Wheelchair dancesport

Last updated

Wheelchair Dance
Senang Hati-Diah Larasati-Wheelchair Dance.jpeg
Senang Hati-Diah Larasati-Wheelchair Dance
Highest governing body World Abilitysport
First played1968 Sweden
Characteristics
ContactYes
Team membersSingle competitors, doubles, or teams
Mixed-sex Yes
TypeIndoor
EquipmentWheelchair
VenueDance hall
Presence
Country or regionWorldwide

Wheelchair dancesport, also known as Para dance sport, is a form of competitive dancesport where at least one of the dancers is in a wheelchair. The sport corporates the rules of the World DanceSport Federation (WDSF). [1]

Contents

Sport

Wheelchair couple dances are for two wheelchair users or for one wheelchair user with a "standing" partner and include standard dances such as waltz, tango, Viennese waltz, slow foxtrot and quickstep and Latin American dances such as samba, cha-cha-cha, rumba, paso doble and jive. There are also formation dances for four, six or eight dancers. [1]

Wheelchair dancing started in Sweden in 1968, originally for recreation or rehabilitation, with the first competition held in 1975. The first international competition was also held in Sweden, in 1977. Several regional and international competitions followed and the first World Championship was held in Japan in 1998. From 1998 to 2024, Wheelchair dancesport was governed by World Para Dance Sport, a subcommittee of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC). As part of the rebranding of the IPC's governing subcommittees as World Para Sports, the IPC began to refer to the sport as "Para dance sport" in 2016. The rebranding was also part of an effort to "further grow participation in the sport beyond wheelchair users", such as governing dancesport events involving competitors with prosthetics. [2]

In 2021, the IPC began the process of transferring the governance of its self-governed sports to third-parties. [3] [4] In January 2024, the IPC transferred governance of the sport to World Abilitysport (formerly IWAS). [5]

Para dance sport was considered for inclusion in the 2024 Summer Paralympics, but the IPC did not select it for consideration, and ultimately chose against adding any new sports. [6]

Classification

Athletes are placed into one of two classes: [7]

World Para Dance Sport Championships

EditionYearHost CityCountryEvents
1 1998 Nagano Flag of Japan.svg  Japan
2 2000 Oslo Flag of Norway.svg  Norway
3 2002 Warsaw Flag of Poland.svg  Poland
4 2004 Tokyo Flag of Japan.svg  Japan
5 2006 Arnhem Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands
6 2008 Minsk Flag of Belarus.svg  Belarus
7 2010 Hannover Flag of Germany.svg  Germany
8 2013 Tokyo Flag of Japan.svg  Japan
9 2015 Rome Flag of Italy.svg  Italy
10 2017 Malle Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium

European Para Dance Sport Championships

EditionYearHost CityCountryEvents
1 1991 Munich Flag of Germany.svg  Germany
2 1993 Oslo Flag of Norway.svg  Norway
3 1995 Duisburg Flag of Germany.svg  Germany
4 1997 Härnösand Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden
5 1999 Athens Flag of Greece.svg  Greece
6 2001 Arnhem Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands
7 2003 Minsk Flag of Belarus.svg  Belarus
9 2007 Warsaw Flag of Poland.svg  Poland
10 2009 Tel Aviv Flag of Israel.svg  Israel
11 2014 Łomianki Flag of Poland.svg  Poland
12 2016 Kosice Flag of Slovakia.svg  Slovakia

Asian Para Dance Sport Championships

EditionYearHost CityCountryEvents
1 2016 New Taipei City Flag of Chinese Taipei for Olympic games.svg  Chinese Taipei

Social

Wheelchair dancing is a popular social and recreational activity, with participants in over 40 countries. [8] The physical benefits of wheelchair dancing include the maintenance of physical balance, flexibility, range of motion, coordination and improved respiratory control. The psychological effects of ballroom dancing are social interaction and the development of relationships. For social dancers, it is an opportunity to engage in a fun and a friendly event with others. For competitors, it assists in the development of fair play, sportsmanship and communication skills. Wheelchair dancing is an activity that integrates the wheelchair user and able-bodied person. [9]

Courses

In February, 2008 the University of Delaware Collegiate DanceWheels Program was created to instruct students in wheelchair dancing. This is the first accredited course of its kind in the United States. The program was developed in conjunction with the American DanceWheels Foundation through a grant from the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation. [10]

See also

Related Research Articles

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The Paralympic Games or Paralympics, also known as the Games of the Paralympiad, is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of disabilities. There are Winter and Summer Paralympic Games, which since the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, are held almost immediately following the respective Olympic Games. All Paralympic Games are governed by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">International Paralympic Committee</span> Global governing body for the Paralympic Movement

The International Paralympic Committee is an international non-profit organisation and the global governing body for the Paralympic Movement.

