WDC Social Dance News Letter, August 2019

Dear valued WDC Members! Dear Presidents! Dear Dance Teachers and Dance School owners!

The holiday season is slowly coming to an end now and I hope that you have all returned well from your vacation so that we can now all start  into the new dance school year energized and with full élan.

The Social Dance Congress in Blackpool, which I already reported on in my last Newsletter, took place successfully. In about 2 or 3 weeks time it will be possible to have a look at the content of the congress again on the

WDC website. As soon as everything is online you can download and see everything that you are interested in.

With great joy, I can now also report about the first Social Dance Congress in Denmark, that took place on the 4th of August this year.

For the first time, we could hold the so called Nordic Social Dance Congress at invitation of the Danish Dance Teacher’s Association. Under the motto “learning from each other” Evelyn Hörmann Hädrich presented the Social Dance situation in Germany, where the Social Dance Branch is very successful. Furthermore, there was the Danish presenter, Benita Lovgren, who reported on the Danish situation. Moreover, Marc Christensen from Chicago, USA, was present at the congress and told us about Social Dancing there. In addition to these very interesting and informative presentations, I got the chance to talk about Social Dancing in Austria, which has a very old tradition and interesting history.

The Danish Dance Teacher’ Association managed to create a great and varying program for their eight-day congress. Therefore, I want to congratulate the organizers on this great congress and I want to thank the Danish Association

for welcoming us lecturers so warmly and friendly in Denmark.
Furthermore, I may proudly inform you that Evelyn Hörmann Hädrich and myself, Ferry Polai, have been honored with the DDD Award, by the Danish Association.

 

Another important day that is coming up is the 22nd of September, which has been decided in Blackpool to be the World Social Dance Day from this year onwards. Regarding this day, I would like to refer to the Newsletter in December 2018, in which I have already informed you about this decision. We chose the 22nd of September as this is the foundation date of the World Dance Council in 1950 in Edinburgh. I know that such a World Dance Day already exists and is organized by the CID and of course, I am aware that some of our member states are also members in the CID. Our colleague Dimitri Karavas also informed us about the organization of this day. As the CID is not acting in the interest of the WDC, we decided to organize our own Social Dance Day.

 

As it is difficult for me, as chairman situated in Austria, to inform the public about all events that are planned in other countries to honor and celebrate the Social Dance Day, I would like to ask you to promote your events in your countries via all forms of media, like print media, online media and television and to use your own network to spread the idea of Social Dancing. To provide some input for you I would like to show you what we did last year in Innsbruck, Tyrol, Austria – just as an example.
On this day this year we are also celebrating the day of the Waltz – our national dance – Viennese Waltz – Waltz. With this day we manage to encourage the public for Social Dancing and to take part in our activities. This year, the Social Dance Day is going to be a Sunday and there will be indoor and outdoor activities provided in the city of Innsbruck. I am only telling you this for the purpose of information and to motivate you to organize events to celebrate the World Social Dance Day yourself in your countries.

 

It is only possible to propagate the Social Dance Day if we all participate and work together!

I may also kindly ask you to send me information about all your planned activities and events so that we can publish them on the WDC website.

Finally, allow me to emphasize the importance of working together in this matter again, as it is only possible to publish the Social Dance Day if we all cooperate.

 

As a last point in this Newsletter, I would like to kindly ask all of you if you could announce the dates of your congresses for 2020 and also to declare whether foreign countries are able to take part in your congresses. Thank you for your cooperation!

I wish you all a good start into the new Social Dance season!

 

Best regards,

Ferry Polai

 

 

 

  1. Dipl. Vw. Ferry Polai

Chairman Social Dance Committee

Innrain 7, 6020 Innsbruck

Austria

 

Tel: +43 676 4186993

Email: [email protected]

www.wdcdance.com

Newsletter January 2019

Dear valued members

May I kindly ask you to forward it to all members of your national federation?

Let me with you all the happiness, success and health for 2019. Thank you all for your cooperation and help to promote Social Dancing together with the World Dance Council and a Social Dance Committee that does not only exist on an institutional scale but really wants to make a difference.

You will for sure remember that the Dance of the Year 2019 is the Waltz.

I am looking for choreographies to songs that were produced for Social Dancing to be presented in Blackpool during the Social Dance Congress on May 28th 2019 and then also promoted on a larger scale during the World Social Dance Day on September 22nd.

In short, if you are interested in participating in this challenge:
–          Choose a song (3-5 minutes)
–          Prepare a choreography that can be taught to Social Dancers (single or couple)
–          Produce a simple video

I am very much looking forward to seeing your suggestions.

