The World DanceSport Federation (WDSF) today regrets to announce the cancellation due to COVID-19 of the 2020 WDSF Annual General Meeting scheduled for June in Belgrade, Serbia.
The decision was taken by the WDSF Presidium after concluding that the AGM would be impracticable to organise, mainly due to the numerous deadlines required to be met in advance, as per the WDSF Statutes. The WDSF is currently dedicating all of its limited resources and efforts on a plan to re-launch DanceSport competitions as restrictions start to lift.
“It was a very disappointing decision to make,” said WDSF President Shawn Tay. “But under the current circumstances the Presidium clearly understood that there was no other option.
“It is much more important to focus all our energies into being ready for the day we can begin our competitions again, which we are optimistic will be sometime this summer.”
The WDSF Presidium will communicate the date and venue for the 2021 AGM in due course.
Competition fees, which are one of the main sources of income for the WDSF, have temporarily ceased during the pandemic. Therefore, important and significant financial cuts have been necessary. As part of the cuts, staff at the WDSF headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland are currently working from home on a work-time reduction schedule. Along with our sports officers, however, they remain in close contact with event organisers to ensure that all relevant information is exchanged, in particular with regard to competition rescheduling.
The WDSF remains confident that as a result of the hard work, commitment, and flexibility of our staff and stakeholders, DanceSport will return stronger than ever once activities return to normal.
If you’re in need of a pep talk during the COVID-19 pandemic, there is arguably nobody in the DanceSport community more appropriate to speak to than recently retired dancer Ashli Williamson.
She remains as effervescent as ever despite the negative impact of coronavirus on her work as Chair of the WDSF Athletes’ Commission and as a dance instructor in Denmark, and she has plenty of good advice to share with anyone struggling with too much time on their hands.
Read on to discover what Ashli has been getting up to under lockdown and her tips for coping. We’re sure you’ll be as invigorated by her responses as we were!
How has COVID-19 affected the work of the WDSF Athletes’ Commission?
It has affected it a lot. All of the meetings where we have opportunities to get things changed within the WDSF have been postponed until further notice. This means we have become more of a source of information to the athletes instead of trying to improve the ongoing system (adjudication, scrutineering, competition rules and regulations, organizational issues, etc.). And as all competitions have been postponed and there is no possibility of travel to meet and continue our development, our work has been delayed a bit. It's difficult to speak about competition rules when the survival of your family is the most important thing on the agenda, either in the form of health and well-being or economic existence. This time has made people realize what is important in life. It has also reminded us why we love DanceSport: because we love dancing.
What has been the biggest setback brought about by COVID-19, and how are you attempting to overcome this?
One setback we have had is the cancellation of both the Sports Commission meetings and the 2020 Annual General Meeting. Of course we understand completely and know that it could not be any different, but it is still a difficult time for everyone. Another issue is the effect that it is having on the dancers all around the world. As we are hearing, it is very difficult for everyone to maintain their motivation to do their exercises, stay in shape and practice their technique, just to name a few. In many countries we do not even know when things will open up again and this creates a huge mental challenge as many dancers can stay motivated for a certain period of time, but when that period keeps getting extended it's difficult to sustain the motivation.
What are the top priorities for the Athletes’ Commission during the pandemic, and what are the main tasks to tackle once things return to normal?
Our main priority in this period is to stay safe and to help as much as we can the dancers from our region (the region or discipline we are representing). We have regular Skype meetings so the whole Commission is informed of the decisions of the WDSF Presidium, so they too can pass the word along to their respective athletes.
You recently retired from professional dancing, but that doesn’t mean you aren’t staying in peak shape anymore. What have you been doing under quarantine to keep fit?
Yes, it's true, I retired in November 2019 just before the crisis hit. [Dance partner and husband Bjørn Bitsch and I] are very privileged. We built a private studio next to our home some years ago to be able to practice more and have less travel time in our day. So this hall is used now for playing badminton, table tennis, pool and of course we still practice several times per week. There is no other sport in the world like dancing and once you have been a dancer you never stop. Dancing is not something we do, being a dancer is who we are!
You teach at the Just Dance Studios in Denmark. How has the pandemic affected DanceSport at the grassroots level? How are studios such as yours coping with the lockdown?
The clubs in Denmark have now been shut down since 11 March and there is talk that they are not allowed to open until aften the summer, but nothing is for sure yet. This has had a major impact on the studio. We and the other instructors are doing online classes, but it's not the same. I'm sure this will have a huge economic impact on the yearly accounting. But for now it’s about surviving the rest of 2020 and making the most of the situation and staying positive.
What advice do you have for all the dancers out there, from beginners to the elite, who are stuck at home without access to dance classes, their partners, gyms, etc.?
Great Question! My advice would be to set a daily routine so you have something to wake up to every morning and accept that you have more time off than normal. Enjoy the time off and do the things you never normally have time to do, for example:
Start writing a diary (to get your emotions out on paper)
Write to old friends and acquaintances that there normally isn't time for
Reconnect again with distant family members
Learn the musical instrument you always wanted to play
Practice an outdoor sport that you always wanted to be better at
Watch dancing videos, old and new. Stay inspired!
