Our Founders

 Shawn Tay 

·  20 Times International DanceSport Championships  ·  IDSF President's Award 2003   ·  SSC Coach Recognition Awards 2004, 2005 and 2006 ·  Spirit of Enterprise Award 2008 ·  National Coach, Singapore DanceSport Federation ·   IDSF Chairman of Adjudicators  ·  Advisory Director, Asian DanceSport Federation ·  Chief Choreographer and Dance Consultant for international movie ‘Dance of the Dragon’ ·  Adviser, Chinese Taipei's DanceSport Federation ·  Adviser, China's DanceSport Federation ·  Visiting Professor, Tonji University, Shanghai ·  Supervising Officer, 16th Asian Games in Guangzhou, China ·  WDSF General Secretary, elected 13th June 2010

 Shawn Tay started his competitive dancing career in 1982. In 1984, after winning several dance competitions, he travelled to England to pursue his dance training with his wife, Gladys Tay. He continued his training and competitive dancing career in various parts of the world, during which he won more than 20 prestigious titles before retiring from competitive dancing in 1994 to focus on coaching aspiring dancers.

In 1985, Shawn was invited by the former General Secretary of the International Dancesport Federation (IDSF), Rudi Hubert, to compete in Germany. Since then, he has established a lasting relationship with the IDSF, an international DanceSport organization that is a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). As he shares a similar vision with the IDSF, he decided to set up the Singapore IDSF chapter (Singapore DanceSport Federation) in 1986 and has been its adviser since.

Shawn’s active involvement in promoting IDSF’s membership and activities throughout Asia prompted the IDSF to appoint him as the advisory director of the Asian DanceSport Federation (ADSF) when it was established in 1996. He has since worked alongside its various presidents to promote ADSF membership and is instrumental in organizing IDSF annual competitions throughout Asia.

Shawn received the IDSF President’s Award in 2003 for his outstanding contributions in DanceSport.  Shawn became an IDSF’s presidium member in 2004 and was elected as the vice-president of the International Professional Dancesport Council (IPDSC) in June 2007. Shawn has also been elected as the General Secretary of the International DanceSport Federation (IDSF) on 13th June 2010.

Alongside international achievements, Shawn received the Singapore Sports Council’s Coach Recognition Award for three consecutive years from 2004-2006 as Singapore’s national coach for DanceSport, and in 2008, Shawn and his wife, Gladys, were honoured with Singapore’s Spirit of Enterprise Awards.

Today, Shawn and Gladys Tay run Shawn & Gladys DanceWorld, Singapore’s most established Ballroom dance school. Shawn is the first person to incorporate DanceSport into Singapore’s Ballroom dancing scene. He has also coached numerous dance champions and celebrities in Singapore and around the region, such as being the chief choreographer and dance consultant for the international movie, ‘Dance of the Dragon’.

 
Besides being the national coach and adviser to Singapore’s DanceSport Federation, Shawn is also the adviser to Chinese Taipei’s DanceSport Federation and China’s DanceSport Federation, and is the visiting professor in Tongji University, Shanghai.

 
In 2010, Shawn Tay was nominated by IDSF to be the Supervising Officer in organizing the inaugural DanceSport competition in the 16th Asian Games in Guangzhou, China. Later in 2010, Shawn Tay also organized and hosted the Grand Slam Finals in China.

 
Over the years, Shawn Tay has successfully organized numerous important Ballroom Dancing championships, such as the Grand Slam Latin Championships, World Youth Latin Championships, World Youth Ten-Dance Championships, and has organized 21 years of the Lion City International DanceSport Championships in Singapore. With this good track record of successfully organizing some of the most significant Ballroom Dancing championships in the world locally and internationally, Shawn Tay has clinched the right to organize the IDSF World Championship Latin in Singapore on 10th September 2011, of which has been the first time such a prestigious event is awarded to an Asian organizer.

