Regulations
WDC AL World Ballroom Showdance & WDC AL World Latin Showdance Championship
Competition dates
13 December, 2025 – WDC AL World Ballroom Showdance Championship
13 December, 2025 – WDC AL World Latin American Showdance Championship
14 December, 2025 – WDC World Cup Professional Ballroom
14 December, 2025 – WDC World Cup Professional Latin
15 December, 2025 – WDC AL World Cup Amateur Ballroom
15 December, 2025 – WDC AL World Cup Amateur Latin
Competition venue
Mubadala Arena
Address:
Zayed Sports City, Building # 1811 Al Khaleej Al Arabi St, Al Rawdah – W57 - Abu Dhabi (UAE)
Organiser
World Dance Council (WDC)
World Dance Council Amateur League (WDC AL)
Rules
WDC Competitions Rules
WDC AL Competition Rules
Web-site of the event
Registration
Online on the web-site www.abudhabidance.org
Registration fee
30$ per couple per one discipline to be paid online
Visa to UAE
Before travelling to UAE, we recommend to learn the UAE visa regulations. You may request a visa invitation letter by e-mail info@abudhabidance.org. You are kindly requested to provide the Organiser with your passport details for this purpose.
Safety measures
  • Participants are responsible for taking care of their own health prior to and during the competitions.
  • The organisers will provide first aid, but not responsible for further medical treatment.
Honour dance
The winners will be obliged to dance an Honour dance
Photo and video recording
All rights belong to the Organiser
Prize money (per couple per discipline)
World Championship Showdance
1st: $4000
2nd: $3000
3rd: $2000
4th: $1500
5th: $1000
6th: $1000
World Cup Professional
1st: $4000
2nd: $3000
3rd: $1500
4th: $1000
5th: $750
6th: $500
World Cup Amateur
1st: $2000
2nd: $1500
3rd: $1000
4th: $500
5th: $375
6th: $250
Date
13 December, 2025 (Saturday)
Rehearsal 07.00 am – 04.00 pm
Championship 06.00 pm – 10.00 pm
Disciplines
Ballroom Showdance
Latin Showdance
Age groups
Adult (19 years or older on the day of the competition). One competitor of the
partnership must be within the age restriction. Youth couples (16-18 years old) are
allowed to compete.
Eligibility
A couple may represent a country if one of the partners holds a valid and subsisting
passport of the represented country (Article 4 of the WDC AL Competition Rules)
Quota per country
Unlimited
Rehearsal for Showdance competitors
13 December, 2025
07.00 am – 04.00 pm
Rehearsal is mandatory for all competitors, the Chairperson, a representative of the Organizing Team, a sound engineer (DJ), lights engineer, camera man, a representative of the Scrutineers. Others are not allowed to be at the venue during the rehearsal.
The rehearsal shall be conducted at the competition venue. All competitors shall be
provided with equal conditions by the Orgamiser. The duration of the rehearsal for
each couple shall be no more than 15 minutes.
During the rehearsal, the couple must perform the entire dance including walk on and exit from the floor.
Any change of the performance, music or video-content shown at the rehearsal is not allowed during the championship.
Music, description and video content
All competitors are requested to provide the Organiser with the description of the show (mandatory), the music of the show (mandatory) and video content (optional).
The description of the show shall include: the names of competitors, the country of representation, the title of the show, description of the idea of the show.
Competitors may use the video content to be displayed on the led-screen at the venue aimed at enhancing the artistic effect of the show. Video content shall be in line with the idea of the show. The duration of the video content on the screen shall not exceed the duration of the whole show.
Competitors are requested to provide the Organiser with the Music in mp3 format,
description, video content in mp4 format by December 1 by e-mail:
info@abudhabidance.org.
Showdance format
In Ballroom Showdance the dances must be selected from one up to all of the five regular Ballroom Dances.
In Latin-American Showdance the dances must be selected from one up to all of the 
five regular Latin-American Dances.
Elements from other dances can be used to enrich and complete the character of the show. At the same time, the character of Ballroom and Latin-American dances shall be clearly recognizable.
