2024 US National Ballroom Dance Championships are fast approaching. Be ready to compete for the national titles and to become the member of the USA World Team

What a week it was in Orlando, Florida! With Hurricane Ian approaching landfall, the organizers of the 2022 DSF National Championships were apprehensive of the upcoming event. They made their way into the Sunshine State from New Jersey on Tuesday, September 27th, before the roll of flight cancellations and delays started piling in during the expected days of Wednesday and Friday.

Wednesday was a hit of cancellation after cancellation after cancellation, followed by the unexpected news that the Production Company taking care of the flooring, music, and lighting for the event, declared it would be closing its doors for the days of Wednesday and Thursday to shelter in from the storm. Then, all of a sudden, we noticed that the main ballroom was leaking from the ceiling, and by leaking, we mean it was raining from the inside – right into the middle of where the ballroom floor was supposed to be laid! It was hit after hit until we really thought it would be best to just cancel the event. In addition, outside of the full semi-final that was supposed to comprise the WDO O55 Ballroom World Championship competition, over 8 couples canceled their trips, or had their flights canceled for them by airlines. 

Sitting on the sidelines, the organizers were really at the depths of contemplating canceling and moving the event to another date – but we knew that supporters were arriving and some dancers had already come to compete that weekend. We could not cancel as we knew that we had to continue and persevere for those that were coming to dance. DSF is the federation that is all about doing the best it can for the dancers, to bettering this industry and bringing more joy to the best of our abilities to all those around.

And so as Thursday rolled in, with a tiny boombox as our main source of music, and our emcee’s wonderful presentational voice as the microphone, the event began. Day by day, the number of competitors grew, and the dancers came rolling in. Adjudicator after adjudicator arrived as flights were moved around and we found ourselves on Friday morning with a beautiful sunny day and the worst of the storm behind us. The fire marshal would not allow us to continue in the main ballroom due to hazards of placing lighting rigging and electrical aspects until the leakage would be fixed by the hotel convention center. And so it is for this reason that we became the first ever Ballroom Dancing competition that took place in a hallway! I guess there is a first for everything isn’t there….

Saturday was a wonderful evening packed with the Amateur and Professionals dancing and putting on a beautiful show. We had wonderful couples that had recently fled the war from the Ukraine, move to represent the United States and join us to perform. Sunday was a jam packed day filled with dancing kids and our prestigious GrandSlam events of joining age groups – our DSF signature.

We want to say the biggest thank you to each and every dancer, teacher, adjudicator, volunteer, and spectator that came out despite all odds. To the first ever Ballroom Dancing competition that took place in a hallway, we did our best to continue for each one of you that did attend. We did not give up, as we could never let you down. We are so grateful and look forward with open arms and hearts to seeing the DSF growing with each and every year. See you all soon!

It is with astounding happiness we announce the official approval of DSF as the National Member Body Organization of the United States of America by the WDO.

Our vision of transforming thought into reality stemmed from real dancers, instructors, and professionals of this industry and their unfortunate battles concerning politics & objectivity within this dancing world. Seeing the grand movement instilled by the WDO gave us the inspiration to bring the vision of fairness, impartiality, and true professionalism closer to the United States by establishing a Member Body here in this country.

Our core values as a National Federation include:

1) Equal Opportunity
2) Freedom of Choice
3) Advancement & Growth
4) Fairness & Impartiality

We cannot wait to dive deeper into this incredible journey ahead by joining forces with elite industry leaders and dancers to further develop and expand this beautiful dancing world into the most beneficial direction for all involved in this fabulous industry.

We are excited to welcome Hazel Newberry from the United Kingdom as another established member of our DSF Advisory Board.

Hazel is a former Professional Ballroom Dancing, considered one of the United Kingdom’s leading dancers and dance teachers. As a 3-time undefeated World Professional Ballroom Champion, Hazel is a master of this industry and continues her career as a renowned instructor and adjudicator.

We are thrilled to have her part of our team to advise the most productive direction for the DSF to continue growing.

Welcome to the DSF Hazel!

As a National DanceSport Federation of the United States of America, DSF has established various mainstream initiatives to help the upcoming generations of dancers, especially children K-12, thrive in their dance surroundings and everyday life.

Our initiatives include:

1. Jump-starting the careers of our young ones at an early age by assisting them in learning all ballroom dance style syllabi through systemized, easy to follow, and effective training platforms.
2. Helping our members pick their specialty when it comes to their futures and what they like to do via effective career planning and action implementation.
3. A DSS Accredited Degree Program which allows for members to follow a pathway to get authentic accreditation and recognized degrees as dancing professionals in various areas of this industry, as performers, instructors, and adjudicators.  
4. Providing direct access to various career options & opportunities in the DanceSport industry.

If you or your company would like to take part in our initiatives by aiding children and athletes of all ages in their development and endeavors to pursue dance and sport, we have various sponsorship opportunities to do so.

Please inquire by emailing office@dancesportfederation.com with your interest in sponsoring DSF.

We are thrilled to announce the addition of Nino Romano of Italy as an Official Advisor to the DSF.

As one of the founding members of WDO itself, we are honored and very excited to have Nino a part of this movement here in the United States of America. As a former competitive dancer, a current competition organizer, adjudicator, and renowned official, Nino is ready to share his knowledge and guide the USA towards a greater future for all dancers and industry professionals alike.

Welcome to the DSF Nino!