The World Abilitysport Games are a parasports multi-sport event for athletes who use wheelchairs or are amputees. Organized by World Abilitysport, the Games are a successor to the original Stoke Mandeville Games founded in 1948 by Ludwig Guttmann, and the International Stoke Mandeville Games—the first international sporting competition for athletes with disabilities, and the forerunner to the modern Paralympic Games.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">World DanceSport Federation</span> International sport governing body

The World DanceSport Federation (WDSF), formerly the International DanceSport Federation (IDSF), is the international governing body of DanceSport and Para DanceSport, as recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the International Paralympic Committee (IPC).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dancesport</span> Ballroom dancing as a sport

Dancesport is competitive ballroom dancing, as contrasted to social or exhibition dancing. In the case of Para dancesport, at least one of the dancers is in a wheelchair.

World Abilitysport is an international sports organisation that governs sports for athletes with physical impairments.

Swedish Dancesport Federation (DSF) administers all dancesport in Sweden. The association was formed on February 25, 1968, and is one of 68 different sports federations in Sweden. DSF became a member of the Swedish Sports Confederation (RF) in 1977, which administers all sports in Sweden. Apart from this membership Swedish Dancesport Federation also is a member of the International Dancesport Federation (IDSF) from June 19, 2011, known as the World DanceSport Federation (WDSF) and the World Rock'n'Roll Confederation (WRRC). The office lies in Farsta, Stockholm.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paralympic sports</span> Type of sport with events contested at the Paralympic Games

The Paralympic sports comprise all the sports contested in the Summer and Winter Paralympic Games. As of 2020, the Summer Paralympics included 22 sports and 539 medal events, and the Winter Paralympics include 5 sports and disciplines and about 80 events. The number and kinds of events may change from one Paralympic Games to another.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">2016 Summer Paralympics</span> Multi-parasport event in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

The 2016 Summer Paralympics, the 15th Summer Paralympic Games, were a major international multi-sport event for athletes with disabilities governed by the International Paralympic Committee, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7 to 18 September 2016. The Games marked the first time a Latin American and South American city hosted the event, the second Southern Hemisphere city and nation, the first one being the 2000 Summer Paralympics in Sydney, and also the first time a Lusophone (Portuguese-speaking) country hosted the event. These Games saw the introduction of two new sports to the Paralympic program: canoeing and the paratriathlon.

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Para-athletics is the sport of athletics practiced by people with a disability as a parasport. The athletics events within the parasport are mostly the same as those available to able-bodied people, with two major exceptions in wheelchair racing and the club throw, which are specific to the division. The sport is known by various names, including disability athletics, disabled track and field and Paralympic athletics. Top-level competitors may be called elite athletes with disability.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paralympic shooting</span> Competitive shooting sport

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Asian Paralympic Committee</span> International regional committee representing Asia

The Asian Paralympic Committee is an organization based in United Arab Emirates. It has 45 National Paralympic Committees of the Asian continent as members. It organizes the Asian Para Games and is affiliated to the International Paralympic Committee.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">2023 African Para Games</span>

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References

  1. 1 2 "About the Sport". IPC Wheelchair Dance Sport. International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 30 October 2011.
  2. "The IPC to rebrand the 10 sports it acts as International Federation for" (Press release). International Paralympic Committee. 30 November 2016. Retrieved 13 December 2016.
  3. "IPC seeking entities interested in taking over Para athletics and Para swimming". www.insidethegames.biz. 20 July 2021. Retrieved 24 March 2024.
  4. "IPC to cease acting as international federation for 10 sports by end of 2026". www.insidethegames.biz. 11 December 2021. Retrieved 24 March 2024.
  5. "FAQ in relation to the transfer of Para dance sport to World Abilitysport". International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 24 March 2024.
  6. "Paris 2024: IPC announces sports programme". International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 2 August 2021.
  7. Classification
  8. Rogers, Avery (12 November 2001). "Wheelchair Dancing". ExploreDance.com. Retrieved 6 November 2011.
  9. Goldberg, Kenny (21 June 2011). "Wheelchair Dancing Is on a Roll". KPBS. Retrieved 6 November 2011.
  10. Buck, Crystal (29 January 2008). "UD to offer nation's first wheelchair dance course". UDaily. University of Delaware. Retrieved 30 October 2011. Includes a picture of a dancing couple.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)