Nino Romano

Cuono Romano, known as Nino Romano (born 12 March 1987 in San Felice a Cancello, Province of Caserta, Italy), is an Italian sports executive, international competition organiser, international adjudicator, Latin American dance teacher and former professional dancer active in the field of competitive dance. He is a founder of the World Dance Organisation (WDO), the Italian Dance Federation (IDF), the Naples Open Dance Festival and the European Dance Organization (EDO). Over the course of his career, he has progressively moved from competitive dancing and event organisation towards international sports administration, institutional governance and the development of international dance structures. Early life and education Romano was born on 12 March 1987 in San Felice a Cancello, in the Province of Caserta, to Carmine Romano and Maddalena Nata. He grew up primarily in Casalnuovo di Napoli in a family with a Catholic tradition. He received part of his early education in religious institutions, attending primary school at Sacro Cuore di Gesù and continuing his education in religious environments under the guidance of the Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. During his childhood, Romano initially became involved in football. Between the ages of eight and thirteen, he played within sporting organisations in the Casalnuovo area and the Inter Club environment. After completing middle school, he attended a scientific high school, combining his scientific education with a particular aptitude for classical languages and the humanities. His subsequent university education extended across three different areas of study: Sports Sciences, Political Sciences and Law, ultimately completing his academic studies in Law at postgraduate level. His academic background in sport, political and institutional studies, and law would later accompany his development as an executive, particularly in organisational management, international relations and the regulatory and institutional aspects of the dance sector. Competitive career At the age of sixteen, Romano became involved in ballroom dancing, following an interest already present within his family. His parents and maternal grandparents were enthusiasts of social dancing, traditional ballroom dancing and music. He subsequently pursued a competitive career in dancesport, which continued until 2014. During his development as a dancer, he studied with teachers including Michael Stylianos and Gaynor Fairweather. Partnering his sister Valentina Romano, he achieved some of his principal results in the Amateur division. He later continued his competitive career with other partners before moving into the Professional division. At the age of twenty-two, he won an Italian title in the Professional division and reached a World Championship semi-final in the same category. While still relatively young, Romano progressively reduced his competitive activity in order to concentrate on competition organisation, international adjudication and, subsequently, national and international sports administration. Naples Open Dance Festival In 2012, at the age of twenty-four, Romano created the Naples Training Festival, conceived with the objective of establishing an international dance event in Naples. Over the following years, the project expanded and became the Naples Open Dance Festival, developing into a broader international event combining competitions, training camps and other activities connected with the international dance community. In 2025, during its fourteenth edition, the festival recorded representatives from 56 countries and more than 4,000 registrations over the course of the festival week. The development of the Naples Open accompanied Romano’s gradual transition from competitor and event organiser to an international figure working with professionals, adjudicators, federations and organisers from different areas of the dance world. Italian Dance Federation and early international appointments Following his gradual retirement from competitive dancing, Romano increasingly focused his activities on organisation and sports administration. At the age of twenty-six, together with Mirko Saccani, he founded the Italian Dance Federation (IDF), with the objective of developing an Italian circuit of competitions and events with a strong international component. During the same period, he was appointed to the adjudicating panel of a World Dance Council (WDC) World Championship in Paris. Romano was twenty-six at the time, a notably young age for an international appointment at that level. By 2014, he had also begun establishing collaborative relationships with dance organisations in Portugal, Croatia and Georgia. These relationships progressively contributed to the development of a project known as the European Tour, established within the European Dance Organization and initially connected with German dance figure Rudi Trautz, then Vice-President of the WDC. His relationship with Trautz represented one of the experiences that brought Romano closer to the political and institutional dimension of international dance and to representative and chairman roles. Activity within the World Dance Council In January 2017, Romano took part in the Italian elections for representation within the World Dance Council, standing against Caterina Arzenton and being elected. During the same year, he promoted a memorandum of understanding involving several Italian organisations active within the dance sector. Between 2017 and 2018, the network developed around the Italian Dance Federation and its associated organisations progressively expanded its presence within the Italian professional dance environment outside the officially recognised national sports federation, particularly within the British-tradition competitive sector. At the same time, the international development of the European Dance Organization continued. The European project, initially involving a limited number of countries, was presented to the WDC world council in 2017 with representation from 21 nations. The structure initially received the support of WDC President Donnie Burns. Subsequently, differences emerged between the European project and the world leadership, particularly concerning the degree of organisational autonomy to be granted to the continental structure. This period represented an important transition in Romano’s career: his activity, previously centred primarily on organisation, increasingly assumed an institutional dimension involving national representation, international relationships and the development of new political and organisational structures within dance. Presidency of the European Dance Organization During the following months, the EDO continued its development towards greater autonomy. In February 2018, Romano was elected President of the European Dance Organization. During this period, the organisation expanded its relationships with federations, organisers and prominent figures from different international dance circuits, including organisations and individuals critical of the structures then existing within the WDC and WDSF. In May 2018, Romano’s departure from the World Dance Council was formalised. During the same period, Arunas Bizokas, ten-time Professional Ballroom World Champion, also left the WDC. A few weeks later, Isao Nakagawa, WDC Vice-President and President of Asia Dance Organisers, resigned from the World Dance Council. Nakagawa subsequently invited Romano to Asia to discuss the development of a new international platform for dance. During this period, Romano and Bizokas began a close collaboration, initially based on shared organisational and institutional