Go through your old dancing videos. Take one per year (since you started) and see how you’ve developed
Do a spring clean of the house from top to bottom. It cleanses the soul
Go for walks, appreciate nature and the fact that you are alive and healthy
Read books. Develop your mind, develop your personality, develop your communication. Become the person you always wanted to be.
DTV, Deutscher Tanzsportverband s.V the German member of the WDSF, informed last week, that due to the state government regulations, event of the size of GOC can´t be organized in August in Germany.
With sad feelings, but respecting the global situation, DTV wrote that due to the governmental order they can only cancel the event of 2020.
As we all know, GOC is an awaited event with many happy faces, expectations and meetings, and we all receive this message with some sadness. But at the same time, all looking forward of the happy reunion in the future again!
The COVID-19 pandemic has severely disrupted the daily routines of dancers globally, but for top Latin couple Kristina Moshenskaya and Marius-Andrei Balan, the slower pace of life has actually been most welcome.
Under lockdown, in addition to getting closer to their fans through social media, the pair say they have learned a number of valuable lessons that they will carry over into their post-pandemic lives. Perhaps just as importantly, they’ve also managed to tackle all the household chores they’d been putting off for years.
None of this is particularly surprising, of course, considering what a dynamic duo they are. Global crisis or not, at the Balan-Moshenskaya household the glass is perpetually half full.
“One thing we are not is depressed,” says Balan, who together with Moshenskaya currently lead the WDSF World Ranking List. “We are full of life and that is the most important thing. And being full of life means seeing the glass half full the majority of the time. And being that way with everything is great, especially as athletes and also as artists.”
One way in which the pair are channelling their positivity is through an increased presence on social media. Already one of the more active DanceSport couples online, Balan and Moshenskaya have discovered how much pleasure they receive from providing inspiration to people on platforms such as Instagram, Facebook and TikTok, especially during times of isolation.
“When the situation with coronavirus started, we decided that we wanted to do something to motivate people because we can’t see them in person, and we also felt from our students that they were getting a little demotivated,” says Moshenskaya. “We started the first week just doing an interview with ourselves, telling our story -- how we practice, everything about us. We were quite open and truthful. Then we decided to invite some great dancers, past and present, to interview and people also really liked that.”
The public response was so positive that soon other dancers started doing similar interviews on their own platforms.
“The best thing is that everyone is doing it for free and I think it’s nice because every dancer has different priorities and fans can choose who they like and follow that dancer,” she adds.
Balan and Moshenskaya have warmly embraced their followers over the years, but they insist they are not on social media merely to boost numbers, be it followers or likes. For them, the real purpose is to connect with the public in a much deeper way than they are normally able to do face to face.
“When we are at an event,” explains Balan, “we have many people that come up and want to speak to us, which we find almost impossible. Not because we are unsocial, but because we are so concentrated on our competition. We have ghost faces. Through social media, we have the opportunity to get closer to people.”
Moshenskaya agrees: “We’ve received so many messages lately saying: ‘Guys, during quarantine I realized that you are so nice and grounded. We like to follow you,’ and this kind of thing. Because normally, as Marius said, it’s not like we are different, but we just don’t have the time to show our real feelings to people.”
More than anything, the pair takes great satisfaction in hearing how they’ve inspired others, be it in dance or in life. One woman, for example, recently wrote the couple saying that she was alone and struggling during isolation and had decided to quit dancing, but because of the videos Balan and Moshenskaya had posted, she felt a renewed sense of hope and has vowed to keep going.
“Through our videos she felt the wish of life, the spark of motivation,” Balan says. “And this for us is the biggest prize for what we are doing, it cannot compare to anything financial. Because we’re not talking about just one or two hours. This can be motivation for life. You never know when these people start dancing again if everything changes in their life. So if we can be the starting point for something like that, I mean, it’s crazy.”
“We’ve had many people say that they have really been motivated by us and whether it’s one or two people or 100, it’s already a big deal,” adds Moshenskaya. “This is a great thing for us.”
In addition to working out, practicing and rehabilitation work (Balan is still recovering from an injury suffered pre-pandemic), Kristina and Marius say they are keeping busy doing a myriad of household chores, something they never seemed to get around to doing previously thanks to their heavy travel and competition schedules.
Together they have managed to replace all the old light bulbs in the house and donate cartons of clothes to the needy. Separately, Marius managed to finally clean the grill, while Kristina paved a hole on the balcony like a seasoned construction worker.
Throughout the lockdown, Kristina and Marius say they have grown to understand what is most important to them and to not take anything, least of all life, for granted.
Asked for their key takeaways from life during the coronavirus crisis, they answered:
1) Good people will always rise to the top. (“Because people understand that nothing is more important than getting information and inspiration from the best” – Marius)
2) Rest is a virtue. (“Before coronavirus, people were too crazy, always moving and trying to improve and go, go, go. When things get back to normal, always remember that if it’s too much, take a break. For some people it can be two days. For others one week. But really give your body the time that is needed” – Kristina)
3) Appreciate what you have. (“Find the value in life itself. Appreciate life. Appreciate freedom. This is what we have every day and often we don’t appreciate it as human beings. This would be a great thing for us to take forward from this period” – Marius)
Some good advice indeed as we collectively look ahead to our post-pandemic future.
It’s been said that necessity is the mother of invention, and that’s certainly been the case under COVID-19 isolation, with athletes around the world coming up with creative ways to train, teach and simply keep their feet moving.
