As the Ecstatic Dance Corvallis door greeter and venue manager, I want to share how we proactively hold a safer space together. Holding this container for so many years has shown us that this is complex work! With so many different personalities and nervous systems to support, we do our best, but we recognize we don't always get it right for everyone. At the heart of our space is the core value that everyone has the right to be free of unwelcome attention. This covers everything from a simple interruption of your dance to a serious boundary violation. When you notice yourself feeling activated, we invite you to pause for a check-in to determine what you need. We want you to feel empowered to speak up whenever you could use support in upholding your boundaries.
If you feel "unsafe", we want you to come right away to one of us on the leadership team: Kara, PJ, Vern, or Jeanette. When we engage with someone causing this impact, it involves immediate action on behaviors such as: threats, invasive staring, non-consensual contact, or any significant boundary violation. When a safety risk arises, we don't hesitate to tell people to leave, require a hiatus for personal development work, or issue a ban. These aren't punishments, but necessary steps we take to uphold the safety and integrity of our collective space. Throughout our history, we have consistently taken these steps whenever necessary to protect our dancers and support the healthy evolution of our community. If you feel "uncomfortable", we encourage you to start with self-care, while knowing we are always here to support you. This often involves navigating behaviors from others like: clumsy social cues, awkward glances, or uninvited attempts to dance or connect. In these moments, you might try using "no" gestures, moving to a different spot in the room, or returning to your own breath and center; we also see these as chances for us to learn and teach together. If self-care isn't enough, or if you just want an ally, checking in with us is always supported. When you ask us for help with something that feels uncomfortable rather than a clear safety threat, our approach with the person causing the impact is rooted in nuance. Because we value our neurodivergent participants and the many social expressions that make our space rich, we work to be aware of our own biases and don't assume clumsy behavior is a safety threat. Instead, we use direct requests, boundary clarifications, and coaching based on particular behaviors so people understand they are responsible for their impact and for learning how to align with our values. Focusing on someone's particular behaviors, rather than just a "creepy vibe," helps us stay fair and aware of our own biases while we work to uphold the integrity of the dance. We are always working on these processes and we welcome your feedback as a vital part of our continuing evolution. We are committed to learning and striving to do better, with the goal of holding a space as safe as possible while allowing for the freedom and diversity that makes this dance so transformative. We look forward to seeing you on the dance floor! |
There are hundreds of Ecstatic Dances around the world, and each one has its own way of holding this sacred movement container. We at Ecstatic Dance Corvallis are holding it as a practice of movement meditation, to drop out of the thinking-judging mind and into the feeling body. It’s not a mini-festival, a tribal hoedown, nor a party.
Most of our community members prefer to dance solo, while there are others who enjoy contact dancing in pairs or even small groups. So, while our meditation practice has interpersonal aspects, we do not consider it to be "social dance" (where making physical contact with others is fundamental to the form). It’s certainly not about looking for people to date or "getting some" physical affection—if that’s your intention, then your energy will feel unsafe to others and is not welcome here. At Ecstatic Dance Corvallis, we place a very high value on consent and safety. We ask everyone to practice attunement—remaining sensitive to the subtle cues of others' personal boundaries and the wide range of comfort levels regarding being approached or touched. We have a community agreement to only give attention or contact to those who enthusiastically welcome it. Many who come to dance are working through trauma, and only want attention from people they’ve learned to feel very safe around. Therefore, following someone on the dancefloor who has not shown any interest in engaging with you—or even just staring at them—constitutes unwanted attention. It feels predatory, no matter how innocent the intention. The responsibility for keeping things comfortable and safe is on the person offering/requesting/giving attention, not the person receiving the request or attention. If in doubt, keep your attention and energy contained to yourself. You may see people dancing in intimate contact dances, and you may want to explore that here too. Please understand that those relationships are built on trust that has developed over the course of months or even years. If you are new to our community, it is best to focus on your solo movement practice for the first month or two, thereby giving people a chance to get comfortable around you. When you do start approaching people for contact dance, do it very conscientiously and gently—paying careful attention to body language and practicing the attunement required to see if they are truly "with you." If someone dances away from you once or twice, it means they are not interested, and you should not give them attention for the rest of that dance. It’s also important to know that consent for one type of contact does not imply consent for another. For example, someone may share a fun, dynamic contact dance with you, but that does not mean they are comfortable with you embracing them, lifting them, or grabbing them in any way. It’s best to whisper a request before taking any contact to a new level of connection. And if you feel their body freeze up at any point, it means they likely feel threatened, and it’s best to move on from that dance. |
|
|
dance is movement medicine! PRIVACY POLICY |
