WDSF ADJUDICATOR’S CONGRESS The USA Dance 2014 AGM in Baltimore attracted members from different areas of the country. With President Yang Chen presiding, presentations were made by all attending vice presidents and directors. Carson Zullinger
ANNUAL
GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING
GAVE LEADERS, MEMBERS CHANCE TO MEET IN PERSON, DISCUSS KEY ISSUES The official USA Dance Annual General Membership meeting is held each year during the USA Dance National DanceSport Championships, since this one event brings together the greatest number of members at one time and place. The 2014 AGM took place Mar. 29 at the Renaissance HarborPlace Hotel in Baltimore. The open-door AGM is a productive session for members, providing the face-to-face opportunity to learn more about USA Dance and ask important questions. This year, attendees met the newly elected corporate officers, who had taken office Jan. 1, following the 2013 national elections. After hearing important presentations about USA Dance plans for the year, the meeting actively turned to a Q&A session for the members. Yang Chen, new national president of USA Dance, presided over the meeting. In attendance were all members of the Executive Committee, including Senior VP Shawn Fisher, Secretary Greg Warner, Treasurer Michael Brocks, DanceSport VP Ken Richards, Social Dance VP Jean Krupa, DanceSport delegate to the EC Taras Savitskyy, as well as Public Relations Director/American Dancer Editor Angela Prince, K-12 Dance Program Director Barbara Wally and Past Presidents Council member Peter Pover. A second AGM recap session was held on Sunday, Mar. 30 for those who could not attend on Saturday. Minutes of the AGM will be available in the document library of the USA Dance website www.usadance.org.
EDUCATES USA ADJUDICATORS TO NEW WDSF JUDGING SYSTEM 2.0 In Baltimore preceding the USA Dance Nationals, a sevenhour WDSF Adjudicator’s Congress was hosted by the World DanceSport Federation and USA member organization USA Dance. The Congress represents both organization’s commitment to providing education and certification of USA DanceSport officials. Featured lecturers were Fabio Bosco of Italy and Sergej Milicija of the Ukraine. There were 34 USA adjudicators in attendance at the Mar. 27 Congress. Fabio began the Congress explaining the WDSF Judging System 2.0 and the Criteria of Judging based on an ISU judging system that has the IOC approval. This system is based on four components, consisting of Technical Qualities, Movement to Music, Partnering Skill, and Choreography/ Presentation. This new system improves the objectivity of marking an athlete’s performance, transparency of the Carson Zullinger judging process, and provides conKen Richards, USA Dance VP of DanceSport, structive feedback introduces the WDSF instructors at the to the athletes and Adjudicator’s Congress in Baltimore. As Ken trainers. commented, “It is extremely motivating to see the number of top adjudicators seeking more Afterward, both WDSF guest lectur- knowledge and refined skills in their profession. We are pleased to provide this opportunity and invest ers focused on each in higher standards for our sport.” First WDSF cospecific compopresenter: Sergej Milicija. nent, while using PowerPoint, videos, and demonstrations to explain the important specifics of each. At the end of the Congress, adjudicators took a General Knowledge test, provided by the WDSF and administered by Ken Richards, USA Dance Vice President of DanceSport. May-June 2014
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