As such times require adaptation, many dancers have made efforts to stay in touch with their dancing by finding ways to practise at home or outdoors.
To support these efforts, the WDSF Academy has taken the initiative to present a series of educational videos on DanceSport technique taught by some of the world’s best athletes and coaches.
A new video will be published each Tuesday on the WDSF website.
The first video is presented by magnificent partnership, both in life and on the dance floor, reigning World and European Champions in Professional Division Latin, Gabriele Goffredo - Anna Matus from Moldova.
Gabriele and Anna speak about the basic principals in Samba Whisk.
Enjoy the video and stay healthy!
5e8prmn5zLI|Gabriele Goffredo and Anna Matus | Samba Whisk
The World DanceSport Federation (WDSF) is pleased to announce that it has appointed Lagardère Sports as its regional media rights partner for the Asia-Pacific region.
Under the terms of the agreement, Lagardère Sports will help to sub-license and manage the distribution of certain WDSF media rights to third parties for broadcast in their respective territories, where broadcasters will be able to broadcast via free-to-air, pay-per-view, video-on-demand, and other modes of transmission.
Among the content covered by these arrangements, the 2019 Best of Dance Sports programme comes with six episodes featuring six major tournaments held in five cities that showcase the best talents across Latin, Standard, Breaking and Ten Dance. One of the programmes includes the highly successful 2019 WDSF World Breaking Championship in Nanjing that features some of the biggest names in Breaking, with over 150 b-boys and b-girls from 66 countries. Breaking is particularly popular with younger viewers and will give broadcasters a chance to connect with a new generation of audiences.
Meanwhile, the 2019 WDSF Grand Slam Series programme consists of 12 episodes featuring the 12 tournaments held across six cities that showcase the best teams in the world in the Standard and Latin dance categories.
Driven by the overriding goal in our VISION 2020 plan to bring DanceSport to the next level, this agreement is a strong testament to the WDSF’s determination to increase the viewership ratings of the sport to record numbers.
Speaking of the partnership, WDSF President Shawn Tay said,
We are delighted to have renewed our collaboration with Lagardère Sports, which will expose people of all ages across the Asia-Pacific region to the inspiring artistry and athleticism of our dancers. As the global popularity of DanceSport disciplines continues to increase, the agreement will give our athletes a bigger platform to showcase their talent while satisfying the growing hunger for dance in the region at the same time.
In addition, as an Olympic-affiliated organisation gearing up for Breaking’s potential debut at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, part of our mandate is to educate and inspire young people to lead healthy lifestyles and live by the Olympic values. Our deal with Lagardère Sports will greatly assist us in this mission.
Weighing in on the partnership, Malcolm Thorpe, Managing Director, South East Asia at Lagardère Sports, said,
At a time when broadcasters are looking to fill a void in live programming, and with communities in the region always eager to consume world-class sports and entertainment content, we foresee DanceSport’s increasing appeal following its second inclusion at last year’s SEA Games in the Philippines and the provisional inclusion of Breaking at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.”
Together with Breaking’s evergreen popularity among younger dancers and with Asian heavyweights Japan, China and South Korea making inroads, we are pleased to contribute to the wealth of aspirational content programming for the region’s dance enthusiasts.
Lagardère Sports previously worked with the WDSF from 2010 to 2016 as their global media rights partner and helped garner a wider television audience worldwide.
Breaking has been provisionally approved for inclusion by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) at the Olympic Games Paris 2024. It will mark the first time any DanceSport discipline has appeared at the Olympic Games. Breaking first made its Olympic debut at the Youth Olympic Games Buenos Aires 2018.
About the World DanceSport Federation (WDSF)
The WDSF is the governing body for all dance disciplines worldwide. Our mission is to develop DanceSport to its fullest potential around the world in a modern, sustainable and structured manner. Officially recognized by the International Olympic Committee in 1997, the WDSF currently counts 94 national federations as affiliated members. Headquartered in the Olympic Capital of Lausanne, Switzerland, the WDSF is best known for its elite-level competitions, which include (among others) continental and world championships in Standard, Latin, Breaking, Rock’n’Roll, Salsa, Boogie-Woogie, Disco, Stage, Smooth and Hip-Hop disciplines. For more information, please visit the WDSF website, or follow us on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok.
About Lagardère Sports
Lagardère Sports is a leading sports marketing agency with a global network of local experts dedicated to delivering innovative solutions that meet our clients’ needs. We believe sport inspires emotions and passion that are essential to enriching people’s lives and generate powerful collective experiences. At Lagardère Sports, we dedicate our expertise and passion to providing our clients with privileged access to the infinite opportunities of sports. Lagardère Sports is part of Lagardère Sports and Entertainment, a company with more than 1,200 employees worldwide and 50 years of experience. For more information, please visit lagardere-se.com, or follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.
Are you looking for ways to stay engaged with your dancing at home? You are invited to participate in our JUST DANCE contest!
In conjunction with researchers from Stanford University, the World DanceSport Federation (WDSF) aims to promote active dancing among the DanceSport athletes in the world during this extraordinary time. We would like to invite WDSF DanceSport athletes to send us a short 45 seconds-1 minute video of your dancing - of any dance style - and help to advance research in DanceSport by participating in a research study.
