

Congratulations to the winners and runners-up in all competitions in Vienna and Kaunas!

Timisoara (ROU) will host the 2019 WDSF World Championship Youth Standard and the WDSF World Open New Series Latin and Standard on 23-24 November. 71 Youth couples will start the World Championship hoping to make it to the very last round of the day.

The last title event of the year for the Youth has a special twist with the Moldovan couple Vladislav Untu – Polina Baryshnikova pursuing to win their sixth title of the year. It will not be easy, as the challengers, including the reigning World Champions Zicoane Heler Sebastian Alin - Copos Anca (ROU) will be pushing each other to the next level. The organiser will provide a live stream, watch it here: http://en.romanianinternationaldancecup.ro/live2019/

Istanbul (TUR) will host the 2019 WDSF World Championship Junior II Latin on Saturday. 76 couples have been nominated to carry the flags of their home countries in this event located in the historically rich city in Turkey. There will be a live stream available, check it out below.

WDSF Associate Member, the World Rock’n’Roll Confederation (WRRC) will host a WRRC World Championship Rock’n’Roll Main Class Free Style and World Championship Boogie Woogie Main Class, Juniors and Seniors. 95 couples will dance for the World titles in Moscow (RUS) on Saturday.

In non-title events, Tallinn (EST) hosts a WDSF World Open Standard and WDSF International Open Latin, and Lviv (UKR) hosts a WDSF International Open Standard. Last, but not least, Noordhoek (NED) and Minsk (BLR) host WDSF Open events. 

We will keep an eye on any other possible live streams and add the links here as soon as the links have been confirmed.

Live from Istanbul (TUR):

Live from Lviv (UKR), part 1:


Live from Lviv (UKR), part 2:


Live from Lviv (UKR), part 3: 

Vladislav Untu – Polina Baryshnikova (MDA) have dominated the Youth age group this year, and they concluded the year of title events with another World Championship title in Timisoara (ROU) on Saturday. The new World Champions in Youth Standard have also won the World titles in Latin and Ten Dance, and the European titles in all three disciplines, making it a perfect row of six titles in 2019 for the couple.

This time, the title did not come that easily, as the runners-up Zicoane Heler Sebastian Alin - Copos Anca (ROU) kept on getting marks for the first place in all dances. Even though it was extremely tight in all dances, in the end the Moldovans won four dances of the final and the Romanians won the Tango. The adjudicator panel was unanimous about the third place, which was awarded to Ivan Reshetnikov - Elizaveta Kharinova (RUS).

The Russian couples were taking over the podium in Istanbul (TUR) on Saturday, as the 2019 World Championship Junior II Latin gathered the couples to dance for the Championship title. After an extremely tight final Kirill Kurbatov - Alexandra Revel-Muroz (RUS) were awarded the World Championship trophy. The couple won three dances of the final, ranked second in Samba and the third in Rumba. The runners-up, Vadana Rares Emanuel - Neculae Maria Tea (ROU) won Samba and Rumba, and were marked for the second place in three dances. To determine the winners, the rule 10 of the skating system was required. The bronze medals were awarded to Nikolay Puzyrev - Alexandra Volkova (RUS).

The third title event of the week took place in Moscow (RUS) as the WDSF Associate Member, the World Rock’n’Roll Confederation hosted World Championships in Rock’n’Roll Main Class Free Style and Boogie Woogie. Alexey Kondrashin – Darina Kozlova (RUS) won the World title in Rock’n’Roll. The Germans, Tobias Bludau – Michelle Uhl won the silver medals and the Russians Ivan Kudryashov – Margarita Charkovskaya won the bronze.

In Boogie Woogie the World title headed to Norway, as the reigning European Champions Sondre Olsen Bye – Tatiana Georgiievska secured their second title of the year. The Finnish runners-up Juho Päivinen – Mari Munne were leading after the slow round of the final, but the Norwegians had an amazing fast round and the Finns were awarded the silver medals. Jonathan Haug – Emma Danielsson (SWE) won the bronze. The World title for Boogie Woogie Juniors headed to Germany as Anton Graßl – Magdalena Schmid secured the win. The World title of the Seniors was awarded to Stéphane Martins – Stéphanie Arnaud (FRA).

The World title events continue this week as one of the most anticipated World Championship events, the 2019 WDSF World Championship Standard takes place in Vilnius (LTU). The 2019 World Para DanceSport Championships take place in Bonn (GER), and we will keep you updated of it, too.