 Gladys Tay

Born into a dancing family, Gladys fell in love with dancing at a very young age. She was mesmerized by the graceful and expressive dance moves of her parents, Steven and Vivien Kok, both very accomplished professional dancers.

Her father, Steven Kok, discovered her flair for dancing when she was just a child and when Gladys impressed him with her ability to follow the rhythm of the music when he was conducting dance classes. Soon, Gladys was helping him at his dance school, giving out counts to his students who were many years her senior. Gifted with this natural talent, Gladys started taking dance lessons from her parents and from then on, turned her talent into outstanding accomplishments in the competitive dance scene.

Today, Gladys is much sought after internationally as a dance adjudicator, coach and choreographer. She has adjudicated many IDSF DanceSport championships, such as the World Latin Championships, World Standard Championships, World Cup Championships, World Youth Championships, IDSF Grand Slam events and Grand Slam Finals.

Well-recognized by the local media, Gladys was one of the judges for the local television dance show- The Dance Floor, and was the dance consultant, instructor and choreographer of the international movie, ‘Dance of the Dragon’. 

                                                Chief Judge for Eurovision Dance 2008, Scotland

In 2007, Gladys was awarded the Coach Recognition Award by the Singapore Sports Council and in 2008, Gladys and her husband, Shawn, were honoured with Singapore’s Spirit of Enterprise Awards. Also in 2008, Gladys was appointed Head Judge of the 2008 Eurovision Dance Contest held in Glasglow, Scotland, UK, one of the largest dance contests in Europe that garnered an estimated 30 million viewers from 21 countries.

Gladys is currently the national coach for the Singapore DanceSport team and choreographs for numerous events and performances locally and internationally.

It all started when…

Shawn and Gladys were dancing together during their teenage days. Back then, Shawn was taking lessons with Gladys’ parents, Steven and Vivien Kok. Recognising his talent and potential, Steven and Vivien paired Gladys up with Shawn to prepare for competitions. That started their journey of competing in international championships and later, judging professionally, picking up the endearing nickname ‘Singapore’s Dancing Sweethearts’ along the way

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Shawn and Gladys experienced their first taste of success in a national dance competition, when the couple sashayed their way to the top in the Amateur Latin Category at the Singapore Open Ballroom Dance Championship in 1982. Following that victory, they went on to compete in various national and international dance championships for the next decade. For twelve consecutive years from 1982 to 1993, they have been invited to compete in various competitions across Austria, France, Germany, England, the USA, Hawaii, Australia, Holland, Yugoslavia, Belgium and throughout Asia, clinching prominent championship titles including the 1985 Doris Lavelle Challenge Trophy (England) and the 1990 Asia-Pacific Ballroom Dance Championships (Korea). By the time they retired from the competitive circle in 1994, they have garnered no less than 20 prestigious international championship titles from all over the world.

After building a name for themselves internationally, they went on to become adjudicators and consultants for numerous international dance competitions. As internationally acclaimed dancers, Shawn and Gladys have been invited to judge at IDSF World Championships such as the prestigious IDSF World Standard and Latin Championships, IDSF Grand Slam Finals, and the German Open Championships (GOC).

Over the years, Shawn and Gladys, together with their team of dancers, have performed frequently on MediaCorp programmes and other creative promotions. These include the launch of the Singapore Airlines (SIA) MegaTop, Merlion Week, and Count Down Singapore, and the National Day Celebrations in 1992, when Shawn and Gladys, together with the Social Development Unit (SDU), organized the first-ever mass Ballroom/Latin-American dance item for the National Day Parade Celebrations.

 
Shawn and Gladys have also been very involved in charity such as Heartstrings, the Community Chest fund raising event, the President Star Charity show, Sichuan Earthquake Charity show, and the Straits Times’ ChildAid Charity Concert.

 
Shawn and Gladys have not only achieved worldwide recognition for their dancing prowess, but have also changed the landscape of Ballroom dancing and DanceSport in Singapore ever since they founded Shawn & Gladys DanceWorld in 1986.

       Dance coaching and consulting for "Dance of the Dragon" movie