Powerhouse Blues strives to create a space that is safe, welcoming, and inclusive for everyone, regardless of age, race, gender, sexuality, ability, experience, background, or other identifying features. By attending our event, you are agreeing to help make that happen. Here’s how:

 

• Celebrate the diversity of skills and styles in this community! Consider asking new dancers, experienced dancers, and dancers you don’t know to dance.

• When you ask someone to dance, let them know if you want to Lead, Follow, or Switch, or ask their preference.

• It’s OK to say “No” to a dance, or any activity, without offering an explanation.

• It’s OK if someone says “No” to you. Celebrate people taking care of themselves.

• Offer feedback ONLY if you’ve been explicitly asked to do so by your partner, or you are feeling uncomfortable/unsafe in the dance.

• PhB is an environment for the celebration, practice, and development of American vernacular dances and music. Understand that other styles of dance come with a different set of partnering agreements and aesthetics that may not be appropriate for PhB events.

• Understand that certain activities require consent. Make sure you have consent before dancing with someone, changing your embrace, sharing weight (dips,etc), cuddling, photographing them, or initiating explicit conversations.

• Any explicit disrespect or disregard of enthusiastic consent will not be tolerated at PhB and associated events.

• Do not perform aerials on the social dance floor.

• PhB hosts drug-free events. Please don’t bring those items into the space. Each venue has a different policy on alcohol- please respect those policies. Anyone who is visibly intoxicated will be asked to leave the space regardless of venue policy.

• Do not bring firearms or other weapons into this space.

• Keep an eye out for each other- let an organizer or volunteer know if you see any behavior going down at PhB that doesn't seem awesome.

• PhB does not tolerate any form of harassment**. Inappropriate behavior or harassment that occurs between members of our community outside of our dance events may also be cause for suspension or expulsion from PhB events. With that, it is important to understand differences between harassment and personal issues, and that we cannot get involved in interpersonal feuds.

 

Sometimes, even when we’re trying to be awesome, we wind up doing something that makes someone else feel unsafe or uncomfortable. If you are asked to stop any behaviors, either by an organizer or fellow attendee, you are expected to listen respectfully and comply immediately. If you have ideas about ways we could make our community safer and more inclusive, we want to hear about it!

 

When possible, PhB Safe Space representatives will attempt to work with anyone who violates this code to correct the behavior *before* any punitive steps are taken. Extreme or repeated violations of this code, or refusal to cooperate with Safe Space volunteers, may be met with consequences up to and including expulsion from the event without a refund and suspension from future PhB events.

 

PhB encourages you to take initiative in respecting, setting, discussing, and defending boundaries. If you feel uncomfortable or unsafe confronting a situation, please talk to an organizer or volunteer. We take all complaints seriously and are committed to resolving issues to the greatest extent possible. Anyone who reports a safe space violation has the right to request that their information be kept entirely anonymous, and no further action will be taken without the reporter’s consent, unless further reports of the same infraction are received. Anonymous feedback boxes are available at all events if you wish to submit a completely anonymous report.

**Harassment includes offensive verbal comments (related to gender, age, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, OR religion), sexual images in public spaces, deliberate intimidation, stalking, following, harassing photography or recording, sustained disruption of workshops or other events, inappropriate physical contact, and unwelcome sexual attention.