2017 WDC Asian Dance Tour Taipei Open Championships Launch in Taipei Arena Feb 28

TAIPEI, TAIWAN--(Marketwired - Feb 26, 2017) - The 2017 Asian Dance Tour Taipei Open will be held on Tuesday, February 28, at the Taipei Arena. Let's break the records again! So far, a total of 937 competitors, including 406 foreign and 531 domestic competitors, from 30 countries have enrolled. This is an increase by 10% over last year. Many are attracted by the NT$3.3-million prizes. This great competition will be highlighted by certain starring competitors, including Riccardo Cocchi and Yulia Zagoruychenko, the all-time world professional Latin dance champions from the USA who have vast numbers of fans in Taiwan.

The Department of Sports, Taipei City Government and Taiwan International Sport Dance Development Association (TISDDA) began organizing the Asian Dance Tour Taipei Open in 2008. In addition to being one of the WDC ranking competitions, this is the ninth time this huge competition will be held in Taiwan. It is the Formula One race of ballroom dancing, and the organizer is also launching the Golden Dance Awards (GDA) for the first time this year to recognize the competitors' World Dance Council, Asian Dance Organisers and Taiwan ranking, and to recognize all those who have contributed to the development of ballroom dancing. In addition to making the awards "golden" like the other top world awards, TISDDA wants to make it International to attract all the world's top competitors. A ceremony will be held to present awards to the champions in each of the following categories: WDC Professional Ballroom and Latin, ADO Professional Ballroom and Latin, World Dance Council-Amateur League Taiwan Amateur Ballroom and Latin, and WDC Taiwan Professional Ballroom and Latin (included in the ranking from this year). Taiwanese artist stars, international judges, foreign representatives in Taiwan, and representative competitors from each country will be invited to this golden awards. It will be comparable to the Academy Awards, including the red carpet. The organizer aims to develop the Golden Dance Awards into a representative annual competition on the world's ballroom dance circuit.

The Sports Administration of the Ministry of Education and the Department of Sports, Taipei City Government will send representatives to attend this competition to express support to TISDDA for their professional efforts made to promote ballroom dancing over the years. TISDDA Chairman Sammy Liu also explained that ballroom dancing is a stress-relieving sport that combines power and beauty as well as the mental effort of learning dance steps and the fusion of physical response, sense of direction, music, and motion. TISDDA will continue to foster domestic ballroom dancing talent and hopes that ballroom dancing will become a national sport in the near future.

Kelly Huang, Taiwanese artist star, who urges entrepreneurs of each industry could support on sponsoring the Ballroom Dance Festival, the only world Professional Ranking Competition in Taiwan, as well as the Golden Dance Awards. Also the public audience and Ballroom Dance fans' participation on the event at Taipei Arena, shall be highly appreciated.

Thanks to the generous support of the Sports Administration of the Ministry of Education and the Department of Sports, the Department of Sports, Taipei City Government, and Taiwan's ever growing dance community, we will continue striving with passion and sincerity to make each new event better than the last!

According to TISDDA Secretary-General Jane Liu, "To let the world see Taiwan at the Asian Dance Tour Taipei Open" is the ultimate goal of the competition. With a record-breaking number of participants and the Golden Dance Awards, this year's Asian Dance Tour Taipei Open Championship will be more splendid than ever. Welcome to the Taipei Arena on Feb 28, come and support the Taiwanese competitors!

About Taiwan International Sport Dance Development Association

The Taiwan International Sport Dance Development Association organizes the international competition, so that Taiwanese competitors have more access to the world's top competitors and coaches. It's also promoting the popularity of ballroom dancing in Taiwan. The association was founded in 2004, and approved by the government.