Dancers must perform the same show and choreography throughout the rehearsal and 
the competition.
The time of the show must be up to a maximum 4 minutes, including walk on and 
exit from the floor. Exceeding the time limit leads to direct disqualification.
The beginning and ending of the show shall be clear and understandable to the panel of judges. The show can start at any place of the dance floor. The music shall be turned on at a clear sign or moment agreed upon in advance with the sound engineer.
Order of couples shall be drawn by ballot before the start of the competition by the Chairperson in the presence of the representative of the Organizing Team and Scrutineers.
To increase the entertainment value of the competition, Ballroom and Latin Show 
Dance shall be alternated.
The Master of Ceremony shall announce the starting number of the couple and the title of the show.
The competition shall be held in one Round.
There shall be a minimum of 30 min break between each round of a Show Dance.
Lifts
Three lifts are permitted for the whole performance. These can be performed anywhere 
in the show.
Props
No props are permitted during entrance, performance and exit from the floor. Prop shall be defined as any item that is not part of the couples’ costume.
Costumes
Costumes, make-up and hair style of the both partners shall be in line with the idea of the show, as well as Ballroom or Larin-American character of dances.
Technical requirements
The lighting options provided by the Organiser at the venue must be the same for all couples throughout the competition, including rehearsals.
To enhance the expressiveness of the show, it is allowed to use a LED-screen, artistic 
light, artistic smoke, spots and tracking spotlights, as well as darkening the venue and 
the area of spectators.
Competitors shall provide the organiser with their ideas regarding the use of lights no 
later than 1 December. The lighting scenario shall be confirmed with the lighting 
director and the Chairperson during the rehearsal.
The organiser is obliged to ensure:
  • the identity of the size and configuration of the dance floor for the rehearsal and competition;
  • technical video recording with the ability to play video recordings in normal and slow-motion mode during rehearsals and competitions;
  • LED-screen for displaying video content.
The screen is placed at the far side of the dance floor, the judges' seats are placed opposite the screen.
System of judging
Showdance competitions shall be judges by two panels of judges: the panel of line judges and the panel of technical judges.
The panel of line judges evaluates partnership in a couple, choreography, and 
presentation. The panel of technical judges evaluates the technique and musicality.
The performance shall be evaluated by 4 criteria:
1) PERFORMANCE TECHNIQUE:
  • posture, line, shape, dance position, static and dynamic balance;
  • variety and complexity of dance patterns and lifts, their quality.
2) MUSICALITY
  • rhythmic structure of the show;
  • compliance with the tempo of the dance in its nature and consistency with the 
music.
3) PARTNERSHIP
  • consistency of the partners' actions performing dance patters;
  • spatial sense of partners.
4) CHOREOGRAPHY AND PRESENTATION
  • the disclosure of the idea of a dance show, including through costumes;
  • variety and contrast of movements, expressiveness, artistry, ease in performing lifts.
Judging is closed. Judges evaluate couples by criterion. The judges give each couple 
the scores from 1 to 10. If there are 13 line judges in the panel, two worst and two best 
scores are not taken into account for the overall score, and if there are from 9 to 11 
line judges, one worst and one best score are not taken into account for the overall 
score.
The Scrutineers sum up the scores given by the judges. The first place is taken by the 
couple with the highest score.
If two or more couples score the same number of points, the couples are ranked by summing up the scores according to two criteria:
  • performance technique;
  • choreography and presentation.
In case of equality of scores, the couples will share the appropriate place.
Awards ceremony
The couples winning the first, second and third places are awarded with medals and cups. All finalists are awarded with diploma and prize money (in USD per couple):
World Ballroom Showdance
1st: $4000
2nd: $3000
3rd: $2000
4th: $1500
5th: $1000
6th: $1000
World Latin Showdance
1st: $4000
2nd: $3000
3rd: $2000
4th: $1500
5th: $1000
6th: $1000
Contacts
All enquiries by e-mail: info@abudhabidance.org
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