You will first be asked to fill in a short survey on your experiences as a DanceSport athlete. In the first survey, you will be provided with specific instructions on the 1 minute video. Then, you will be personally emailed a second form to submit a link to the video of your dancing that you have filmed, and answer a few more questions on your experiences as a DanceSport athlete.
This contest is open to all WDSF athletes of all WDSF DanceSport disciplines.
Prizes Two grand prize winners and two runners-up winners will be selected by a panel of international judges.
Grand Prize Stanford University’s Graduate School of Education will sponsor a cash prize of 200 Euros for the grand prize winners or 2 free online private lessons with WDSF World Champions. Kostumer will sponsor competition dance costumes for the grand prize winners of any WDSF DanceSport discipline.
Runners-up prizes Stanford University’s Graduate School of Education will sponsor a cash prize of 100 Euros or 1 free online private lesson with WDSF World Champions. Kostumer will sponsor custom-made practice wear for the winners of any WDSF DanceSport discipline.
Last day to participate: June 8, 2020. Results are announced on: June 20, 2020, or earlier. To ensure fairness of the competition, please keep your dance videos and survey experiences private until results are announced.
The WDSF Academy continues with a second video lecture on the topic “The use of flexibility in the Standard dances”.
Today’s lecture will be presented by an outstanding Standard couple, 4-time WDSF World Champions and reigning WDSF Professional Division World Champions in Standard, Dmitry Zharkov and Olga Kulikova.
WDSF Academy thanks Dmitry and Olga for their efforts in recording this lecture in the difficult conditions of today.
Uif-X9OIhzE|Dmitry Zharkov and Olga Kulikova | The use of flexibility in Standard dance
Prior to the coronavirus pandemic, the World DanceSport Federation (WDSF) was expecting to have a solid 2020 both operationally and financially, building on from a successful 2019. Now, unfortunately, all bets are off.
These days it’s all hands on deck as the WDSF Presidium implements drastic measures to ensure the Federation survives the lean months exacerbated by the absence of revenue from events cancelled by the outbreak.
And yet as bleak as the situation currently is, the person in charge of the WDSF financial strategy during the crisis remains surprisingly upbeat about the future of the organisation.
“I believe in the future,” says WDSF 1st Vice-President and Vice-President for Finance Tony Tilenni. “And I believe that we will be able to find a pathway for the WDSF and DanceSport to survive and prosper. What we did on 16 March by suspending all payments other than essential services – and what we still need to do – is very painful, it is extreme, but I believe that we can come out the other side stronger and more resilient.”
Cutbacks have been made across the board, including a 20% pay reduction to staff, who are working reduced hours and whose salaries are being subsidized by a Swiss unemployment initiative. In total, budget cuts of 838,000 CHF have been introduced for 2020 and Tilenni warns that they will not be the last. In fact, should DanceSport competitions not resume in September as hoped, an alternate budget has already been drafted based on competitions only beginning again in 2021.
“Thanks to the unity of the Presidium and the dedication and sacrifices of the leadership and staff, a solid plan is in place that seeks to weather the storm,” says Tilenni, who operates an award-winning tax, accounting and financial advisory firm in Perth, Australia. “We know from 2019 that the WDSF was on the right track to achieving future balanced budgets, so what we need now is an abundance of patience, prudence and optimism as we forge our future, although things will not be the same as they were, and it could take years to recover financially.”
He adds: “Nothing can be guaranteed, and no one knows how long it will take for the new normal to emerge.”
One potential lifeline may come via a joint initiative by the Swiss Government, Swiss banks and the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The scheme is designed to provide International Federations based in Switzerland, like the WDSF, access to interest-free, repayable loans that are covered equally by the IOC and the federal and cantonal authorities.
While the WDSF awaits more details on the initiative, it has already moved forward with another Swiss government relief package aimed at helping businesses and institutions cope with the impact of the pandemic. On 12 May the Presidium unanimously agreed to seek an interest-free, five-year loan to help meet operating costs during what Tilenni calls a period of “hibernation.”
“Normally as Vice-President of Finance, I would never have agreed to a loan because the WDSF did have enough capital to fall back on,” he says. “However, these are extraordinary times and we needed access to as much cash as possible to survive until we can relaunch our events. Preserving cash is key to giving an organisation the best chance of survival. Like a number of other Federations, the WDSF is very thankful to the Swiss Government and UBS, our Swiss bank, for this much-needed safety net.”
The WDSF Presidium is now placing all its energies on the eventual relaunch of competition, be it this September or sometime in 2021. Its strategy encompasses how and when the national and international calendars can resume, as well as temporary measures to support the competition circuit. The operational and financial goals of the relaunch are to ensure that the WDSF has the resources to properly recover from the start of the 2022 calendar year.
Tilenni cautions that in order for WDSF stakeholders to continue to benefit from the global governing body in the future, a concerted effort to circle the wagons must be made by all parties.
“We expect local and national competitions to recover well before the WDSF does at the international level, so National Member Bodies, adjudicators, officials and athletes need to consider how they can support the WDSF so that we can continue to support them in the future,” he says. “This support becomes even more important with the provisional approval of the IOC for Breaking to be included at the Olympic Games Paris 2024. The opportunities for DanceSport and the WDSF are huge and we expect developments in the future that will showcase all our disciplines.”
