Dance Etiquette matters. These are our current policies for Celebrate Swing.
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Accepting and Rejecting a Dance
We believe anyone can dance with anyone, however we also believe you don’t HAVE to dance with everyone.
We have the right to say ‘no thanks’ to a dance and not need to provide any reason.
If we reject a dance with one person, we can accept a dance from another individual during that same song, without needing a reason.
Anything less than a yes – is a no. When we’ve been declined a dance, we’re polite and don’t push the issue. If we continually get rejected, we take a moment to assess what we could do differently. Grab a mint? Freshen up? Change a shirt? Always feel free to talk to a volunteer about different ways to prepare for dances!
Asking for contact info
We love community, we love building connections, it’s at the heart of everything we do.
When we’ve made a connection with someone and ask for their facebook / instagram / snapchat / phone we do because we’re genuinely want to stay in touch. If we’re rejected we don’t push the issue.
When we’re asked for our contact info, we have no obligation to provide it if we’re not comfortable doing so. We say ‘no thanks’.
Sexual Harassment
As a community we don’t tolerate Sexual Harassment. We create a safe environment where no one needs to worry about things like, unwanted touching or physical contact, sexual advances, unprompted compliments about their body, verbal harassment of a sexual nature including joking. This can happen before, during, or after the dance. If you observe something happening or experience something, bring it to the organizers attention. We will ask offenders to leave because we believe everyone deserves a safe place where they don’t need to be worried about being harassed.
Dancing is inherently intimate, the key is consent. If someone says no or pushes back, it means no.
Resources
Dance Etiquette
The Unspoken Rules of the Salsa Dance Floor
6 Simple Steps to Not Being an Awful Person on the Dance Floor
Dance Etiquette is Life Etiquette
How to Level Up Your Social Dance Experience
Kizomba DON’Ts: 7 Rules for Not Being Terrible (part 1)
Kizomba DON’Ts: 7 Rules for Not Being Terrible (part 2)
The difference between ‘Floor Teaching’, ‘Asks’ and ‘Co-operative Learning’
Hepcat Swing Dance Etiquette
Nonverbal Communication
The (Mostly) Complete Guide to Dance Body Language ‘Hints’
How Not to be Creepy
On Creepiness
Don’t Be a Creeper
The Feminist Guide to Non-Creepy Flighting
Boundary Setting on the Dance Floor
Boundary Setting 101
Being Kind vs Being Assertive
What to Do When You’re Uncomfortable
Defensive Dancing
Defensive Dancing in Salsa
Good Intentions…?
To Leave or Not to Leave: Ending a Dance Before the End of a Song
Handling Invitations and RejectionsWhat It Means When They Say No
Are You Obligated to Say Yes to Every Dance?
When Someone Says No to a Dance
How Not to Get Turned Down For a Dance
Top 10 Ways to Know They Do Want to Dance
How Many Times Should You Ask for a Dance?
Do I Need to Dance with Everybody?
Dear Beginner, This Is Why They Told You No
Asking Someone to Dance
We have the amazing opportunity at our dances to socialize and have a great time!! That being said, we encourage both ladies and gentleman to ask each other to dance. We see no issue in a lady pursuing a dance with a certain gentleman, and vice versa!
When asking someone to dance, we greet with a smile and our question verbally (not jedi mind trick), not demanding. We believe in introducing ourselves politely. If we ask and get turned down, we simply smile and say no problem and continue our way to dancing!
Personal Space
Dancing is inherently an intimate thing because you’re often within someone’s personal bubble. Peoples “bubbles” vary! We should always be aware that while one person may be ok with dancing closer, another may not.
If someone is dancing too close for comfort, politely asking them to step back.
We politely ask folks to step back if they are too close or in our personal space. When someone asks us to step back and give them more space, we’re polite and apologize if we made them feel uncomfortable. We never want someone to feel uncomfortable dancing with us.
If someone makes you uncomfortable, you have every right to end the dance mid song by saying you need to take a break, etc. You do not owe said person an explanation, but a good idea to go to the volunteers at the event and make it known you felt uncomfortable.
Fancy Dance Moves
We love to have fun with moves, that kinda the point of a dance. However we’re careful to not do moves that make either the follow or the lead uncomfortable, and we scale back to match our partners skills.
Aerial dance moves are fun & flashy! However we don’t to do them at our dance. We believe we can have plenty joy dancing while keeping both (ok 1 foot) on the ground at all times. When beginners see an aerial move, they can be tempted to try it themselves in an unsafe way, it’s very dangerous. We want everyone to be safe. If we see someone continuously doing aerials after we have asked them not to, they will be asked to leave. For the safety of themselves and others.