The WDSF Athletes Commission is looking for candidates to be elected as the representative for the Oceanic region.

The WDSF Athletes Commission (AC) is a permanent commission of the WDSF Presidium that consists of athletes who are elected solely by other WDSF athletes. The AC represents the interest of the athletes, advises the Presidium on matters that are relevant to the athletes, and works to improving the communication between the Presidium and the athletes.

The term of our current Oceanic representative, Mr. Antonio Micheli, has ended as he has retired as an active athlete. As such, all active athletes having their residence in the Oceanic region may now volunteer or be nominated as candidates. One of the candidates approved by the Commission as qualified under the WDSF Athletes Commission Operating Policy will be elected to serve a 4-year term as a member of the Athletes Commission.

Any active athlete, who has to be at least 18 years of age, and must have his/her residence in the Oceanic region may submit his or her candidacy together with a resume and reasons or statement for candidacy, to the following e-mail address by 17 December 2019, 17:00 CET: nospam.athletes@wdsf.org.

Following your submission to the AC, each candidate will need to be approved and after approval will be added to the list as an eligible candidate.

We will be conducting an electronic electionfrom 28 January 2020 up to and including 4 February 2020. Further instructions on the electronic voting will be issued once the candidates are known.

Following the elections, the candidate voted in will become a part of the Athletes Commission.

We are looking forward to receive your nomination!

Many thanks.

On behalf of The Athletes Commission
René Ewals, Secretary

The World DanceSport Federation (WDSF) warmly welcomes the latest decision by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to include Breaking on the sports programme for the next edition of the Youth Olympic Games (YOG) in Dakar, Senegal in 2022.

The IOC announced Tuesday that Breaking would join skateboarding, surfing and sport climbing in Dakar – all four sports have received provisional approval to appear at the Olympic Games Paris 2024, with a final decision set for December 2020. In addition, karate will make its YOG debut in Dakar.

In total, 24 b-boys and b-girls between the ages of 14 and 18 will compete at the 2022 YOG.

“We are extremely pleased with the news that Breaking has been included on the programme for Dakar 2022, as it will once again allow the best young b-boys and b-girls around the world to showcase their talent,” said WDSF President Shawn Tay. “After the great success of Breaking at the YOG Buenos Aires 2018, we will continue to work closely with both the Breaking community and the IOC to ensure that we deliver the best possible event in 2022.”

Since making its Olympic debut in 2018 at the Buenos Aires YOG, Breaking has also debuted at the World Urban Games and enjoyed successful WDSF World Championships.

In total, athletes from 33 sports will compete at the 2022 YOG. For the first time in Olympic history, full gender equality in terms of athletes and representation in each sport will be achieved.

“The Youth Olympic Games Dakar 2022 will be the first Olympic event on the African continent, which is historic for Senegal and historic for the continent of Africa. The agreed athlete competition is youthful and completely gender-balanced and shows that the IOC continues to develop the Youth Olympic Games that will feature over 4,500 athletes from all National Olympic Committees,” said IOC President Thomas Bach.

Read the full IOC press release here.

Officially founded on August 25th 2019, and recognized by the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) on September 28th 2019 as the official continental body representing WDSF’s DanceSport Federations in Asia, the DanceSport Asia Limited (DSA) called its first Executive Committee Meeting to convene in Shanghai (CHN) on December 6th, 2019.

The meeting hosted by the Chinese DanceSport Federation and Chaired by Mr. Crossen Gouchen Yin (CHN) and Mr. Jimmy Su Jie (CHN) had Committee Members from 11 countries present.

The first Executive Committee meeting decided to set up DSA Headquarters Office in the Sports City of Chengdu (CHN). The Executive Committee appointed DSA Vice-President Mr. Jimmy Su Jie as Director General of DSA to take care of the DSA Headquarters Office. The contract with the Chengdu government will be executed on December 27th, 2019 to formalise the arrangements.

Mr. Song Luzen (CHN), the OCA Vice-President was invited to take the post of DSA Life-Long Advisor, and Mr. Yu Zaiqing (CHN), the Vice-President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) was invited to take the post of DSA Honorary Life-Long President.

With total of 21 items on the agenda, the DSA Executive Committee took the road of action to promote DanceSport in Asia.

The Presidium of the World DanceSport Federation congratulates DSA in this new important achievement, and sincerely expresses gratitude for their support in the development of DanceSport in Asia.