Furthermore, there is another congress for your further education and for network activities in the UK where qualified dance teachers from other teacher associations are invited to join:

–          UK / IDTA: There are two conferences each year organized by the IDTA, one in London in February and another one in Southport in July. The full program and booking forms can be found here: https://www.idta.co.uk/events/

Already confirmed dates can be found inside the December 2018 Newsletter which has also be published on the WDC Homepage in the Social Dance Section.

If there is an event that you would like to open to members from other countries, please let me know.

Best regards
Ferry Polai

Newsletter December 2018

Dear valued members,

First of all I want to thank you all for your active help and participation. It is only together with every single one of you that we can continue developing Social Dance within the frame of the WDC around the world.

I would also like to excuse myself for overseeing e-mails or not responding in a timely matter as some get automatically moved to different folders. If you are awaiting a reply and don’t receive anything after a week, please don’t hesitate to resend it to me.

There are some news I wanted to share with you:

(1) Application to the UNESCO as Non-governmental organisation

It is with great pleasure that I can announce that our General Secretary Hannes Emrich has sent a huge package of documents to Paris to apply for the recognition as non-governmental organization by the UNESCO. According to them, the process of review and acceptance will take approximately one year (!), but afterwards this will give all of us another proof of the importance of our business for maintaining the cultural heritage of the world.

(2) World Social Dance Day 22nd September

The International Council of Ballroom Dancing, the predecessor of the WDC, was founded in Edinburgh by Philip J.S. Richardson on September 22nd, 1950. Since the World Dance Day by the CID in April is focused on Ballet and other art dances, I would like to introduce another date to the list of minor secular observances, which is the World Social Dance Day. Which better date than September 22nd? It is the time when many schools have just started again after summer holidays and it might be the perfect date to attract new students and inform them about what we have to offer.  

We should all strive to have a big promotion event for Social Dancing on that date! I would love to promote it together with you!

(3) New World Dance Program

As requested by many in the questionnaire, there will be an update to the World Dance Program. The new development will try to put an emphasis on abilities rather than the knowledge of certain steps and figures. Please stay tuned. 

(4) Congress in Blackpool 2019

It is my pleasure to announce as well that the Social Dance Congress in Blackpool will take place again in 2019. Note the date: Tuesday, May 28th – 09.00 – 11.00 AGM, 11.00 – 13.00 Congress

(5) Dance of the Year – Waltz

As has been decided during the AGM in Blackpool, the Dance of the Year 2019 is the Waltz. If you have a song that would be suitable for a choreography or if you have already elaborated a choreography, please let me know so that it can be also promoted on an international level.

(6) National Congresses that welcome other members

Following my request in the last newsletter, some members have already agreed to open up their national congresses for other WDC countries. Please note that application has to go through their respective system, but you can refer to this newsletter when asking for more information, concerning program, teaching language, accommodation etc.

Thank you very much to those willing to open their congress as it gives the best opportunity to meet and exchange with colleagues from the same business, but with the experience from another country.

Here is the list of upcoming congresses, where you are all welcome to join:

Greece:
March 16th, 2019 in Athens
There is a Congress for teachers (3 hours) and adjudicators (3 hours). It is free for those who have a WDC card.
Further information and contact see: www.dancecouncil.gr

Germany:
April 12th– 18th, 2019 – Intako
Further information and contact see:
https://intako.de/open/home/stundenplan.html April 12-14
https://intako.de/intern/home/stundenplan.html April 14-18

United Kingdom:
June 1st-2nd, 2019 – Congress of UKA
Further information and contact see: Ukadance.co.uk
The full program will be published in April

Austria:
ÖTAKO, June 8th-10th, 2019
Further information and contact see: www.vtoe.at

Denmark:
August 4th – 12th, 2019
Further information and contact see: https://www.dedanskedanseskoler.dk/

Czech Republic:
August 23rd-25th, 2019 in Parkhoel Plzen/Pilsen
Teaching is in Czech and Slovak language, price is 1800 CZK, aprr. €70
Further information and contact see: http://www.sut.cz/
Once every four years, a Congress is held in Slovakia in the spa town of Rájecké Teplice

 

Belgium:
Further information and contact to follow: http://www.buldo.be

Singapore:
There are no congresses organized, but there are regular workshops which are open for you to attend as well. The list can be found in the calendar here: http://www.sbdta.com/calendar/members

Plans for Congresses in the Nordic Countries are on its way.

If you would like to include your congress as well, please be so kind to let me know.

Once again, thank you very much for your support and I am welcoming every feed-back and suggestions you might have.

Best regards
Ferry Polai
Interim Chairman WDC – SDC