From The Heart
Alina Basiuk and Timo Kulcak met with the editors of World DanceSport Magazine (WDSM) for an extensive interview on their plans for the IDSF Athletes’ Commission to be an integral part of the policy-making in DanceSport. Alina’s partner, Marat Gimaev, sat in on the 30-minute Q&A session.
“Athletes want to be involved. DanceSport is something we do for a lifetime. We love it; we spend all our time and money on it. Our hearts are in it. And we all want to contribute to its development! … Time is a scarce, but these athletes took their time to write to us, to contribute their share. We asked them for their opinions, we received valuable input!”
The full text of the interview is published in Issue # 4 (06/2010) of WDSM.
WDSM: You were elected by your peers to represent the athletes’ views on DanceSport and its governance. What was your first reaction to your election? What was the first thing that came to mind?
Alina:
(As she laughs heartily …) Why me? Seriously! I think that neither I nor my fellow athletes were sufficiently aware that there would be a formal election at the IDSF World Championship in Denmark. Then I didn’t know how I ended up on the ballot. When my friends asked whether they should cast their vote for me, I told them they better not. I considered it too much of a responsibility. But at the end of the day it turned out to be me, and now I have to figure out how best to work for them.
WDSM: We read about Timo’s reaction in his hometown newspaper. In an interview with the Pforzheim News he also referred to the huge responsibility he was about to assume.
Timo:
Actually, I didn’t get interviewed by any papers. It was the press officer of the German Federation, Heidi Estler, who asked a few questions and circulated a press release on my election. It must have gotten picked up in Pforzheim.
As I told Heidi then, I consider it a great honour to serve in this capacity. Alina and I will try to do our very best, helping the dancers to shape the future of our sport through their views and ideas.
WDSM: You represent a sizeable and – even more importantly – diverse group of people. The Latin and Standard communities are most likely as different from one another as one could easily assume they are. How will you be able to muster empathy for the respective “other” camp? By starting a second career in Standard – or in Latin?
Timo:
That will not be necessary! The commission’s composition was not established by accident. It called for the election of one representative from Latin and another from Standard. There is no need for either of us to cross over, even though that could be interesting too. Something else is far more challenging: we are both in close contact with the top couples in Adult, but we must represent Youth, Junior and Senior couples too. The task at hands is to involve them to the same extent as the Adults. I don’t think as much in terms of the different styles – they are similar, after all (something which Alina confirms with great emphasis) – but of the age grades, that is where we have work cut out for us.
WDSM: You already have an agenda for your commission work. What are the priorities at this point?
Alina:
It is the designation of structures which will allow us to do our work effectively. We need procedures in place to reach out to the athletes, to receive their input, and to poll them before we can act on their behalf. I would say that the top priority is the general organisation of our work. Then it is the drafting of a code of conduct for athletes. It is not only an assignment for all International Federations within the Olympic Movement to adopt one in the foreseeable future, it is our own conviction that certain rules and parameters need to be defined for athletes to interact with their peers and others in DanceSport.
Another priority is to establish a worldwide network of athletes’ representatives together with the national federations.
And not to be forgotten, obviously, are our efforts in communicating directly with athletes at all levels, keeping them informed about our activities and abreast of all developments. That is crucial to the success of the commission. We ask the athletes to submit their opinions for us to discuss them – on their behalf – with the Presidium. The least we can do is to immediately report back on the outcome of the discussions. Good communications, interactivity between us and our fellow athletes, will ensure that everyone’s voice is heard in the end.
Timo:
That is crucial! What we never had in the past – and what we are in the process of establishing through the Athletes’ Commission – is direct dialogue between the IDSF Presidium and active dancers. Decisions are being taken by the Presidium. These decisions filter down to the dancers, eventually, but hardly ever with additional commentaries or background on why something was decided one way or another. Very often, elaborating on the rationale for a decision is as important as making it public. The athletes need to have an understanding of the train of thoughts which leads to a decision to be taken by the officials. Our task is to keep our fellow athletes informed about the deliberations, not just about the outcome. That will help to make the entire decision-making process more transparent, more democratic.
Alina:
Speaking from experience, I had my share of difficulties in accepting some of the decisions which were taken and simply handed down to me. But once I found out about the reasoning behind them, I was able to digest and finally accept them. Handling format and flow of information this way improves mutual understanding. It builds on the respect we have for each other.