2019 WDSF World Championship ShowDance Standard and ShowDance Latin will take place at the glamorous State Kremlin Palace at the very heart of the Russian capital, inside the Moscow Kremlin. 18 couples have prepared their programme for ShowDance Latin and 16 couples for ShowDance Standard. Our team photographer, Helmut Roland is travelling to Moscow to capture the best moments with his camera.

In Riga (LAT) the 2019 WDSF World Championship Junior II Standard highlights the Saturday afternoon. 64 couples will enter the floor of the Kipsala International Exhibition Centre at 12:30 CET. In addition to the title event, there is a WDSF International Open Latin on Saturday and WDSF World Open Standard on Sunday. We are streaming the event on Saturday and Sunday at DanceSportTotal.com, enjoy!

Saturday, 2019 WDSF World Championship Junior II Standard 

Sunday, WDSF World Open Standard 

The WDSF World Open Standard will gather 54 couples and the World Open Latin 58 couples to Paphos (CYP) to enjoy the atmosphere by the Mediterranean Sea. Many couples are also travelling to Dubai (UAE) to finish their season at Roda Al Bustan Hotel.

Moscow (RUS) hosted the 2019 WDSF World Championship ShowDance Standard and ShowDance Latin on Saturday. Both Championships were dominated by the Russian couples, as they were awarded a double victory in both events.

The ShowDance Standard World title went to Semen Khrzhanovskiy - Elizaveta Lykhina (RUS), the silver medals were handed out to Dmitry Pleshkov - Anastasia Kulbeda (RUS), and the bronze medals to Matej Stec - Elena Popova (SVK). The 2019 WDSF World ShowDance Latin Champions are Fedor Poliansky - Dina Akhmetgareeva (RUS). The second place was awarded to Anton Aldaev - Natalia Polukhina (RUS), and the third place for Artur Balandin – Anna Salita (GER).

Riga (LAT) hosted the 2019 WDSF World Championship Junior II Standard on Saturday. Completing a very successful year with another World title, Kirill Kurbatov - Alexandra Revel-Muroz (RUS) won their third World title of the year (previously they have won the World Championships in Latin and Ten Dance, too). Butnaru Luca Teodor - Bidica Julia Denisa (ROU) won the silver medals, and Danila Zhuravlev - Daria Titkova (RUS) won the bronze.

The WDSF World Open Standard winners of the weekend were Daniil Ulanov – Kateryna Isakovych (CYP) in Paphos (CYP), and Edgars Linis – Eliza Ancane (LAT) in Riga (LAT). The WDSF World Open Latin winners were Stefan Grigore – Laura Filipescu (ROU) in Paphos (CYP).

The WDSF International Open Standard winners of the weekend were Yahor Boldysh - Irina Averina (MDA) in Moscow (RUS), and Dmitri Kolobov – Signe Busk (DEN) in Dubai (UAE). The WDSF International Open Latin winners were Konstantin Astafev - Maria Potemkina (AZE) in Moscow, Artem Semerenko - Valeriya Kachalko (KGZ) in Dubai, and Maksym Kravchenko - Paula Kukute (LAT) in Riga.

Alessandro Ilarioni – Aurora Sbardella (ITA) won the WDSF PD Open Standard, and Marts Smolko – Tina Bazykina (LAT) won the WDSF PD Open Latin in Dubai.

Congratulations to the World Champions, runners-up, and the winners of the non-title events!

The holiday season is approaching, but there is one more event remaining before winding up the year. Miami (USA) will host a WDSF World Open (New Series) event next weekend, and with that event year 2019 will be completed.

The last WDSF event of the year takes place in Miami (USA). The busy weekend in the Intercontinental Miami goes under the title The American DanceSport Festival 2019.

WDSF World Open New Series Standard and Latin have some of the world top couples on the starting lists. WDSF Open competitions in Youth, Senior I and Senior II age groups, and WDSF PD Open Standard and Latin complete the menu.

Good luck to all couples in Miami, FL!

The latest DanceSport Asia Limited (DSA) Executive Committee meeting on early December voted unanimously to set up its China office in Chengdu (CHN). Since then, the DSA has been working closely with the Chengdu government on the preparations of the said Headquarters Office.

On December 27, 2019 at the International Conference Centre of Chengdu, the formal agreement to set up the DSA China office in Chengdu was signed between the DSA and the Chengdu government.

