The World DanceSport Federation -WDSF- has taken a new step towards the digital future of Olympic sport through a strategic partnership with Sidewalk Entertainment Inc., a Korean startup specialising in real-time, on-device motion-recognition artificial intelligence -AI-. The agreement, ratified during the Annual General Meeting and the WDSF Global Forum 2026 in Rome, designates STEPIN as the federation’s official Dance Esports platform.
The collaboration places DanceSport in a clearer position within the ecosystem of the Olympic Esports Games, with a proposal that combines physical movement, mobile technology, regulated competition and federation authority. The WDSF brings its recognition by the International Olympic Committee -IOC- and its role as the global governing body for DanceSport together with Sidewalk’s computer vision technology to develop a physical esports discipline based on real movement, precision, timing and expressiveness.
All it takes is a mobile phone
The STEPIN platform can measure, evaluate and score technical precision, timing and expressiveness through a smartphone camera. That is a key point in reducing economic and geographical barriers: no sensors, special controllers or expensive hardware are required. A mobile phone can become the first point of access to a discipline that, in its traditional format, often depends on studios, coaches, travel and established competition circuits.
Kibong Kook, CEO of Sidewalk Entertainment Inc., explained the vision behind the partnership from that idea of access. “At its heart, this partnership is not simply about moving DanceSport into the digital space. It is about delivering the essential value of DanceSport to far more people, with a far lower barrier to entry. Our vision is to make STEPIN the global digital gateway to DanceSport. A teenager who begins dancing with STEPIN in their own room could move on to national competitions, then to the world stage governed by the WDSF and ultimately to the Olympic Esports arena,” he said.
A global structure for virtual athletes
The WDSF and Sidewalk are developing an international tournament structure within STEPIN, with global online qualification events and a progression towards national, continental and world championships. The agreement aims for the platform to work as a recognisable competitive system, with rules, rankings and links to national federations, rather than only as an individual training tool.
The STEPIN Tournament Toolkit will allow automated, low-cost local competitions to be organised, including free events in smaller formats. For larger tournaments, the platform offers a lighter digital alternative that reduces logistical and operational costs. “We bear the technical and operational burden so that national member bodies can focus on their essential roles: governance and athlete development,” Kook said, also highlighting the platform’s potential to identify new talent through data and connect them to national team pathways.
Sporting integrity and protection of tradition
The competitive side will come with a hybrid judging system. High-volume online phases can be managed through objective, tamper-resistant AI-generated logs, while elite finals will combine automated data with evaluation by WDSF-appointed judges. Kook stressed that sporting authority will remain within the federation structure: “Technology is ultimately a tool; we make it clear that the final authority over sporting integrity is held by the governing body, the WDSF. This is precisely why STEPIN can function not merely as a game, but as an official sports platform.”
The agreement also includes a commercial and artistic approach for the grassroots level of the sport. Sidewalk will absorb platform and server costs so that local organising committees can launch tournaments without financial risk, while the revenue-sharing model will recognise choreographers and dancers when their routines are used in global challenges, training and competitions. “AI can measure movement, but the emotion and expression a dancer creates on stage, that unique soul, is not an object of measurement but an object of respect. What STEPIN does is help more people discover, begin and fall in love with that artistry and athleticism. Tradition and innovation are not in competition,” Kook said.
Rome 2026, an AGM to shape DanceSport’s future
The partnership came during a weekend of institutional activity in Rome. The Annual General Meeting 2026 was held in the Great Hall of the Caesars at the Hilton Rome Airport and brought together delegates from 55 member countries. Shawn Tay, president of the WDSF, highlighted DanceSport’s growing visibility on social media, the success of the WDSF DanceSport Festival in Blackpool, its participation at The World Games 2025 in Chengdu and the important year ahead for Breaking, with the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya and the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games.
The assembly approved changes covering electronic administrative notices, passport-based nationality criteria, new pathways for retired Professional DanceSport athletes to obtain a WDSF “B” adjudicator licence and adjustments to the internal dispute resolution system. Anastasia Glazunova, chair of the WDSF Athletes’ Commission, summed up the meaning of the decisions through a quote from Kirsty Coventry, IOC president: “The decisions we make today will shape the opportunities available tomorrow.” Tay closed the partnership with a look towards the digital future of sport: “WDSF and STEPIN have a bright future together, following the footsteps of the Olympic movement and the new generations who are the future of DanceSport.”
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