objectives and subsequently consolidated on a personal level. The convergence of figures and organisations from Europe, Asia and North America progressively created the conditions for a new international structure within the dance world. Foundation of the World Dance Organisation Between November 2018 and May 2019, the project that would lead to the establishment of the World Dance Organisation (WDO) began to take shape, initially under the name World Dance Organisers. The preparatory phase took place during a period of significant debate and division within the international dance community, involving supporters of the new initiative and representatives of established organisations. Romano played a central role in maintaining and developing relationships with European organisations previously brought together through the EDO and still connected with the WDC. A significant number of these organisations subsequently decided to participate in the new international project. At the same time, Isao Nakagawa contributed to establishing relationships with numerous Asian organisations, while Arunas Bizokas played a significant role in developing the North American network. The convergence of the European, Asian and North American networks progressively created the conditions for the establishment of the new world organisation. The process culminated in May 2019 with the first WDO Inaugural Meeting, held at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool. The organisation’s first leadership group brought together internationally recognised figures from the dance world who contributed to the initial development of the new structure. Within this process, the Romano–Bizokas–Nakagawa axis played an important role during the founding phase by connecting their respective geographical and institutional networks. Romano joined the WDO Board of Directors at the age of 31, participating from the organisation’s earliest stages in its institutional and international development. The relatively young age at which he entered the leadership of a world-level organisation subsequently became one of the distinguishing features of his political and institutional trajectory within international dance. Development of the World Dance Organisation In the years following its establishment, the World Dance Organisation developed its own international calendar, including World Championships, European Championships and other international competitions organised across different countries. Romano concentrated a significant part of his activity on the development of the European network, relationships with organisers, and the allocation and delivery of international competitions. Over the years, he has been involved in the organisation of more than one hundred WDO World and European titles. The collaboration between Romano and Bizokas, which began during the period preceding the organisation’s foundation, continued throughout the following years and became one of the elements of continuity within the international structure. At the same time, Romano maintained and expanded an independent institutional network through the European Dance Organization, the Italian Dance Federation and the numerous international events connected with his activities. The combination of organisational and institutional roles, together with relationships developed across Europe, Asia and North America, progressively transformed his profile within international dance. His activities extended beyond competition management to include relationships between organisations, international calendars, the development of new projects and the creation of collaborative platforms involving different countries. Solo World Championship Alongside his institutional activities, Romano developed new competitive formats. In 2015, several years before the official establishment of the WDO, he launched a project dedicated to individual dance competitions, which subsequently developed into the Solo World Championship format. The project was based on the concept of creating an international competition in which individual athletes could participate independently of having a dance partner. In subsequent years, Solo competitions became increasingly widespread within the international dance sector and developed into a regular component of numerous events. Romano also retains ownership of the Solo World Championship trademark, whose events bring together representatives from more than 50 countries. The project also represents an example of the organisational strategy developed by Romano: the creation of independent formats capable of subsequently becoming part of a wider international network. Other international activities In subsequent years, Romano further expanded his activities through collaborations with international organisers and professionals. In 2022, British professional dancer and organiser Paul Killick developed a competition at the Blackpool Tower. Romano was among the project’s early supporters, contributing in particular to the development of the international network and participation connected with the event. During the same period, he intensified his activities in Asia and became a co-founder of the Asian Dance Festival, an international event held annually in August and developed across five countries as part of a twelve-day tour. Through activities connected with the Italian Dance Federation, European Dance Organization, Naples Open Dance Festival, World Dance Organisation, Solo World Championship, Asian Dance Festival and IDF national championships, Romano progressively concentrated his career on sports administration, the organisation of major competitions and the development of international dance circuits. Institutional profile Romano’s career reflects a progressive transformation from his origins as a competitive dancer. Following his experience as a professional competitor, his activities initially developed through competition organisation and subsequently through national representation, the establishment of continental organisations and, ultimately, international governance. His presidency of the European Dance Organization, his participation in the foundation of the World Dance Organisation and the continuity of his relationships with European, Asian and North American organisations contributed to the development of his institutional profile. His ability to operate simultaneously through national, continental and world-level organisations became one of the distinctive elements of his activity. This institutional dimension has been accompanied by the development of independent international events and competitive formats, through which Romano maintains direct relationships with organisers, adjudicators, teachers and federations across numerous countries. Before the age of forty, the career that began in competitive dancing had therefore evolved into one centred predominantly on sports politics and international institutional affairs. His continued involvement in decision-making processes, participation in the establishment of new international structures and the network of relationships developed across different continents place his career within the generation of international dance administrators that emerged during the restructuring of the international dance landscape beginning in the late 2010s. The most recent phase of Romano’s career has consequently become progressively less centred solely on event organisation and increasingly focused on governance, international alliance-building and the development of institutional structures within world dance, leaving the future evolution of his role within the sector’s international organisations open.