The signing was conducted by Madam Xiong Yan, Director of Chengdu Sports Bureau, and Mr. John Fam, Vice-President for Legal Affairs and General Secretary of DSA. The signing was witnessed by Mr. Crossen Yin Guochen, President of DSA, Mr. Jimmy Su Jie, Vice-President of DSA, and Mr. Wang Pingjiang, Deputy Mayor of Chengdu Municipal Government.

This move is another milestone for DSA, as the Chengdu government will offer strong support in promoting DSA during the cooperation term.

The Presidium of the World DanceSport Federation congratulates DSA in this new important milestone for DanceSport in Asia.

The GrandSlam Series, as the jewel of WDSF Standard and Latin competition series remained luminous and highlighted the year with the best DanceSport couples in the World. The six fabulous events brought light and glamour, combined with high-quality Standard and Latin DanceSport to the eyes of millions of people. The statistics of the WDSF social media channels show there was a rapid trend upwards when looking at the number of views, likes and engagements, meaning the message of DanceSport has spread well to the sports-loving public.

Over 150 b-boys and b-girls participated the 2019 WDSF World Breaking Championships in Nanjing (CHN). Breaking also debuted at the World Urban Games, and received a thumbs-up from the IOC Session for a possible inclusion on the sports programme of the Olympic Games Paris 2024. And, the most recent news tell Breaking will be included in the sports programme of the Youth Olympic Games Dakar 2022. The success story tells about the worldwide appeal and growth of Breaking, which with its energy, athletic excellence, innovation and youth appeal continues to thrive and excite all around the world.

DanceSportTotal.com relaunched and a vast number of events were streamed live, or broadcasted some days later after the event. Some past events, which have not been seen before on WDSF channels, were also added to the channel, and more events are on the way! ”The more subscribers, the more content” has been the leading idea for the platform, and in 2019 everything went according to plans.

New World Champions were crowned, and some of the Champions defended their last year’s titles successfully. We saw some couples finishing their career in competitions, while for others the career has just started to flourish. We saw comebacks. We saw some couples starting a new chapter in their career. New competition formats were tested and adjusted, and some have already been brought into use.

And, there was a lot more! All the wonderful moments on and off the dance floor, emotions, wow-factors, sport spirit, support, standing ovations, tears of joy, tears of sadness and, most of all, respect to all involved. This is what 2019 was all about.

With such an amazing year behind us, we would like to thank you for taking part in it. For the new year, there is much to look forward to, and many spectacular moments to come.

Our warmest wishes for the new year to all friends of DanceSport! May all your dreams for 2020 be fulfilled!

The International World Games Association (IWGA) has announced the candidates for the World Games Athlete of the Year 2019 race. The WDSF has nominated the two-times World Latin Champions Armen Tsaturyan – Svetlana Gudyno (RUS) to represent DanceSport and to run for the title. 

Their outstanding record speaks for themselves. Straight row of number one positions since the beginning of 2018. Four times European Latin Champions, two times World Latin Champions, 15 times GrandSlam winners, including the GrandSlam Finals in Shanghai, twice.

Armen Tsaturyan – Svetlana Gudyno (RUS) have continued to amaze the spectators and the adjudicator panels all around the world with their athleticism, determination and consistency. Even though being at the very top, it has never been enough, and they always find something to improve and to develop in their dancing and their performance. Their ambitions and goals are high, making them push even more each time they enter the dance floor.

The World Games Athlete of the Year vote has had many wonderful athletes representing DanceSport in the past. This year makes no exception, and the WDSF is proud to have nominated the reigning World Latin Champions for the race.

This year there will be 24 candidates from 24 sports and 18 countries in The World Games Athlete of the Year vote. Voting begins on Wednesday, 8th January 2020 at 09:00 CET, and ends on Thursday, 30th January 2020 at 15:00 CET. As previously, there will be a fixed date after which only the best 10 candidates will continue in the race, and this date is 20th January.

To bring the World Games family closer together, and to get to know each other better, it has been decided that this year all voters shall vote at the same time for two candidates: they will give one candidate two votes, and another candidate one vote. As in previous years, votes can be given once per 24 hours – but this year for two candidates at the same time!

Last year, the Acrobatic Gymnastics couple Mariia Chernova & Georgii Pataraia (RUS) won the title with 159,348 votes, ahead of the American Powerlifter Jennifer Thompson with 152,865 votes. Dmitry Zharkov – Olga Kulikova (RUS) received 14,912 votes and finished at the sixth place.

