Policies

Safety

COVID/Masking

• Our dances are masked required during the winter sickness season, mask optional at other times. We may also require masks if wastewater or other data indicates high risk of contagious illness. Mask required dances will be clearly advertised as such.
• If you become ill after a dance with Covid or another contagious illness, please let us know via email so we can let others know there was an exposure. We will keep it anonymous.

Reporting

• If you are made to feel uncomfortable at any point during the dance by another person (including organizers), or if you have other safety concerns, please see an organizer about your concerns.
• You may also submit feedback via our paper feedback forms, or by emailing us.

Dance Etiquette

• Ask a variety of people to dance.
• Experienced dancers, ask less experienced people to dance.
• Feel empowered to say no without explanation or consequence.
• Feel empowered to say yes.
• Decline and accept refusals with grace and kindness.
• Check in with your partner:
    Role preference
    Injuries/body oddities
    Flourishes
• Dance with who’s coming at you.
• Better never than late.
• Do not use force while dancing:
    Not to correct those who may be incorrect
    Not to force a flourish
• Be aware of your body and that of those around you.
• Take care of yourself and others.

We are a smoke, drug, alcohol, weapon, and scent free dance.

Terminology

Lark/Robin

• This dance series uses the role terms “Lark” for the dancer who ends swings on the left and “Robin” for the dancer who ends swings on the right.
• Callers are not to use gendered terms or pronouns, e.g. “Boys/Girls/Men/Women”, and “Her/Him”
• Callers may choose to call positionally instead of using role terms.

Right/Left Shoulder Round

• Callers are not to use any slurs or demeaning language. Specifically, this dance series uses the figure terms “Right Shoulder Round” and “Left Shoulder Round".

Flirtatious Language

• Callers are to avoid using flirtatious or romanticized language. (e.g. “tempt them to your side” or “gaze lovingly into their eyes”). A good rule of thumb is if you can’t imagine someone doing it with your grandma, don’t say it.

Dance Styles

• We mostly dance...
    Duple minor contra dances
    Triple minor contra dances
    Novel contra dance formations
    Four facing fours (when there are sufficient dancers)
• We also dance up to two...
    Triplets
    Squares
    English country dances
    Scottish country dances
    Kerry sets
  (Callers note that our attendees are mostly contra dancers and have not enjoyed other forms as much and are less familiar with their figures)