Swing Dance Sydney

Code of Conduct

• There’s room for all of us on the dance floor.
  We welcome all dancers and lovers of music, regardless of gender, gender identity, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability, phyiscal appearance, or religion.
• We’re looking out for our peeps.
  If you harass someone, you may be asked to leave, you may be banned from our other events, the police may be notified, and this is at our discretion. We don’t have to explain, and we don’t have to give you a second chance.
• Talk nice.
  Do not use misogynist, homophobic, transphobic, ableist, or racist language.
• Your body is important.
  Respect the bodies and persons of other people. Do not touch without asking permission, stop if someone asks you to stop. Give other people space and time alone if they need it.
• Be ok with people saying no.
  If you ask someone to dance and they say “No thank you,” be ok with that. Reply “Hey, no worries - maybe another time!” and move on. No one is obliged to dance with you.
• You can say no.
  If someone asks you to dance and you don’t want to, say “No thank you,” and leave it at that. If someone asks you to dance, say “YES please!” Nothing is better than enthusiastic consent.
• Play safe.
  Don’t pull aerials, lifts, or drops on the social dance floor, but it’s ok in jams and comps. You must have verbal consent from every dance partner before you do lifts, drops, or aerials. Just becasue you had consent once, doesn’t mean you have it now.

Our Values

We believe in jazz music and dance.

We believe in the best throw-down, heart-stopping lindy hop, and that every song should be a solid sender that makes you leap to your feet.

We believe that every dancer and musician has a right to working and playing safely.
We believe that happiness is a right.

We do not believe in doing things ‘for the scene’. We are the scene.

We believe in making dance events socially sustainable. That means we can pay our bills, our workplaces are safe, and we don’t burn out.

We plan for the future by remembering the past and caring for each other now.

Jazz music and dance are, and always have been, revolutionary.
We are anti-racist. It’s not enough to just ‘not be racist’.
We are feminist.
We are queer.
We are young and old.

We are community, and we have each other’s back.

You are with us in this. In joining us on the dance floor, or working with us (as a teacher, DJ, musician, sound engineer, volunteer, or staff), you agree to treat all participants with care and respect, and to abide by our Code of Conduct.