World DanceSport Federation
| Formation | 12 May 1957 |
|---|---|
| Type | International sport federation |
| Headquarters | Maison du Sport International, Lausanne, Switzerland |
|
Membership
|
90 national member bodies |
|
President
|
Lukas Hinder |
| Website | www |
The World DanceSport Federation (WDSF), formerly the International DanceSport Federation (IDSF), is the international governing body of DanceSport and Wheelchair DanceSport, as recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the International Paralympic Committee (IPC).
Founded in 1957 as the International Council of Amateur Dancers (ICAD), it took the name IDSF in 1990. In 2011, it was renamed to WDSF to emphasise the global character of the organization.
The WDSF has 90 national member associations, 66 of which are recognised by their National Olympic Committee. Eighty of them are full members while 10 are provisional members.
The WDSF is not the only international organisation in the field of competitive dance: the World Dance Council (WDC) is another prominent international dance organisation.
In the past, the WDC focus was on administering professional dancers and competitions. However, the launch of the WDC Amateur League in 2007 put the two organisations in direct conflict. The launch of the IDSF Professional Division in 2010 has since become an additional point of conflict.
The WDSF formerly prohibited its members from participating in any competition that is not listed and registered by either WDSF or a WDSF National Member Body. WDC competitions fall into this prohibited category. This policy was revoked in 2012 at the Annual Meeting by vote of the members. The WDSF now supports an athletes "right to dance".
Like the WDC, WDSF bans Same Sex couples from entering competitions, under rule D2.1.1, which states a couple must consist of a man and a woman.
The International News (Tanzsportmagazin), which served as WDSF's official publication since 1998, was replaced in 2004 by DanceSport Today, and in 2009 by World DanceSport magazine.
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