Sports(seulement disponible en anglais présentement)
(Source: http://www.paralympic.org)
Wheelchair
Dance involves athletes with a physical disability that affects the lower
limbs. Wheelchair dancers may participate in "combi"-style dancing
with an able-bodied (standing) partner or duo-dance for two wheelchair users
together. Standard dances include the waltz, tango, Viennese waltz, slow
foxtrot and quickstep. Latin-American dances include the samba, cha-cha-cha,
rumba, paso doble and jive. There are also Formation dances for four, six or
eight couples dancing in formation.
CLASSIFICATION
Athletes with a physical disability that affect the lower limbs are eligible to participate in Wheelchair Dance. Athletes are classified according to their functional abilities, based on sport-specific tests, which include:
- Wheel control - Ability to accelerate and stop the wheel by either hand
- Push function - Ability to control wheelchair movement while pushing and while in hand contact with the dance partner
- Pull function - Ability to control wheelchair movement while pulling and while in hand contact with the dance partner
- Full arm function - Ability to perform a controlled movement of the free arm reaching full extension of the joints and full co-ordination
-
Trunk rotation - Ability to fully rotate the trunk without losing balance.
From these tests, athletes are placed into one of two classes:
- LWD 1: 14 points or less
- LWD 2: more than 14 points
HISTORY
Practiced for recreational and rehabilitation purposes, Wheelchair Dance originated in Sweden in 1968. Els-Britt Larsson, a wheelchair user herself who worked for the Swedish Handicap-Federation, was one of the pioneers of the sport.
Very soon news of dancing in a wheelchair spread and it became a popular activity, especially in Sweden. In 1975, the very first competition was organized in Västeras, Sweden, with a total of 30 couples taking part. Spectators were fascinated and inspired by the sport and very soon competitions started to be organized all over the world.
In 1977, the first international competition in Wheelchair Dance took place in Sweden. Munich, Germany, organized the first Rock’n Roll European Championship in 1984, for wheelchair dancers. In 1985, the first unofficial European Championships in Latin and Standard were organized in the Netherlands. The first World Championships were organized in Japan in 1998. The same year, Wheelchair Dance became a sport under the Governance and Management Authority of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), but is not part of the Paralympic Program today.
At the 2006 IPC Wheelchair Dance Sport World Championships, which took place in Papendal, the Netherlands, duo-dance was presented for the first time in two Standard and three Latin dances.
Source:
International Paralympic Committee