It is time to show our love for Armen and Svetlana and for DanceSport. Let’s do this and push the couple to top 3! 

Following the success of the 2019 WDSF World Breaking Championship in Nanjing, China, the World DanceSport Federation (WDSF) is pleased to announce that the 2020 edition will return to the eastern Chinese city on 30 August.

This year’s Championship will gather over 150 b-boys and b-girls, who will compete in 1vs1 battles for the chance to be crowned world champion.

“We were very satisfied with the outcome of last year’s Championship and are excited to be returning to Nanjing this year,” said WDSF President Shawn Tay. “Most importantly, the feedback from the dancers was quite positive, so we are looking forward to once again seeing the world’s best b-boys and b-girls showcasing their incredible skills in China this August.”

The World Championship will be jointly organised by the WDSF, the Chinese DanceSport Federation, the Social Sports Administration Centre of Jiangsu Province, the Nanjing Sports Bureau, and the Lishui District People’s Government of Nanjing City.

The 2019 WDSF World Breaking Championship featured some 150 breakers from a record 65 countries. B-girl Ami (JPN) and B-boy Menno (NED) are the reigning world champions.

Qualification for the 2020 WDSF World Breaking Championship will be through WDSF National Member Bodies (NMBs). Each NMB can select two b-girls and two b-boys, most of whom will qualify via national qualifiers. The local organisers have the right to also invite a number of the world’s leading breakers in addition to the national quotas. More details will be provided in due course.

Breaking has been provisionally approved by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to be part of the sports programme for the Olympic Games Paris 2024, following its Olympic debut at the Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires in 2018. A final decision on whether Breaking will appear in Paris will be made in December this year.

In December 2019, the IOC confirmed that Breaking has been included on the sports programme for the next Youth Olympic Games, due to take place in Dakar (SEN) in 2022.

The Athletes Commission of the WDSF holds its election to vote for the Oceanic representative in the WDSF Athletes Commission as per 1 March 2020. We would very much encourage you to vote for the person you believe is best able, willing and qualified to represent the Oceanic competitors within the Athletes Commission.

For your vote to be valid, please strictly adhere to the following:

• Each athlete may vote only once and cast one vote
• You have to be 18 years of age or over as from 28 January 2020
• You have to registered as an WDSF Athlete in the Oceanic region
• Each athlete is only allowed to vote through this electronic voting between 28 January 2020 & 4 February 2020 (12:00 hours CET time)
• Each athlete has to properly identify him or herself on this voting form by means of his/her WDSF Card
• This form, including your WDSF card must be scanned or photographed and sent in return to the following e-mail address: athletes@worlddancesport.org by 4 February 2020 12:00 hours (CET). Sending the completed form to any other e-mail address renders this form void
• A vote is only valid when one name has been clearly chosen
• Each athlete may only mark one name, not more on this voting form
• No striking through or any corrections are allowed on the voting form, or else the form is void.

Download the voting form.

We are happy to announce that the Athletes Commission is having an election for a new representative, as successor of Antonio Micheli, our Oceanic representative. We have two candidates for this position and they are (in alphabetical order of surname):

    Brodie Barden; and
    Sheldon Gilbert.

Short resume Brody Barden, candidate Oceanic representative WDSF Athletes Commission

I present myself to become a member of the athletes commission for the oceanic region as I wish to create a stronger relationship between Oceania and the rest of the world. If elected I hope to encourage more participation from the oceanic members and for greater incentive for the rest of the world to visit the region. Having been an active competitor in WDSF for over a decade I hope to represent all athletes’ best interests. As a fun, hard working and approachable person I hope to be someone that athletes can come to and express their concerns and ideas. I would very appreciate your vote to represent the athletes in the best way possible.

Short resume Sheldon Gilbert, candidate Oceanic representative WDSF Athletes Commission

My name is Sheldon Gilbert and I am a WDSF Adult athlete based is Melbourne, Australia. My partner and I compete both nationally and internationally, forging relationships with competitors and promoting participation in events across the region.
My residence and extensive participation in the regional competitions enable me to be well suited to represent the oceanic region as I have a deep understanding of my fellow competitors and their particular needs.
The Oceanic representative position would provide me with the opportunity to further develop and refine the sport that we love.

