Within World Sports
Dance Accepted As Sport
However, public perception as well as the dancers' self-interpretation maintained a certain ambiguity when it came to DanceSport's classification alongside all the other sports. Whether tails, gowns and high heels were considered incompatible with the notion of how athletes had to be dressed, or whether the ballrooms contrasted too much from the other sporting venues, fact is that certain idiosyncrasies kept competitive dance in a league of its own. Forever straddling performing arts and sports, it took its time to find the true identity. That different organisations overseeing the dance competitions held different views on the matter did certainly not help either.
Abandoning the previous policy of “splendid isolation,” DanceSport was soon able to join the world sports movement.
By 1992 WDSF had become a full member of the General Association of International Sports Federations (SportAccord), an umbrella organisation made up of more than 100 sports governing bodies. Soon thereafter, DanceSport was recognised by the International Olympic Committee and thus became eligible to be included in the Olympic Programme.
Today, DanceSport and its governing body are firmly embedded in the structures that constitute world sports. The number of organisations and sporting events that WDSF and DanceSport are associated with has grown even further.
Published on 7 October 2010 (last update on 6 February 2024)