British Dance Council

The British Dance Council was formed in 1929 as the Official Board of Ballroom Dancing (OBBD). The name was changed in 1985 to the British Council of Ballroom Dancing and in 1996, the name was changed to British Dance Council. The BDC is the recognised governing body for Ballroom, Latin American, Sequence & Freestyle Disco dance in the United Kingdom.[1]

British Dance Council offices in Merton, London

The BDC was originally formed to establish uniformity in the teaching of Ballroom Dance nationwide, although its responsibilities are now extensive both in the UK and abroad. The primary function of the BDC is to devise and oversee the rules for competitive dancing. All dance competitions in the UK, both amateur and professional are governed by BDC rules. The BDC is also the national awarding body for championship titles in the UK.

Standardisation is another key function of the BDC. There are a number of leading dance organisations in the UK, and each of these organisations has slight differences in technique and vocabulary. The BDC works to ensure that, where possible, teachers from any organisation will be teaching dance the same way. This is particularly important competitively, to make sure that all dancers can understand and perform their dances within the BDC rules, regardless of which dance organisation they trained with.