The
Irish DanceSport Federation, the Governing Body for DanceSport in Ireland, was initially founded in 1937 with the title “The Irish Society of Amateur
Dancers”. The Hon. Chairman at its founding was Mr George Begley recently
deceased. George and his wife Madge later became well known as Exhibition
dancers on the International circuit and reached the pinnacle of their careers
in 1953 by winning both British Exhibition Championships at Blackpool.
In 1958 the Society was re-inaugurated and restyled,
as a limited company by guarantee, under the title “The Society of Amateur
Ballroom Dancing Limited”.
In 1974 it was recognised internationally as the Governing Body for
Amateur Competitive Ballroom Dancing in Ireland and accepted as the sole Irish
member of the International Council of Amateur Dancers, the body which is now
known as the International DanceSport Federation. This is the Governing Body
for DanceSport world-wide and is recognised by and a member of the
International Olympic Council.
In
1992, in line with the emerging trend of distinguishing between DanceSport, i.e.
competitive Ballroom Dancing, and Social and Medal-Test dancing, the Society
was again re-named, on this occasion to the “Irish DanceSport Federation”. A
link with the original title is Mr. Barney Meehan who has served on Council under all three titles.
In its earlier
years and indeed until the mid 1980's DanceSport was confined, with a few
notable exceptions, to Dublin and the surrounding areas. Since then, the
Federation has made great efforts to spread the DanceSport Gospel to other
areas of the country, and now has affiliated bodies in each of the four
provinces. The affiliates are known by their titles of the Connaught, Leinster, Munster and Ulster DanceSport Boards. They each have the delegated
responsibility of looking after the interests of DanceSport in their respective
areas.
In 2006, the Leinster Board was
disbanded due to lack of members. Dancers in the Leinster area may now
become direct members of Irish Dancesport Federation.
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George &
Madge Begley
British Exhibition Champions 1953
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