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Paralympic dancers Danielle Stitfall, partnered by Darryl Davenport and Amanda Smith, partnered by Peter Hegarty recently competed at the Tokyo 2023 Para Dance Sport International Competition on 5 to 6 August 2023.

The dancers came away with great success with Danielle and Darryl bringing home a gold medal in in the 3 Dance Combination division and Amanda and Peter finishing fifth in a highly-competitive spectacle.

After debuting in the sport in 2018 at the Australian Championship in Melbourne, Danielle trains 3 times per week, competes around once per month and enjoys the collaborative and creative environment.

Amanda started participating in the sport after finding out about it on social media and quickly became captivated, enjoying the challenge it brings and confidence it has given her.

Para-DanceSport began in Australia around 5 years ago, with WA leading the way through the administration of DanceSport WA and Para and Ability Dance WA.

The sport incorporates competitions for athletes who either use a wheelchair, are blind or vision impaired, or have an intellectual disability.

Competitions cover 3 styles — Latin, standard ballroom and new vogue. Internationally, Latin and standard ballroom are contested.

The department has supported the development of the Para-Dance program through a Coaching and Officiating grant, which has helped develop the DanceSport coaches who train the Para Dancers.