Nordic Open Dance Competition

eadership and music. Nordic Open features both competition and social dancing with the goal of promoting the quality, diversity and community of the same sex and mixed/non-binary dance communities and serve as a meeting place for competitors and ballroom dance aficionados. Nordic Open places Copenhagen in the first row regarding sport, culture, diversity and acceptance. It is the only (bi)annual competition to feature same sex ballroom dancing and is with its combination of sports and a cultural programme. Nordic Open manages to draw more than 500 Danish and foreign guests. Any economic gain is ear-marked for future Nordic Open dance events. PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Nordic Open communicates to
1) International same sex-dance communities
2) Dance communities in Copenhagen and the region of Øresund
3) LGBTQIA+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, non-binary) communities in Denmark and
4) Citizens of and the region of Øresund. We cooperate with partners, who can help us to live up to the highest standards, which will meet the high expectations of our participants – and ourselves as organisers. Among these are DGI-Storkøbenhavn, Valby Lokaludvalg, Danish Sports Dancing Association (DS), City of Copenhagen, and PanIdræt. SOCIAL AND CULTURAL PROGRAMME AND OUTREACH

Through its strong social profile Nordic Open wishes to create and support a cross-cultural, sportive community. Friday’s opening reception is a warm and relaxed event for our competitors and visitors and includes social dancing. Social dancing features prominently during and after the competitions and shows the unique community, which exist across national, cultural and sexual categories. Nordic Open has a clear local profile, which is felt in the cultural programme with opening the door of Copenhagen and surroundings with its guided city walks, excursions and museum visits. A part of the cultural exchange Nordic Open has established an Outreach-programme, which accords economic support for competitors as well as a hosted housing programme. Among other things, the outreach-programme caters to competitors form countries, without progressive LGBTQIA+ policy. THE HISTORY OF NORDIC OPEN

At the Eurogames 2003, PanDans hosted the the first dancing competition for same sex couples in the Nordic countries. The tournament was a great success and left us craving for more. In order to continually feature same sex dancing Nordic Open was started as an annual or biannual dance event by Niels Hartvigson og Mette Bugge for Pandans. Nordic Open has taken place in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2010, 2011, 2013,2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019 and 2022. At the World Outgames 2009, the Nordic Open group and Pandans were responsible for the hitherto largest 5 day same sex dance event and in 2021 we hosted the Eurogames. Since 2010 Nordic Open includes mixed and non-binary sex competitions, creating a unique and inclusive competitive and social dance community across sexual and identity barriers. PRESS AND AWARDS

Since the first tournament, Nordic Open has received a lot of attention from the press, resulting in - among other things - both live coverage and human interest stories in national Danish TV, articles and commentary in both newspapers and magazines. With the advent of the internet journalistic coverage has been joined by active users, who cover the Nordic Open on social media. In 2007 the Nordic Open initiators, Niels Henrik Hartvigson and Mette Bugge were nominated for HOMO of the year by Danish Association of gays and lesbians “for the work with and the proliferation of same sex dancing in Denmark”. In 2010 PanDans was nominated for the sports price by Copenhagen Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce for “creating a n extremely active LGBTQIA+ dance community in Copenhagen with notable activities such as the Nordic Open dance event”. In 2012 they received honorary membership of PanIdræt for making the Nordic Open a reality. PANDANS

The Dance Association PanDans has offered ballroom dance classes to same and mixed/nonbinary dance couples since 1998. As the only ballroom dance institution in Denmark PanDans insists that lead and follower roles do not necessarily follow the dancers' biological sex, but that these roles are determined by the temper, abilities and taste of the individual dancer. This applies for mixed/non-binary and same sex couples alike. Also, role change is encouraged, which has come to symbolize the uniqueness, originality and deeply personal expressivity of our style of ballroom dancing. Year round, PanDans hosts social dances and presentations such as Dans på Bryggen (Dancing on the Docks, Pride Ballroom) and actively participates in cultural events in Copenhagen (Culture Night, Culture Harbour). Nordic Open is the event with the highest profile and is run on a voluntary basis by a project group Niels Henrik Hartvigson, Sören Dobberschütz and Janina Dobberschütz for PanDans. PanDans is subdivision of Pan Idræt (Pan Sports), which focuses on creating an inclusive and safe environment for sporting ambitions and strong social relations. The association work for LGBTQ+ persons possibilities within sports and promote prevention of both discrimination and of development of discriminatory norms. PURPOSE OF NORDIC OPEN

- Offering a bi-/annual international ballroom competition for same sex and mixed/non-binary couples.
- Visualisation of quality, diversity and talent of same and mixed/non-binary dancing for a large audience.
- Creating an inclusive dance environment for same and mixed/non-binary communities.
- Hosting a social and cultural programme in connection with the dance tournament, including social dancing to establish a festive space for community and sociability across national, cultural, and sexual boundaries. VALUES OF NORDIC OPEN

Nordic Open has developed in a cross-section between international competitive dancing, the LGBTQIA+ community and Danish association culture. Its values are sportiveness, quality, inclusion, diversity, internationality, voluntariness, popular culture and happiness. Sportiveness: Nordic Open celebrates both top results and personal best. Nordic Open is a sport competition, which values fairness and transparency in the running and judging of the competition. Quality: We aim to offer the highest quality possible to our contestants and guests from communication to physical space to music. This is partly achieved through collaboration with a number of partners. Important among these are DGI-Storkøbenhavn, Valby Lokaludvalg, Danish Sports Dancing Association (DS), City of Copenhagen and PanIdræt. Inclusion: Same sex-dancing has its historical background in LGBTQIA+ communities i Europa and USA, and Nordic Open retains a strong association with the LGBTQIA+ associations and cultural life in Denmark. However, for us, our focus on inclusion also means reaching out and inviting competitors and guests who do not belong to the LGBTQIA+-community in the traditional sense. Diversity: During the Nordic Open, contestants from old to young and from high level competitive dancers to absolute beginners give the audience a unique opportunity to witness dancing across levels of refinement and age categories, who express themselves through the medium of ballroom dancing. Internationality: Nordic Open is with its contestants from up to 19 countries by far the most international of all European annual or biannual competitions. This is achieved through maintenance of a vast international network, by prioritising a majority of international adjudicators, and featuring and celebrating international guests. Voluntariness: Nordic Open is based on voluntariness which primarily (but not exclusively) comes for members of PanDans. It is the object that the volunteers will experience a feeling of ownership, responsibility and pride in making Nordic Open possible. Popular Culture: Nordic Open represents a unique expression of popular cultures, where organisers, competitors and guests meet in a popular forum across boundaries of language, gender, age, sexuality, social and cultural backgrounds. Happiness: Nordic Open strives to create happy and joyful experiences – from watching beautiful costumes and competitors sweeping dance movements to social dances experimenting with their own brand and interpretation of couples dancing.