The Práctica Code of Conduct

Kizomba Seattle is a community group based in Seattle, WA. We are a diverse group of dancers, DJs, instructors, and event producers with a shared love for kizomba and its related dance forms and music. Our community comes together to connect through our mutual love of dancing. We meet up in public spaces, people’s homes, and local Seattle venues. Community events are hosted by different members of the community on a volunteer basis. There are also events hosted by other venues.
We want our connected spaces to be beginner friendly, safe, and harassment free. We value community, connection, and respect. We want to spread our love of kizomba through music, dance, and community connection.
CODE OF CONDUCT
We want to ensure that our events are harassment-free environment for everyone by looking out for one another. We do not tolerate harassment in any form.
RESPECT:
This includes and is not limited to:
• Choosing your words thoughtfully
• Being mindful of personal space
• Looking for permission to dance with or approach someone new
• Accepting the word, NO gracefully (“No I don’t want to dance”)
• Treating everyone the way they would like to be treated
• Being mindful of your partner
HARASSMENT BEVAHIORS ARE UNACCEPTABLE:
This includes and is not limited to:
• Unwelcome sexual attention
• Coercion of any sort if someone says “no”
• Inappropriate physical contact
• Physical violence
• Physical or verbal threats
• Discriminatory jokes and language
• Insults, especially those using racist, homophobic, ableist or sexist terms
• Deliberate intimidation
• Repeated harassment of others. If someone asks you to stop then you stop
COMMUNITY ACCOUNTABILITY
Our community builds, creates and protects the culture we want to participate in. We ask that you consider what it takes to make sure everyone feels welcome and safe when we are together. We take all reports of unwanted behaviors, both physical and verbal, very seriously and will ask you to leave and stop unwanted behavior when it is encountered.
SUPPORT
• If you are experiencing unwelcome behaviors, and you feel safe to do so, we encourage you to ask the person to stop. Individuals who are asked to stop any such behavior are expected to comply immediately.
• If you do not feel safe confronting someone here is what you can do:
o At a venue, report the behavior to the student owner / door person as soon as possible
o In class, talk with an instructor
o At a house event, talk to the homeowner or host
o At practica, talk to the DJ or host
ENFORCEMENT
Participants asked to stop any behaviors that are in contradiction to our code of conduct are expected to comply immediately. If they do not stop the behavior immediately, they will be asked to leave.
Other venues like the Century Ballroom or Salsa Con Todo have their own code of conduct that will result in expulsion should that code of conduct be violated.
PARTICIPATION AND VOLUNTEERING
Monday Practica is community powered and a great way to dip your feet if you want to get to know
more people within our community. We look for hosts monthly and the management and communication of that happens in our Facebook group.
We also encourage continued learning about the dance, music, and the culture from which the dance comes from. Going to classes, workshops, learning from a dance instructor will also give you the context for what the expected interactions are during a social dance or dance party.
We are a community that embraces any gender to lead and follow and are working to break stereotypes to welcome all identities to the dance.