Throughout the crisis the WDSF has remained true to its vision to develop DanceSport to its fullest potential through 2030 and beyond and it will continue to do so as it works to overcome the difficulties brought about by the pandemic.
What’s needed now are that abundance of patience, prudence and optimism.
“We remain confident that the World Health Organization (WHO) will eventually make an announcement that the virus has reached its peak and is no longer a pandemic,” Tilenni says. “This, as well as the successful staging of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 next year, would be excellent signs for the world and would stimulate recovery everywhere, including for the WDSF and all of DanceSport. We need to believe in the future.”
These days you can’t go on social media without seeing somebody dancing.
Beginners are doing it, competitive athletes are doing it, young people, old people and everybody in between – even health care workers have been getting in on the act during the COVID-19 pandemic.
And let’s not forget celebrities. Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande have always been known to bust a move or two, but one look at the video for their latest No. 1 hit Stuck with You, and it’s easy to see what a massive “thing” dancing in front of your cellphone has become around the world.
And that, of course, can only be good news for DanceSport, which includes a number of competitive dance disciplines.
“It’s definitely way more popular than ever,” says Moy Rivas, aka b-boy Moy. “I think all social media platforms have been a great form of connectivity and engagement for the world. People are coming across content, especially Breaking cultural content, they’re familiarizing themselves with dance. And people want to do it. It’s intriguing. All social media platforms combined -- not just TikTok and Instagram, you know, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube -- have definitely been a motivating boost, especially with the younger demographic of people who are interested in art.”
Rivas should know. The World DanceSport Federation (WDSF) Athletes’ Commission Member and Athlete Role Model at the Youth Olympic Games Buenos Aires 2018 says he has seen a major uptick in interest in his dance studios in Houston and Kansas City, so much so that there are plans under way to open another half dozen locations in 2020 and another 15 to 20 locations in 2021.
During the pandemic, Rivas says, his main focus has been to sustain the momentum Breaking had before social-distancing restrictions meant that people couldn’t physically visit his studios anymore.
Enter the internet.
“As of March, we have been offering online classes to our current student body of over 300 students and are now expanding registration to people nationally and globally,” he says, adding that he also organized a six-day online event that featured 192 international b-boys and b-girls and was watched live in 315 different cities across 75 different countries. It proved so successful that a second online event is scheduled for 9 to 13 July.
Other DanceSport disciplines have also been finding appreciative audiences online recently. World Rock’n’Roll Confederation (WRRC) President and WDSF Presidium Member Miriam Kerpan Izak, for example, claims that while COVID-19 has had a devastating effect on the global competition calendar, social media has been a shining beacon for Rock’n’Roll dancers during what has otherwise been a fairly dismal couple of months.
“Social media has proved to be really positive, because people have been restricted to their homes, while online they have been able to feel part of a bigger group,” says Kerpan Izak, who recently held a live Q&A of her own on Facebook. “Our top athletes have been sharing their knowledge online, and we noticed that it started with some local training in different countries, then [videoconferencing platform] Zoom took off and suddenly all our member countries and clubs – everyone– had their own online training going on.”
“I have never seen so many videos, so much activity online, as I have during this period,” she adds.
The WDSF has enjoyed a certain amount of success online during the pandemic as well, with literally hundreds of dancers of all skill levels eagerly taking part in our #dontstopdancing campaign. On Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok and in countries from Australia to the United States, people took to the campaign in the most creative ways imaginable, which helped lift spirits and inspire us all to continue dancing for the pure joy of it.
For one of the most tech-savvy Latin couples on the scene today, Kristina Moshenskaya and Marius-Andrei Balan, their increased presence on social media has allowed them to forge a deeper connection with their fans and students while also giving them a platform to encourage people of all ages to lead healthier lifestyles -- another major benefit of so much physical activity on social media platforms.
“I see that many people are dancing on social media, even older people. And I appreciate that,” says Moshenskaya. “Some people say ‘TikTok is too childish’ and so on but as long as people remain positive and keep moving, I think it’s important. As long as people are moving and doing something healthy and receiving some pleasure from it, I think it’s totally great.”
In addition to physical health benefits, dancing can also have a positive impact on mental health, in particular during uncertain times like that brought about by COVID-19. The mental boost is a collateral bonus for many people taking their first forays into dance, according to Roger Cunningham, a former soloist with the Boston Ballet and Béjart Ballet who now runs two dance schools in Switzerland.
“Over the past three or four years I do think dance is coming back, not only into the lives of kids and teens but also a lot of adults who are getting back into different styles of dance classes,” Cunningham says. “I think for a lot of people who like moving, fitness, stretching, etc., they are finding that in most dance classes you have not only a great physical workout but also a great mental challenge.”
Cunningham credits social media for playing a key role in the growing interest in all forms of dance, and in getting more and more people of all ages, sizes and abilities shuffling their feet.
“Social media has given a lot of people the confidence to return to dance classes and not think that dance is only for a certain body type or look. This for me has to be one of the greatest results of social media,” he says. “Adults today are back in dance classes. It’s not just about becoming a professional dancer but also about finding your dance, changes to the body, development of children, elegance, posture, and being disciplined in everything we do in life.”
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Should you wish to have a go at some of the trendiest dance steps of 2020, here are the 19 most viral dances on TikTok, from the ‘Renegade’ to ‘TOES.’ Upload your results and don’t forget to tag us #WDSF #DontStopDancing. In the meantime, if you haven’t already, follow us on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and YouTube.
