It is a matter of historic fact, that the World Dance Council through the World Dance Council Amateur League fought the good fight in 2005-2007 and subsequent years to give all dancers their Freedom and liberty to dance, when most other parties preferred not to get involved.
It was a hard-fought battle. We won. Others followed.
As important as the history may or may not be, the crucial issue is that the WDC Amateur League and the World Dance Council, having supported the dance world and the dancers throughout the pandemic, are here breaking their backs and passionately sparing no effort to lead a fragile phoenix of the dance world from the ashes. As fragile as the world and therefore the dance world undoubtedly are, we are working tirelessly with our fellow stakeholders, Arthur Murray International and Blackpool Entertainment Company Ltd (Mr. Michael Williams, Managing Director of the Blackpool Dance Festival) and investing real money, expertise and sparing no effort to try and gently navigate the dancers and to provide platforms and events in the latter quarter of the year. Aside from the manpower, not insubstantial sums of money are also being committed to the projects.
It is World Dance Council and World Dance Council Amateur League policy, that all dancers are free to dance unhindered by stringent regulations, just as their expression and performance must be free. So, we say, must they. We fought to get you here, it will not be surrendered. With this in mind, and with particular regard to the fragility in which we all find ourselves at the moment, we have liaised with major organisers and are happy indeed to confirm that any alleged attempts to unwind the freedoms we fought for, if that is the case, will not be supported.
Your freedom is assured, and our information is that your entries, once accepted, will be honoured.
We are not quite clear about apparent interpretations of certain Press Releases of late, but simply wish to assure all dancers world-wide of their true status in freedom and clarify for all, in order that dancers may dance, teachers may teach, and organisers may organise.
Any impediment to this will be the last thing the dance world would need right now.
We wish you all a great future and are eagerly waiting to host you and welcome you all back and feel that messages of clarification and/or retraction from other sources would be most welcome and helpful moving forward.
We have missed you all and can’t wait!
Yours sincerely,
Donnie Burns MBE
WDC President
Donnie Burns MBE
President-World Dance Council
