The Inter Varsity Dance Competition (IVDC) is an annual student dancesport competition organised by Inter Varsity Dance Association (IVDA).[1] The IVDA write rules regarding entries, dress code and which dances will be part of the competition.
All UK universities may send representatives provided they are a member of the IVDA, and students who study at universities that do not have teams may gain special consideration to dance for another university. 27 UK universities took part in the 2022 IVDC.[2]
Whilst dancesport in the UK has seen a decline that shows like Strictly Come Dancing have rectified, the Inter Varsity Dance Association (IVDA) has remained consistently popular and struggles to find a UK venue large enough for its annual competition. Since 2007 the competitions have been hosted at the Winter Gardens, Blackpool. The 2024 competition saw 597 couples compete,[3] which is nearly back to pre-pandemic levels, as the 2020 competition saw 678 couples compete.[4]
As of 2024 the US has a similarly strong student scene, culminating in various tournament's across the country. Mainland Europe has the slightly smaller European Tournament for Dancing Students, which has been running in multiple countries since 1989, with participants attending from Great Britain on a smaller scale.
IVDC is an annual event running since 1962 and hosted by different UK member universities and normally occurs in the last weekend in February or first weekend in March each year. There are individual competitions during the day in ballroom, Latin, rock'n'roll, offbeat and the Team Match.[5]
For the Latin and Ballroom Events students are divided according to experience: Beginner, Novice, Intermediate and Advanced. Ex Students are also able to compete in some competitions. In lower ranking competitions dress restrictions apply. Beginners are encouraged and there is the "Best Beginners Team Trophy" which presented to the university with the most successful beginners overall.Other individual returnable trophies available:
The Offbeat Competition is a "Fun" team "freestyle" even - the university can enter a three-minute routine in any dance style. Interpretations vary from fun routines such as "The Full Monty" to serious high quality street dance routines. The Offbeat Winners Shield is presented to the winning team.
The most important event of the competition is the team match, which pits teams of up to 48 dancers from each member university against each other. These are split into teams of four couples (A, B, C, D, E, F) and each couple represents their University in one of Waltz, Cha Cha, Quickstep, and Jive. Progression is done as a team and scored across all four dances. This competition has undergone a drastic overhaul in recent years following innovations by Alistair Braden whilst at Bristol University. The team match is now a two-division system that ranks all universities entered, instead of the traditional team match.The following Team Trophies are awarded at IVDC:
The trophies held in the highest regard are the EADA Overall trophy and the A-Team trophy.
| Year | A-Team Winners | Overall Champions | Ex-Student team match | Advanced ballroom | Advanced Latin | Offbeat | Location | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024[6] | Oxford | Cambridge | Birmingham | Shaoyang Yuan, Chongxuan Qi (Edinburgh) | Peter Bath, Rosanna Shurvinton (Bristol) | Durham | Winter Gardens, Blackpool | |
| 2023[7] | Imperial | Cambridge | Imperial | Yo-Der Song, Maria Volovaya (Imperial) | Arthur Mui and Beth Gardiner (Birmingham) | Bath | Winter Gardens, Blackpool | |
| 2022[8] | Imperial | Cambridge | Imperial | Tom Winter, Anna Duncan (Oxford) | Edoardo Chidichimo, Emily Gibbs (Cambridge) | Durham | Winter Gardens, Blackpool | |
| 2020[9] | Oxford | Cambridge | Cambridge | Victor Solecki, Iris Roatis (Imperial) | Mathias Kirkegaard, Maria Pieridou (Bath) | Leicester | Winter Gardens, Blackpool | |
| 2019[10] | Imperial | Cambridge | - | Pawel Bzinkowski, Aleksandra Modrzejewska (Oxford) | Matthew Cavuto, Mariya Pozdeyeva (Imperial) | Warwick | Winter Gardens, Blackpool | |
| 2018[11] | Cambridge | Cambridge | - | Mathias Kirkegaard, Claire Kilding (Bath) | Nikita Fedorov, Katerina Tse (Durham) | Warwick | Winter Gardens, Blackpool | |
| 2017[12] | Cambridge | Cambridge | - | Mathew Stoneman, Yasmine Young (London) | Tianci Ma, Adela Capilnasiu (Imperial) | Nottingham | Winter Gardens, Blackpool | |
| 2016[13] | Cambridge | Cambridge | - | Filip Bar, Yasmine Young (Cambridge) | Roland Parandi, Jessica Quirke (Oxford) | Nottingham | Winter Gardens, Blackpool | |
