Dancesport

Dancesport means competitive ballroom dancing. The term “dancesport” was created to help it gain Olympic recognition. The governing body for dance sport is the World DanceSport Federation.

The first dance sport championship was in 1909. The first formation team was performed by Olive Ripman in 1931 in London. “Dancesport” denotes international and American style of competitive ballroom, these are the categories: International Standard, International Latin, American Smooth, and American Rhythm. These categories apply to individual couples and formation dance.

There are rules set by the World Dance Council for international competitions. The music for the competition won’t be revealed until the competition day. The chosen music follows a strict tempo. For couples competition, it will be around 90 seconds to two minutes. Some competitions only employ the basic steps, especially for elementary competitions. International competitions are open, but it should be within the limits of the traditional styles. The “Viennese waltz” has a defined choreography, it is limited to seven well-specified figures.