World DanceSport Federation

The international governing body for dance sports was founded under the name of International Council of Amateur Dancers (ICAD) on 12 May 1957, in Wiesbaden, Germany. The federation changed its name to International DanceSport Federation (IDSF) in 1990. It would become a member of the Global Association of International Sports Federations (GAISF) in 1992, of the International World Games Association (IWGA) in 1995, and of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Association of the IOC-recognized International Sports Federations (ARISF) in 1997. In 2011, the IDSF Annual General Meeting held in Luxembourg agreed to change the name of the federation to its current name, World DanceSport Federation (WDSF).

Alongside the WDSF, other international bodies have historically governed different parts of the competitive dance world, most notably the World Dance Council (WDC). Traditionally, the WDSF focused primarily on amateur or sport-structured competition, emphasizing standardized rules, anti-doping policies, and alignment with the Olympic movement. In contrast, the WDC has historically represented the professional ballroom dance sector.

Breaking, one of the many disciplines governed by the WDSF, first entered the Olympic universe when it was included in the programme of the 2018 Youth Olympic Games, with events for boys and girls. The discipline made its début on the Olympic Programme six years later, at the 2024 Paris Olympics, with events for b-boys and b-girls, its sole Olympic appearance to date.

Apart from breaking, the WDSF also oversees the non-Olympic disciplines of acrobatic rock’n’roll, boogie woogie, disco dance, hip hop, Latin dances, rhythm, salsa, smooth, stage dance, and standard dances, and also Para DanceSport. Several of these disciplines now hold World Championship-level competitions.

Under the wing of the WDSF, dance sports have also been part of the programme of the World Games on several editions, with multiple disciplines, including Latin dances and standard dances from 1997 to the present; rock ‘n’ roll events from 2005-2009 and 2017-2022; salsa events from 2013-2017; and, more recently, breaking events, from 2022 to the present.

As of January 2026, the WDSF has 99 members (including 78 NOC-recognized members). The federation’s headquarters is based in Lausanne, Switzerland, and its current president is Singapore’s Shawn Tay.