United Country Western Dance Council

The UCWDC was founded in 1989 to provide structure and governance for the country western dance community.

Country western dance experienced a massive surge in popularity following the 1980 film Urban Cowboy, creating demand for organized competition.

UCWDC established standardized divisions, judging criteria, and a point system for country western dancers.

Its championship network spans several continents: alongside the World Championships it lists European Open and Asian Open Championships, and it describes itself as a community "with events on 3 continents".

UCWDC recognizes multiple dance styles including Two-Step, Triple Two-Step, West Coast Swing, Waltz, Polka, Cha Cha, East Coast Swing, and Line Dance.

UCWDC is governed by a board of directors drawn from the country western dance community.

Sanctioned events must follow UCWDC rules for judging, music, and division placement.

The organization maintains a point-based ranking system across all sanctioned events.

Judges are trained and certified through UCWDC programs.

Divisions by experience: Newcomer, Novice, Intermediate, Advanced, Masters, Champions.

Partner dances: Two-Step, Triple Two, Waltz, Polka, Cha Cha, West Coast Swing, East Coast Swing, Night Club Two-Step.

Line Dance: Solo choreographed and improvised divisions.

Jack & Jill: Random-partner format. This is UCWDC's own format; it is not the same thing as the World Swing Dance Council points registry and should not be read as equivalent to it.

The World Championships are the culminating event. They move between host cities rather than sitting in one permanent venue — the 2026-27 edition is listed for Dallas, Texas.

Events across the circuit contribute to rankings; the circuit is international rather than United States only.