Dancing should be fun and enjoyable for everyone. If anyone makes you feel unsafe, uncomfortable, hurt, or embarrassed, please don’t hesitate to let them know immediately. Whether you feel someone is torquing your shoulder, stepping on your foot, too close for comfort, looking down your dress, resting their hands in the wrong place for you, or hanging on your arm, there are several ways to let them know.
The following suggestions are useful for everyone, regardless of gender role / gender presentation / dance role.
Non-Verbal Cues
- Move their hand to where you prefer it.
- Move your hand from around their back and push them away.
- If both their arms are around you (in a cuddlestyle hold), rather than one arm out to the side, reach back and take the appropriate hand and move it to the side, where you prefer it.
- If you don’t care to twirl, pull the arm back down when it is raised to lead the twirl.
- If someone is not supporting their own weight, give less weight yourself. Don’t let them fall, but don’t hold them up quite so firmly. This will force them to stand more upright (not lean back so hard). Also, swing slower. This
reduces the centrifugal force and places less force on your arm if you’re holding them up.
Verbal Cues
- “I need more space please.”
- “Could you back up a bit?”
- “I prefer a regular swing.”
- “It would help me if you could hold me like this…” (move their hand to where you prefer it)
- “Would you mind putting your hands here…”
- “Ow!”
Complaints & Concerns
If you ever feel uncomfortable or endangered by another participant, we encourage the following:
- Let that person know
- Use the suggested strategies on this page.
- Report a concern directly to a Board member or using our complaint form.
Reports about any of these matters can also be made in confidence to any member of the Board of Directors who, acting with other members of the Board, will make a timely investigation of the complaint and determine the appropriate course of action. Our policies and procedures for responding to concerns are transparent and can be viewed in the documents linked below:
We welcome your feedback regarding these policies and procedures. This is an evolving process and will continue to be fine-tuned as needed. Complete our feedback form to let us know how the process can be further improved.