Highest governing body | World Abilitysport |
---|---|
First played | 1968 Sweden |
Characteristics | |
Contact | Yes |
Team members | Single competitors, doubles, or teams |
Mixed-sex | Yes |
Type | Indoor |
Equipment | Wheelchair |
Venue | Dance hall |
Presence | |
Country or region | Worldwide |
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]
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]
Athletes are placed into one of two classes: [7]
Edition | Year | Host City | Country | Events |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1998 | Nagano | Japan | |
2 | 2000 | Oslo | Norway | |
3 | 2002 | Warsaw | Poland | |
4 | 2004 | Tokyo | Japan | |
5 | 2006 | Arnhem | Netherlands | |
6 | 2008 | Minsk | Belarus | |
7 | 2010 | Hannover | Germany | |
8 | 2013 | Tokyo | Japan | |
9 | 2015 | Rome | Italy | |
10 | 2017 | Malle | Belgium |
Edition | Year | Host City | Country | Events |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1991 | Munich | Germany | |
2 | 1993 | Oslo | Norway | |
3 | 1995 | Duisburg | Germany | |
4 | 1997 | Härnösand | Sweden | |
5 | 1999 | Athens | Greece | |
6 | 2001 | Arnhem | Netherlands | |
7 | 2003 | Minsk | Belarus | |
9 | 2007 | Warsaw | Poland | |
10 | 2009 | Tel Aviv | Israel | |
11 | 2014 | Łomianki | Poland | |
12 | 2016 | Kosice | Slovakia |
Edition | Year | Host City | Country | Events |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2016 | New Taipei City | Chinese Taipei |
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]
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]
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).
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.
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).
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.
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.
The Cerebral Palsy International Sports and Recreation Association (CPISRA), a founding member of the Paralympic movement, was an international sports and recreation association for cerebral palsy and related neurological conditions. CPISRA organised recreational opportunities, developed adaptive sports and organised sport events for people with Cerebral Palsy and related neurological conditions. CPISRA was formed in 1969. It was made up of worldwide members and a community of volunteers including an advisory board, specialist committees and networks.
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.
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.
Paralympic shooting, also known as shooting Para sport, is an adaptation of shooting sports for competitors with disabilities. Shooting is a test of accuracy and control, in which competitors use pistols or rifles to fire a series of shots at a stationary target. Each shot is worth a maximum score of 10.9 points. Athletes use .22 caliber rifles, pistols and .177 caliber air guns. Paralympic shooting first appeared in the Summer Paralympics at the 1976 Toronto Games.
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.
The World Para Ice Hockey Championships, known before 30 November 2016 as the IPC Ice Sledge Hockey World Championships, are the world championships for sledge hockey. They are organised by the International Paralympic Committee through its World Para Ice Hockey subcommittee.
The 2020 Summer Paralympics, branded as the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, were an international multi-sport parasports event held from 24 August to 5 September 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. They were the 16th Summer Paralympic Games as organized by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC).
The 2024 Summer Paralympics, also known as the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, and branded as Paris 2024, is the 17th Summer Paralympic Games, an upcoming international multi-sport parasports event governed by the International Paralympic Committee, to be held in Paris, France, from 28 August to 8 September 2024. These games mark the first time Paris will host the Paralympics in its history and the second time that France will host the Paralympic Games, as Tignes and Albertville jointly hosted the 1992 Winter Paralympics.
The World Shooting Para Sport Championships, originally known as the IPC Shooting World Championships, are the world championships for shooting where athletes with a disability compete. They are organised by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) on a four year rotation with the Paralympic Games.
The Paralympic Committee of Kosovo,, is the governing body for parasports in Kosovo. It is a full member of the International Paralympic Committee, granting para-athletes from Kosovo the right to patriciate in the Paralympic Games.
The 2023 African Para Games were the first edition of the African Para Games held between 3 and 12 September 2023 in Accra, Ghana.
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