The North American Equality Dancesport Association
Embracing and Welcoming ALL Dance Couples and Dancers
REPORT ON THE IFSSDA INTERNATIONAL DANCESPORT CHAMPIONSHIPS AT GAY GAMES XII
by Benjamin Soencksen
Under the expert leadership of Tom Dane, EEDA Board Member and competitor at this event, and Isaac Rovira, who judged at Dancesport of the XI Gay Games 2023 in Guadalajara, Mexico, Dancesport in Valencia turned out to be well-run and most enjoyable event for all in attendance. The Sports Center Fuente de San Luis, a basketball arena, was skillfully turned into a worldclass competitive venue by a technical team that outdid themselves with lighting, screens and drapery. Dancesport was one of only two events at these games that had the honor of an air-conditioned venue throughout the 4 days of competitions.
More than 250 dancers from all over the world registered and the worldwide panel of 14 judges headed by Isaac Rovira, the MC Peter Meager from the UK, Isaac’s parents as the most capable and well-prepared scrutineering team and the sublime DJ had their work cut out. IFSSDA was represented by Arnim Lohrmann, Vice-President of EEDA and President of DVET, and myself, Representative of NAEDA to IFSSDA. (https://ifssda.org/gay-games-valencia-dancesport-officials-judges/)
It was the first time since 2018 when the X Gay Games were held in Paris that an Equality Dancesport event of this magnitude has taken place, evident by the fact that some categories required a quarterfinal. Couples in attendance came from all corners of the world, including Australia, Ecuador, Mexico, New Zealand and Singapore, to name but a few. The skill level ranged from dancers who just started dancing a few months ago to worldclass performances, separated skillfully by the judges into D- through A-Classes with the grading process as outlined by IFSSDA’s Competition Rules.
The dancers participating from the USA garnered accumulative 11 Gold, 8 Silver and 11 Bronze medals as well as for some categories IFSSDA’s 2026 World Championship titles. The highest-ranking couples with outstanding results were Emily Coles & Citabria Phillips in International Standard, Maya Rao & Cathleen Villapudua in International Latin, Justin Miller & James Repetti in too many styles to be listed here, also the Formation Team ‘Vima Vice Squad’ as well as some line dancers. All results can be found here:
NAEDA congratulates all winners and hopes that your success will inspire you to continue as well as others to join you on this journey of partner dancing!
2026 North American Championships
Thanks to the participants and organizers of the Boston Open Championships for a successful competition.
On Saturday, April 18, 2026, the team of Boston Open Dancesport led by Kalin Mitov hosted its own 2026 Championships, the 2026 Massachusetts State Championships and the 2026 North American Championships, all sanctioned and sponsored by NAEDA. The event took place in the senior center of Needham, ‘The Center at the Heights,’ which proved to be a perfect venue for this event, after the team put its creative touches to the setup.
All throughout the day the team of judges led by Benjamin Soencksen, the wonderful MC Tracey Tebrow, the scrutineer Timothy Sorrentino, the deck captain Mary Wilson and DJ Peter Collins were presented with a wide variety of couples of all ages, partnering and skill levels. During a couple of hours in the afternoon, the American DanceSport Federation inserted its own event hosting its Amateur and Public Schools Championships with its own set of officials, a nice break for the NEADA sanctioned event.
This year’s North American Championship drew a nice mix and high-level couples to Massachusetts, who battled for the title. Grades C and B though were uncontested and therefore only gold medals were awarded. Level A in all styles were combined under NAEDA Rule D.1.2.2., had up to 4 couples and title as well as medals were awarded separately.
NASSPDA is now NAEDA
The North American Equality Dancesport Association
ADOPTION OF A NEW NAME & ACRONYM: as previously reported in our E-Newsletters, the newly elected Board of NASSPDA officially adopted the name North American Equality Dancesport Association (NAEDA) at our meeting on June 1, 2025. This change underscores the inclusiveness that was already expressed in our by-line adopted several years ago: “Embracing and Welcoming ALL Dance Couples and Dancers.” Our new logo was designed by Jason Bowlsby of the firm Shannon & Jason (www.shannonandjason.com), and it is just one many steps that will be necessary to fully implement the change. Please bear with us as we create a brand new website and update our rulebooks, medals and banners for the upcoming competitions.