| 2015[14] | Cambridge | Cambridge | - | James Lewis, Rebecca Murray (Nottingham) | Kien Trinh, Kirsty Mary Davies (Cambridge) | Cardiff | Winter Gardens, Blackpool | |
| 2014[15] | Cambridge | Cambridge | - | Joe Johnson, Eva Johnson (Cambridge) | Nathan Clark, Sarah Buckley (Bristol) | Manchester | Winter Gardens, Blackpool | |
| 2013[16] | Oxford | Oxford | - | Kyle Taylor, Polina Shklyaeva (Liverpool) | Kyle Taylor, Polina Shklyaeva (Liverpool) | Kent | Winter Gardens, Blackpool | |
| 2012[17] | Cambridge | Cambridge | - | Kyle Taylor, Polina Shklyaeva (Liverpool) | Kyle Taylor, Poline Shklyaeva (Liverpool) | Liverpool | Winter Gardens, Blackpool | |
| 2011[18] | Oxford | Oxford | - | Graham Dixon, Robyn Price (Nottingham) | Arman Sahovic, Maria Naumchenko (Imperial) | Birmingham | Winter Gardens, Blackpool | |
| 2010[19] | Oxford | Oxford | - | Arman Sahovic, Maria Naumchenko (Imperial) | Tudor Balan, Janet Gooi (Manchester) | Imperial | Winter Gardens, Blackpool | |
| 2009[20] | Cambridge | Cambridge | - | Arman Sahovic, Anne Marie Wirth (Imperial) | Peter Kecskemethy, Reka Balogh (Oxford) | Warwick | Winter Gardens, Blackpool | |
| 2008[21] | Cambridge | Cambridge | - | Ryan Lamb, Katie Armstrong (Durham) | Ivan Lubenko, Pippa Underwood (Oxford) | Winter Gardens, Blackpool | ||
| 2007 | Cambridge | Cambridge | - | Ryan Lamb, Katie Armstrong (Durham) | Lev Kravchencko, Toni Isaacs (Bristol)[22] | Imperial | Winter Gardens, Blackpool | |
| 2006 | Cambridge | Cambridge | - | Paul Fannon, Vesna Kadelburg (Cambridge) | Alexander Hobbs, Samantha Jayatilaka (Imperial) | Guildford Spectrum | ||
| 2005[23] | Bristol | Oxford | - | Nick Faull, Ju Min Wong (Oxford)[24] | Arun Arumugam, Lisa Pesik (Bristol) | Imperial | Winter Gardens, Blackpool | |
| 2004 | Oxford | Oxford | - | Paul Fannon, Vesna Kadelburg (Cambridge) | Nick Faull, Harriet Smith (Oxford) | Sheffield | Stoke-on-Trent | |
| 2003[25] | Oxford, Cambridge, Cardiff (3 way tie) | Oxford | - | Paul Fannon, Vesna Kadelburg (Cambridge) | Scott Bradley, Sarah Adams (Cambridge) | Bristol | Watford | |
| 2002[26] | Oxford | Oxford | - | Martin Bird, Shelley Bird (Reading) | Igor Strukov, Rebecca Emmott (Sheffield) | Sheffield | Stoke-on-Trent | |
| 2001[27] | Oxford | Oxford | - | Martin Bird, Shelley Bird (Reading)[28] | Ellis Williams, Indika Gunaratne (Imperial) | Cambridge | Stoke-on-Trent | |
| 2000 | Cambridge | Oxford | - | Martin Bird, Shelley Bird(Reading) | George Georghiou, Lucy Jones (Cambridge) | London | Guildford | |
| 1999 | Imperial | Imperial | - | S Richmond & J.Silmon-Clyde (Imperial) | Essex | Oxford (Oxford Brookes Sports Hall) | ||
| 1998 | London | London | - | A Walker & S.E Long (Liv/York) | Sheffield | Manchester (Winsford) | ||
| 1997 | Imperial | Imperial | - | A Walker & J Killup (Liv) | Imperial | London (Watford Colosseum) | ||
| 1996 | Imperial | Imperial | - | Mark Birchenough, Shannah Long (Liv/York) | Bath | UEA | ||
| 1995 | Oxford | - | Mark Birchenough, Shannah Long (Liv/York) | Imperial | Hull | |||
| 1994 | Imperial | - | Mark Birchenough, Shannah Long (Liv/York) | Nottingham | Liverpool | |||
| 1993 | Imperial | - | P Latter & H Schafer (Cambridge) | Imperial | Imperial | |||
| 1992 | Imperial | - | MC Bath & G Rydill (Liv) | Manchester | Nottingham | |||
| 1991 | Imperial | - | MC Robinson & CA Turner (B'ham) | Bath | Birmingham | |||
| 1990 | Oxford | - | MC Robinson & CA Turner (Aston) | Hull | ||||
| 1989 | Cambridge | - | S Thompson & M Webber (Bristol) | Southampton | ||||
| 1988 | Leeds | - | Liverpool | |||||
| 1987 | Cambridge | - | Bristol | |||||
| 1986 | Cambridge | - | Leicester | |||||
| 1985 | Imperial | - | Cambridge | |||||
| 1984 | Oxford | - | Warwick | |||||
| 1983 | Oxford | - | Lancaster | |||||
| 1982 | Oxford | - | Southampton | |||||
| 1981 | Lancaster | - | Oxford | |||||
| 1980 | Oxford | - | Cambridge | |||||
| 1979 | Cambridge | - | Lancaster | |||||
| 1978 | Liverpool | - | Liverpool | |||||
| 1977 | Liverpool | - | Imperial | |||||
| 1976 | Liverpool | - | Exeter | |||||
| 1975 | Liverpool | - | Newcastle | |||||
| 1974 | Liverpool | - | Manchester | Imperial - Lyceum Ballroom | ||||
| 1973 | Leeds | - | Manchester | |||||
| 1972 | Leeds | - | Liverpool | |||||
| 1971 | Leeds | - | Leeds - Leeds Refectory | |||||
| 1970 | Manchester | - | Bristol | |||||
| 1969 | Cambridge | - | ||||||
| 1968 | UCL | - | ||||||
| 1967 | Liverpool | - | ||||||
| 1966 | Liverpool | - | ||||||
| 1965 | Leicester | - | ||||||
| 1964 | Liverpool | - | ||||||
| 1963 | Manchester | - |