Empowering African Youth

The Liberia Ballroom Dance Sports (LBDS) Federation was brought into existence from the vibrant Liberia Ballroom Dance School and launched in March 2022! What a thrilling journey, as it was registered as a private non-profit with the Liberian Business Register in April 2022. The LBDS Federation is proud to have received its certificates of registration from Liberia's Ministry of Information, Cultural Affairs and Tourism and the Ministry of Youth and Sports. It is led by its passionate President, Nehemiah Kono, and dynamic Vice-President, Linda Pawoe Davis!

During 2022-2023, the LBDS Federation impressively recruited over 100 enthusiastic youth ages 8-14 from three public schools, one community group, and one local organization! We kicked off with weekly rehearsals, guided by dedicated instructors from each school and organization! Throughout each rehearsal, our LBDS instructors passionately taught the youth how to groove to Latin ballroom dance! From June 2022 to February 2023, our amazing student-teachers led these students through various ballroom dances! The program featured inter-school competitions in December 2022, leading to an astounding 36 youth (18 pairs) who qualified for the first-ever Junior Ballroom Dance Sport Competition held in Liberia! Our talented youth represented Weltona Christian High School, Paynesville Community School, Matadi Community School, the Duport Road Community, and Steam Hub Innovation!

On February 26, 2023, the inaugural Junior Ballroom competition lit up the Ministerial Complex in Monrovia! Eighteen pairs of passionate dancers took the stage to compete! Local businesspeople thrilled to engage as judges, and we were excited to see over 200 attendees cheering for our talented competitors! We held the second Junior Ballroom Dance Sport competition in December 14, 2024! The team ambitiously set its sights on international competition opportunities!

In November 2025, supporters made it possible to bring Marius Lepure, an international World Dance Sport Federation Judge and Coach, to Liberia to certify the kids and then send five of them to compete in the South African Achievers and National Championships in December 2025. Our kids did great winning first place in their dance categories. This is the first time ever that anyone young or old from Liberia has travelled to compete at this level in ballroom dance. We are so proud of them and thankful to you. Our next campaign will be to support growing this after-school dance and enrichment programming for kids in Liberia.