Canadians & USA Dance

N

nate

New Member
Hey guys,

Longtime lurker on DF but this is my first post. This is a very specific question, and was hoping there was someone here who could help since the internet has failed me.

I'm an amateur (pre-champ) latin competitor and have competed in the US in NDCA and Collegiate competitions in the past with no difficulty since I do not need to be a member to compete with them. But now I'm looking to register for some USA Dance comps (particularly MAC, but maybe others), and I'm having a lot of difficulty finding information about what to do in order to be eligible to compete being a non-US citizen.

From what I've gathered, for example, from MAC rules: "COMPETITION OPEN ONLY TO USA Dance AND WDSF MEMBERS. A current valid USA Dance / WDSF number is required to register." as well as rule 4.2.1 from USADance rulebook, my options are to either:
A) Register with USA Dance to get a # -- Not sure if this possible for non-USA, but the registration form on the site lets me choose a different country, so it seems like it might be possible, but I have no way of knowing unless I complete the registration form which would make me pay membership fees.
B) Get a WDSF ID # -- I haven't found any way to go about getting a number besides having to apply for a WDSF Athlete ID Card, which feels like overkill for my scenario.
C) Something else I'm not thinking of?

Thanks a lot.
 
From 4.2.1 in the USA Dance Rulebook: "All individuals entering any USA Dance DanceSport Competitive Event must be registered as an Athlete with a member organization of the WDSF."

According to the WDSF website, Canada has a member organization. Looking at the Canada Dancesport website, you join one of their regional associations.

Then section 4.3.6.1.2 of USA Dance rules applies: "One Athlete is a United States Citizen or Lawful Permanent Resident and the other Athlete has appropriate legal documents allowing him/her to travel out-of and back-into the United States,"

So looks like your steps are:
1. Read the rest of the USA Dance Rulebook to see if anything else applies that I've missed.
2. Join Canada Dancesport and get a membership card.
3. Find a partner who is a USA Dance member.
4. Compete.
 
It looks like section 4.3.6.1 is only about competing at USA Dance Nationals. From what I see in the rulebook, anyone can compete at other USA Dance competitions as long as they're a member of their own country's WDSF organization. (That makes much more sense to me!) So you can skip step 3 above.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Thanks for the responses.
I've read the WDSF, USADance and CDS rulebook multiple times over the last several weeks, but there's not much regarding competing outside your country, which is why I've come here.
Now let me add that I am a member of Dancesport Canada, is my membership enough to be able to register for competitions or do I need an id number of some kind? The only number I have is a provincial id, which is most definitely not a national or global id, so I would assume that it would be useless when trying to compete outside Canada. I guess I'm best off contacting someone in the association?
 
As long as you are a member of DanceSport Canada, which is a member of the WDSF, you can compete at any USA Dance competition except for our National Competition. Does your organization issue you a membership card that you can bring with you to show at the competitions?
 
I have a card from my provincial branch of Dancesport Canada. The card has my provincial id number, my name and birthday, and their logo. This might be enough to show at competition, but I've never had to use it internationally so I think I'll investigate and see if there's some sort of official Canada card I can get. As far as I know, Dancesport Canada doesn't issue numbers, it's up to the individual branches to register members.
Assuming I can use this card, on a competition signup form where it asks for a USA Dance #, would I just leave it blank and then show the card when I get there?
 
Where it asks for a USA Dance number you can just leave it blank. The system will flag you as no membership and you will be asked to show your card at the event. You can just display your Canadian card and all will be well.
 
A nice touch is also emailing the organizer/designated contact point to let them know you plan to show ID at the event. Not necessary, by any means, but knowing the competitors are on top of their s*** always made me feel less worried as an organizer (of collegiate comps only, tee ball games compared to the big NQEs)
 
We're Canadians (eh?) belonging to our provincial dancesport organization, and we've competed in both NDCA and USADANCE comps without any issues. Granted, we are only syllabus, but our pre-champ friends do the same without problems.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Joe
Missy Silly - would it be ok for me to message you should I ever have any problems/questions about registration?

Dancing Irishman - do you organize a comp on the east coast? maybe we'll be visiting soon ;)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Dance Ads

Advertise on Dance Forums Reach dancers, teachers, studios, event organizers, and dance-friendly brands. View ad options
Back
Top