“It’s Only Rock’n’Roll (But I Like It),” Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones once sang a few decades ago.
These days, the lyrics might well be: “It’s Only Rock’n’Roll (But We Miss It).”
That’s because the COVID-19 pandemic has wiped out the entire spring competition calendar at the World Rock’n’Roll Confederation (WRRC), according to its President Miriam Kerpan Izak, and it remains unclear when events will resume again.
“At the moment we are at zero. We haven’t been able to have any competition,” Kerpan Izak says, adding that the focus now is on preparations to get events started again in the fall.
“The No. 1 problem is uncertainty,” she says. “We don’t really know what will happen. We have many competitions planned for the autumn, of course all the big ones, including World Championships, in all categories. But there are all kinds of issues.”
Those issues largely centre around the contrasting restrictions that are in place in different countries depending on what stage of the pandemic they are currently in. They range from travel restrictions, border closings and quarantine measures to the number of people allowed to congregate together in one place. All of which makes planning for and organising big events such as a World Championship extremely challenging.
“There will come a point in time where we have to decide what the minimum number of athletes that can participate in a competition or a World Championship is,” Kerpan Izak says. “It will be a really difficult decision, especially if all the countries are not yet open and all the competitors are not able to travel, but sooner or later we will be forced to make that decision.”
The WRRC, which has been a valued Associate Member of the World DanceSport Federation (WDSF) since 1996, is of course not alone in its uncertainty. All DanceSport disciplines are currently on hiatus, with the same question marks hanging over their competition schedules for this autumn.
But according to Kerpan Izak, who represents the WRRC on the WDSF Presidium, DanceSport administrators are not merely sitting idly by. Quite the contrary.
She says that in the last two months the Presidium has held two meetings online, while workshops with top WRRC dancers and coaches have also been organized, some of which had over 500 participants. Other WRRC members have begun organising international competitions online, which for the time being are only for fun but have nevertheless been well received. Kerpan Izak also hosted her own “Ask the President” Livestream Q&A on Facebook, while judging and technical observer seminars were delivered virtually as well.
“Social media and all these tools prove that we can use our time better,” she says. “Of course, there are some things you cannot do online but on the other hand you now only spend, I don’t know, Saturdays from 9 to 5, whereas before you had to travel one day early and spend an entire weekend at an event, pay for travel expenses, the hotel, and so on. So it’s been a good experience and I think part of it we will keep when all this is over and we return to normal.”
One thing is certain: Everyone at the WRRC is eager to get back on the dance floor as soon as possible, nobody more so than the dancers themselves.
When classical training began two weeks ago in Kerpan Izak’s native Slovenia, for example, she was positively surprised at how fit the dancers still were. Despite social distancing and isolation, dancers had remained committed to their training, as clear an indication as any that they love what they do.
“I think this special situation proved that the dancers do their sport not just because of competition but because they really love dancing,” Kerpan Izak says. “Even when they had to stay at home when they couldn’t train together with their partners, they had all kinds of online lessons which proved that they really missed dancing and they wanted to keep on doing it.
“Even if the situation is not so good for them, they don’t give up and they pursue their dreams. And I can say from the experience of my dancers when we had the first online training, it was really a reunion of everybody who wants to do this sport together and I think that this is very important. This situation showed that even when we are apart, we are still connected.”
This lecture is presented by the legendary Benedetto Ferruggia and Claudia Koehler, who retired from their outstanding DanceSport career in 2018.
The 5-time Standard World Champions, World Games winners and multiple European Champions, are among the most titled couples in the history of the WDSF.
The WDSF Academy thanks Benedetto and Claudia, who prepared an extensive lecture on nine couple positions and body actions in Standard based on the WDSF Technique Book.
i2w8OJMImRE|Benedetto Ferruggia and Claudia Kohler | Nine couple positions and body actions used in Standard
Chinese DanceSport fans and enthusiasts will have an unprecedented opportunity to watch Standard, Latin and Breaking through Best of DanceSport and Grand Slam series of 2019 on CCTV-5.
The marvelous possibility saw its daylight when SPORTFIVE (newly branded Lagardère Sports, and the WDSF Asian Media Rights Partner) shook hands with the Chinese broadcaster CCTV for a contract for exposure of all the Best of DanceSport and Grand Slam series in CCTV´s sports channel. CCTV-5 covers the mainland China and Macau area, with a viewership of more than 1 billion people.
With this deal DanceSport rises to same category, as regards audience exposure of this size, with other international major sports federations, which have had the possibility to reach the spectators through gigantic CCTV-5. Due to the recent renewed collaboration established with SPORTFIVE, this unique opportunity reached also DanceSport, of which the WDSF is extremely proud. The CCTV-5 exposure will take the visibility of Standard, Latin and Breaking to a new level, alongside with other significant sports: the 2019 WDSF production of quality events provide an excellent content to fill the void of real-time events.
China Central Television (CCTV) is the predominant state-owned television network in Mainland China. CCTV has a network of 50 channels broadcasting different programmes and is accessible to more than one billion viewers in six different languages. Most of its programmes are a mixture of news, documentary, social education, comedy, entertainment, and drama. CCTV-5 and CCTV-5+ are dedicated to sports. CCTV-5 is the broadcaster of the Olympic Games for the Chinese tv-audience, including Macau territory since 2019.
