Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water
Over the past year, the political scene between IDSF and WDC has been pretty quiet. I was hoping that maybe some signs of conciliation were on the horizon. That turns out to have been a false hope. Politics in DanceSport reared up again at the UK Open last week, resulting in a situation that may continue to play itself out through most of the year.
A couple of months ago, the Italian Federation member of the IDSF, known as FIDS, decided they would publicly declare the UK Open off limits to FIDS members on the grounds that it was not officially sanctioned by an IDSF member body. Then the Russian IDSF member, known as DSFR, followed suit, making a similar announcement. What makes this especially interesting is that the IDSF, while not officially sanctioning the event, did not list it as an unregistered competition. It was always informally agreed that because of the special situation in England, events like the UK Open and Blackpool would not be targeted by the IDSF, to avoid problems like this.
The Italian federation said that members might be allowed to participate, if they sent in a formal request in advance, which would be dealt with on a case-by-case basis. It wasn't clear what the criteria would be for being allowed to go. FIDS told its members in December that it would reimburse them for any expenses they had already incurred in booking flights or other travel-related issues.
A number of top amateurs from Italy and Russia were absent from the UK Open this past week, but nobody really knows how much effect the boycott actually had. Dance Beat World magazine asked the question, but didn't provide any answers just yet. Two Italians and a Russian couple were in the Amateur Ballroom final, but it isn't known publicly whether these Italian couples or the nearly 20 others who took part in the UK Open amateur events had applied for special approval. A large number of top Russian amateurs were absent from the UK Open.
Former World Professional Standard Champion Richard Gleave has now responded to this mess with a call for social activism. He has created a Facebook group called Freedom to Dance in an effort to help bring awareness of these political issues and try to find some grounds for conciliation. About 2,000 people joined the group in its first couple of days. I'm not sure how much impact a Facebook group will have, regardless of its popularity. After all, what will the group members do? Comment the embattled parties into submission? But it's good to see people making some kind of effort to bring attention to the issues. In any case, the list of group administrators reads like a "Who's Who" of the world's top dancers:
It's a shame that in a sport which is all about the energy of togetherness, we have these kind of divisive issues. I suppose we're back to some interesting times in DanceSport politics.
A couple of months ago, the Italian Federation member of the IDSF, known as FIDS, decided they would publicly declare the UK Open off limits to FIDS members on the grounds that it was not officially sanctioned by an IDSF member body. Then the Russian IDSF member, known as DSFR, followed suit, making a similar announcement. What makes this especially interesting is that the IDSF, while not officially sanctioning the event, did not list it as an unregistered competition. It was always informally agreed that because of the special situation in England, events like the UK Open and Blackpool would not be targeted by the IDSF, to avoid problems like this.
The Italian federation said that members might be allowed to participate, if they sent in a formal request in advance, which would be dealt with on a case-by-case basis. It wasn't clear what the criteria would be for being allowed to go. FIDS told its members in December that it would reimburse them for any expenses they had already incurred in booking flights or other travel-related issues.
A number of top amateurs from Italy and Russia were absent from the UK Open this past week, but nobody really knows how much effect the boycott actually had. Dance Beat World magazine asked the question, but didn't provide any answers just yet. Two Italians and a Russian couple were in the Amateur Ballroom final, but it isn't known publicly whether these Italian couples or the nearly 20 others who took part in the UK Open amateur events had applied for special approval. A large number of top Russian amateurs were absent from the UK Open.
Former World Professional Standard Champion Richard Gleave has now responded to this mess with a call for social activism. He has created a Facebook group called Freedom to Dance in an effort to help bring awareness of these political issues and try to find some grounds for conciliation. About 2,000 people joined the group in its first couple of days. I'm not sure how much impact a Facebook group will have, regardless of its popularity. After all, what will the group members do? Comment the embattled parties into submission? But it's good to see people making some kind of effort to bring attention to the issues. In any case, the list of group administrators reads like a "Who's Who" of the world's top dancers:
- Andrew Sinkinson
- Hide Tanaka
- Marcus Hilton
- Carmen Vincelj
- Nadia Eftedal
- Amanda Dokman
- Oliver Wessel-Therhorn
- Massimo Giorgianni
- Luca Baricchi
- Augusto Schiavo
It's a shame that in a sport which is all about the energy of togetherness, we have these kind of divisive issues. I suppose we're back to some interesting times in DanceSport politics.
