Swing dancing can involve one-on-one interactions with a lot of different people. Triangle Swing Dance Society (TSDS) Board of Directors and Safety Committee members serve to promote physical and emotional safety for attendees at all TSDS events. TSDS empowers all community members to monitor your own experience, and to communicate and hold boundaries that feel consistent with your personal comfort. It is not possible for Board members and Safety Committee members to observe all interactions and experiences that occur between community members, therefore we also encourage the reporting of any physical or emotional safety concerns to a Board or Safety Committee member so that we may identify and resolve problematic incidents and patterns of behavior.

In order to make our events a success, we have the following expectations for attendees

• Follow the directions of our organizers and volunteers, and observe civil standards of etiquette.

• Every person has the right to turn down a request to dance, or end a dance in the middle of a song without explanation. Do not insist that a partner engage or continue to engage in a dance experience or conversation with you.

• Dancers in the follower role have ultimate discretion about where and how their bodies move (e.g. not following a led spin or dip that they find uncomfortable).

• Do not provide unsolicited feedback about another dancer’s technique or attempt to teach on the social dance floor. For more: Google search “No Dancesplaining Please.”

• Dips that position the follow’s head below their knees are prohibited. All dips that fall into acceptable limits should be consensual. 

• Lifts and air steps (aerials) are prohibited on the social dance floor. Regardless of your dance experience or training, do not engage your partner with a lift or air step.

• Conduct, speech or expression of any kind that is derogatory or harassing is not acceptable. This includes, without limitation, any derogatory or harassing conduct, speech or expression on account of race, color, religion, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender expression, age, physical appearance, body size, national origin, ancestry, disability, marital status, or service in the armed forces. This includes any sexual or romantic advances that are lewd, discourteous, threatening, domineering, coercive, or that are repeated despite a lack of reciprocity.

• Do not attend our events if you are intoxicated in any way. Do not bring alcohol or other intoxicating substances into a TSDS event.

• All of our events are Non-Smoking events.

• Do not engage in sexual intimacy at our events.

• No weapons of any kind are permitted at our events. This includes replicas (look-alikes) of weapons.  

• Do not engage in illegal behavior while in attendance at a TSDS event.

Violations of this code of conduct may be brought to the attention of Event Staff and/or a Safety Committee member by any of the following means:

• The front desk volunteers at an event can help locate a Board or Safety Committee member

• You may call or text 919-525-1320 to report a concern. (This telephone number is monitored by Melissa Graf, MSW, LCSW, Safety Committee Chair, President, TSDS Board of Directors)

• You may contact the Safety Committee via email at safety.tsds.nc@gmail.com

• TSDS Board Members can be emailed at triangleswingdance@googlegroups.com

 The Board of Directors, Event Staff or Safety Committee member may take any action that they deem appropriate in their sole discretion to maintain the highest degree of safety within the community, including (but not limited to) immediate expulsion from the event with no refund, and calling 911 when appropriate. TSDS Board of Directors and Safety Committee members act in good faith, oriented toward community safety. While we may find it necessary and helpful ask questions and seek context that help us make decisions to best maintain community safety, we are not an investigative body, nor are we operating within a confidential system. Every effort is made to honor privacy, however we cannot guarantee anonymity. 

Last Edited:

7/17/2023