SPORTFIVE - Lagardère Sports and Entertainment, rebranded to SPORTFIVE at the end of May across its global and regional operations. The World DanceSport Federation announced on May 21st 2020, that it has appointed Lagardère Sports as its regional media rights partner for the Asia-Pacific region.
Aleksandra Galkina and Madis Abel’s lives are slowly returning to normal following two months apart when Estonia and Russia went into quarantine following the outbreak of the coronavirus.
When Estonia went into lockdown in March, Galkina returned to her family home 400-kilometres away in St. Petersburg, while Abel remained in Estonian capital Tallinn along with their coach Aleksandar Makarov.
For both dancers the time apart left a longing to return to the dancefloor and build on their success of recent years, success that means they currently sit in fifth place in the World DanceSport Federation (WDSF) rankings in Standard.
For two months they were forced to train by themselves to ensure that they were in the best possible shape for when restrictions lifted, and they would once again be able to train together.
“I was practising by myself and did my own exercise,” Galkina said. “I ran, I did yoga, and we had online Zoom lectures, so we could all stay connected.
“As soon as I arrived back in Estonia, I had these two weeks of quarantine, so I wasn’t allowed to go out and go to the studio, but after that finished, we practiced in the studio.”
Galkina was able to return to Tallinn on 18 May when the travel restrictions at the border were lifted to allow Estonian nationals and resident cardholders to enter.
FINDING THEIR RHYTHM
Once back in Tallinn, the 24-year-old Galkina had to undergo a 14-day quarantine period before she and Abel, also 24, could reunite. Once they did the couple quickly found their rhythm.
“It was a little bit difficult to find the balance for the first two or three days, but after that everything was fine,” she said. “It just took a little bit of time to get back in shape.
“I was sitting at home not knowing when I could go back because there was no information. Then they opened the border for foreign passport or ID cardholders so I could go back. As soon as I got back here it was a relief.”
Galkina and Abel have been competing together since 2013 and they leapt into the public’s consciousness by winning gold at the Vancouver 2015 U21 World Championships.
Since then they have been finalists in Standard at the World and European Championships. They finished sixth in the 2019 editions, which took place in Lithuanian capital Vilnius, and Salaspils in Latvia.
They had a good year in 2019 when they won eight World Open gold medals, while their best result in a Grand Slam was a fifth-place finish in Moscow.
The couple identify Stuttgart as their favourite tournament due to the atmosphere that is created in the Kultur and Kongresszentrum Liederhalle, and they enjoyed a seventh-place finish when the German city hosted the 2019 Grand Slam.
ONE LAST GOLD
This year they managed to squeeze in one tournament before the suspension of competition, an International Open in Montichiari near Brescia in Italy where they added another gold to their collection.
While they are desperate to return to competition, the time off has allowed the couple to incorporate new training techniques in a bid to take their dancing to the next level.
“After quarantine our aims changed a bit,” Abel said. “At first it was a regular process of trying to improve everything we see, but during quarantine I took the time to process my mindset to how I approach competition and training.
“Our coach said I should train my mindset to how I view dancing because we had so much free time we could work on smaller details and maybe go deeper into our dancing.”
During quarantine at her family home, Galkina branched out and began to try her hand at a number of new recipes, with her homemade granola a particular favourite with her partner.
Abel, meanwhile, was reunited with his PlayStation and thanks to a request on Insta Stories, he now has a huge list of games that his fans recommend he try.
It helped fill the time before they were reunited, but now they are back where they are happiest, in the practice hall where their focus is on being in the best shape possible for when the season returns.
“Right now, we can’t predict anything,” Galkina said. “We hope that we can get back on track as soon as possible. We really miss the competition and our normal life.”
“We miss the travel,” Abel added. “We miss the competition, we miss the people, we miss the atmosphere.”
Today's lecture for the WDSF Academy was prepared by the legendary Julie Fryer.
Julie Fryer is the World Latin and ShowDance Champion.
Her dancing was always special and original. She was the one who introduced a new approach to Latin dances using dance techniques from contemporary and modern, which was later picked up by many other famous dancers.
The topic of Julie's lecture today is devoted to spins and turns in Latin.
The World DanceSport Federation (WDSF) is committed to developing all DanceSport disciplines to their fullest potential. In recent years we have seen the likes of Standard, Latin, Rock’n'Roll and Breaking increasingly capture the hearts and imaginations of dance fans across the globe. The question now is, could there be room for one more to follow in their footsteps?
With the most-watched video in WDSF history already to its credit, Formation stands intriguingly poised to do just that, or so says Horst Beer, who has been at the heart of the discipline almost as soon as he started dancing in the early 1970s. The German has been a dancer, a coach and now an adjudicator, so he understands fully how much potential Formation holds.
“For people not involved with dancing, Formation is maybe more interesting,” Beer says of the discipline that came into existence over 100 years ago when couples got together to dance their routines in teams. Today it is a spectacular and fast-growing DanceSport that features eight couples that move around the dance floor in unison, delighting crowds with their technique and passion.
“You have the music, you have eight couples and [for someone who] may not know the sport, or what is right or wrong, they can see the lines, they can see there is good presentation and a good balance between the music and the theme of the formation, and what they do on the floor.