We will be conducting an electronic election from 28 January 2020 up to and including 4 February 2020 12:00 hours (CET time).

As the WDSF is a body that is governed by Swiss law, all athletes who are 18 years of age or over are allowed to vote in this election, providing they are registered as an WDSF Athlete in the Oceanic region

Should you have any questions about the voting process, please do let us know. All rules for the voting process are on the voting form. Please read them through thoroughly before voting.

We are looking forward to many votes for these excellent two candidates.

Thank you!
The WDSF Athletes Commission

Ashli Williamson - Chair / European Rep.
René Ewals - Secretary / Senior Rep.
Anton Belyayev - Americas Rep.
Rikako Ota - Asian Rep.
Justyna Możdżonek - Youth Rep.
Sean Smullen - PD Rep.
Monica Korf - African Rep.

Download the voting form.

Thank you for all who voted! Armen Tsaturyan and Svetlana Gudyno (RUS), our Latin multi-champions, placed 5th in this very exciting race. We are very happy for Armen and Svetlana – they had 33 439 votes, and the fight between the places from 4th to 6th was very tight! DanceSport fans made this happen and we are all thankful for that!

We all cheer for the winner, Hockey player and superstar Rani from India, who won the race with huge 199 477 votes! Big hand to Rani!

Here are the finalists of TWG AOTY 2020 race:
1)    Rani,             IND    199477    Hockey
2)    Stanislav Horuna        UKR    92539    Karate
3)    Rhaea Stinn        CAN    56655    Power lifting
4)    Janja Garnbret        SLO    36876    Sport Climbing
5)    Armen Tsaturyan & Svetlana Gudyno RUS    33439    DanceSport
6)    Davide Donati & Michela Castodi    ITA    32138    Gymnastics

Read more about the award on the IWGA website.

Cheers to Armen and Svetlana and all of you who supported them in this race!

In 2020, the world´s strongest and most talented couples will meet again during the 4 legs of WDSF Grand Slam series, competing for their right to participate the great finals in Shanghai, China in December 2020.

The WDSF Grand Slam legs will be as follows:

28.-29.3.2020         Bucharest, Romania
11.-12.7.2020         Rimini, Italy
13.-14.8.2020         Stuttgart, Germany
23.-25.10.2020     Moscow, Russia

and finals by invitation:

19.-20.12.2020     Shanghai, China

The couples are required to participate in at least 3 legs prior to the selection of the invited finalists.
Less than 2 months to Romanian DanceMasters 2020 in Bucharest. Let´s get ready for the excitement of the WDSF Grand Slam Series 2020!

The first WDSF World Championship Smooth Adult was held in Atlanta, USA on February 1st. 28 couples joined the championship.
They all came from USA. But there is also interest for this discipline in other countries, in Russia for example. So the interest for Smooth is increasing.

The organizer refers that there were even PD couples from Russia and Australia who wanted to participate. And they were disappointed to find out, that this was an amateur event.


And here are the results of the final:

1st place:   Kristers Smits - Elizabeth Shlimovich
2nd place:  Jonathan Medlin - Marlin Allert
3rd place:  Steve Torres - Nicole Barron
4th place:  Justin Chiou - Hannah Bundus
5th place:  Patrick Stone - Carlye Hemphill
6th place: Gerorge Cometa - Amelia Wills


                                                                                      Photos: Jennifer Allan Egl Phtography

Antwerp Diamond DanceSport Cup 2020 sets the stage for the 2020 WDSF World Championship Standard Senior 1 in Belgium on 7th February. 106 coupels from 21 countries joined the competition which was held in Sporthal Het Rooi te Berchem / Antwerp. 11 hours after the start of the championship in the morning, according to six rounds of dancing, the finalists had been qualified by the panel of adjudicators. It was a great atmosphere, especially during the semi-final and final rounds.

At the end Dmitry Vorobiev - Oxana Skripnik from Russian Federation won the title.

Congratualations to the winner and to all finalists:   

1st place:   Dmitry Vorobiev - Oxana Skripnik / Russian Federation
2nd place:  Fabian Wendt - Anne Steinmann / Germany
3rd place:  Martin Schmiel - Carolin Schmiel / Germany
4th place:  Corentin Normand - Laura Lozingue / France
5th place:  Ignazio Grignani - Ilaria Gianfranchi / Italy
6th place:  Michael Mammoliti - Silvia Mariotti / Italy