“Sometimes Formation dancing is even more interesting for the normal audience, so I hope the WDSF will always support it. I think it is a big chance to make dancing even more popular.”
EARLY DAYS
The discipline began in the late 19th century when teams of four couples began to popularise the sport with their synchronism and geometric patterns, all set to live music.
It quickly won approval with DanceSport fans and quickly spread across Europe, with venues in France and Germany becoming hotbeds of the sport.
Formation took a new direction as the Roaring Twenties began to hit top speed, and it helped shaped the discipline throughout the 20th century.
“A new dance direction was formed by the German Reinhold Sommer, having prepared a tango-quadrille performance in 1922 based on a combination of dance styles and techniques, with the participation of several sports couples,” explains Dzmitry Bialiauski, a Belarusian coach, instructor and adjudicator.
“In 1932, Reinhold Sommer, with his colleague Fritz Conradi, created a new dance using slow-fox vocabulary and around the same time, Carl Ernst Riebeling made himself felt, having developed the direction of Formation, using his experience in the field of stage dance and ballet.”
By the late 1930s Formation had gathered popularity in Germany and it grew through demonstrations and concerts.
The sport had also taken root in England after Olive Ripman introduced her four-couple dance team at a show in London in 1932.
“The performance of the Olive Ripman team was presented as ‘dancing in the pattern’ or ‘shadow dancing,’ which emphasized the main task of the dancers - to perform the dance synchronously, accurately repeating the movements of other couples,” according to dancer, trainer and adjudicator Piet Rullens of the Netherlands.
“By the second half of the 1930s, Formation tournaments began to be organized in England, and from 1937, competitions among Formation teams were included in the Blackpool Dance Festival programme, which until 1973 was considered the unofficial Formation World Championship.”
GLOBAL COMPETITION
In the aftermath of World War II, Germany again took the lead in the discipline’s development, and in 1962 the country hosted the inaugural international Formation tournament. Two years later the first German National Formation Championship took place.
Soon after the European Championships began and while they were initially a tussle between German and English teams, since the 1970s Germany has enjoyed hegemony for most of the following years.
The organisation of a first World Championship in 1973 was a huge step for the sport, as was the choice of venue – New York – chosen to help spread its popularity beyond the European heartlands.
As the sport progressed, other nations rose to challenge the traditional powers, and Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Russia, Moldova, Lithuania, and the Netherlands have developed strong traditions in Formation.
In Asia, Mongolia has traditionally been the leading nation, although China finished fifth at the 2018 World Championship in Shenzhen to show their growing prowess.
Russia are the current powerhouse. Their teams won the Standard Formation World Championship in 2017, 2018 and 2019, while their Latin Formation teams won gold and bronze in 2017, and silver and bronze in 2018 and 2019.
Germany remain competitive and won Latin Formation World Championship gold in 2018 and 2019, something that Beer knows all about having helped Germany win gold on home turf in Munich in 1977.
“The great thing is you are in a team,” Beer says. “You can be disappointed, you can be happy, you can be a winner, but you are always in a group with friends.
“When we were individual world champions, going home after the championships it was just us, but in a team you have maybe 20 of you and it is such a great feeling.
“It is something that is completely different to dancing as a couple. I won awards with my wife (Andrea Lankenau) as a couple, but those awards we won as a team were very special.”
2020 World Championships
Beer is looking forward to attending the 2020 World Championship, which, pandemic willing, is set to take place in Braunschweig in central Germany on 5 December.
While the team element of Formation means adjudicators require an even more keen eye than normal, the basics of DanceSport remain.
“You see eight couples coming onto the floor and the first thing I do is understand how good the dancers are individually. If they look unnatural in their movements that is terrible for me,” Beer said.
“I want well-educated dancers. Every woman and every man needs to have a good understanding of how to use the body and how to create a posture.
“Dancing is about emotion, about personality. We always learned technique can help you and support you on the floor, but you should never just perform technique on the floor.”
Earlier this month, dancers from all around the world participated in an online “Just Dance” contest, organized by WDSF Academy in conjunction with researchers from Stanford University. The aim was to promote active dancing during this challenging time.
The “Just Dance” competition entries were judged by a panel of three WDSF international adjudicators - Evgeny Imrekov (Russia), Jack Qian (China), and Silvia Pitton (Italy). The judges judged the entries based on how creative, captivating or authentic the videos are.
We divided the videos into ages 16 and above (“Adult”) and ages 15 and below (“Junior”). The judges were only given the competition entry numbers and videos for judging, and were asked to judge the videos based on the first minute of the videos if the videos exceeded one minute.
Originally, we announced that there would be two Champion and two runners-up winners. The Champions will receive a competition costume from Kostumer, 200 Euros or 2 online dance lessons with a WDSF Champion of their choice. The two runners-up winners will receive Kostumer practice wear, 100 Euros or 1 online lesson with a WDSF Champion of their choice. Due to a large number of impressive entries, we will also be awarding two third-place winners with a cash prize of 50 Euros. Additionally, the top 10 winners will receive fashionable masks, courtesy of Kostumer group.
JUNIOR WINNERS
ilXoxBDNXNI|Just Dance Contest | Junior winners
1st Place. Zheleznyakov Arkipp and Volkova Polina (Russia)
