Code of Conduct

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West Coast Swing is a partner dance rooted in African American musical and dance tradition. It is built on trust — between partners, between dancers, and between our community and the venues that host us. This Code of Conduct exists to make that trust explicit, enforceable, and accessible to everyone who walks through our doors, whether they are a first-timer or a seasoned competitor.

This policy is modeled on standards established by the World Swing Dance Council (WSDC), Dance Jam Productions, Mission City Swing, and the Boston Intown Dance Association — organizations that have spent years developing best practices for partner-dance communities.
We are grateful to stand on their shoulders.

1. Our Values & Who This Applies To

Everything we do is guided by four commitments:

Respect & Compassion — We treat every person with dignity, on and off the floor.
Diversity & Inclusion — Anyone can lead, anyone can follow, anyone can dance.
Safety & Comfort — Every dancer has the right to enjoy WCS free from harm.
Community & Citizenship — We are neighbors, not competitors for the same partner.

This policy applies to all board members, instructors, DJs, volunteers, and attendees at any
NAwcSA event or activity — including online spaces and conduct outside our events that bears
on the safety of our community members.

2. Asking for a Dance, Declining, and Roles

2.1 The Right to Ask and the Right to Say No

2.2 Dance Roles Are Not Gendered

Partner dancing begins with an invitation. These are our non-negotiable ground rules:

Anyone may ask anyone to dance, regardless of experience level, gender, age, or role.
"No" is a complete sentence. No explanation is required and none should be demanded.
If someone declines your invitation, say "okay" and find another partner. Do not guilt,
pressure, pout, or ask again that same song.
If someone has declined you several times, stop asking them for the evening.
You have the right to stop dancing mid-song with anyone who makes you uncomfortable. You do not owe them a reason. If someone asks to stop, honor it immediately and move on.
Getting to dance with someone is not a right. Being turned down happens to everyone — it is not personal.
Consent to a dance does not imply consent to any other physical contact, conversation, or activity.

NAwcSA is a role-neutral community. Anyone can lead, anyone can follow, and anyone can try the other role. We encourage all dancers to avoid assumptions about which role a partner prefers — ask when you're not sure. When issuing an invitation, consider including your role: "Would you like to dance? I can lead."

2.3 No Unsolicited Teaching on the Social Floor

The social dance floor is not a classroom. Do not offer technique feedback, corrections, or criticism to your partner unless they have specifically asked for it. This applies to comments about footwork, timing, styling, clothing, and facial expressions.
Important exception: You may always speak up about your own safety and comfort. Saying "could you hold a bit lighter?" or "that move hurts my wrist" is not teaching — it is self-advocacy, and it is always welcome.

3. Physical Contact, Dips, Lifts & Floor Safety

3.1 Contact Norms in WCS

West Coast Swing involves intentional, sustained physical contact. The following standards apply at all NAwcSA events:

All physical contact must be within the bounds of what your partner has implicitly or explicitly agreed to by accepting the dance.
Just because you see someone do something with another partner does not mean they will want to do it with you. Ask.
Requests for your own safety and comfort — such as asking a partner to reduce force or avoid a specific hold — are always appropriate

3.2 Dips, Drops, Lifts, and Aerials

No aerials on the social dance floor. Ever. Aerials are for jams and performance spaces only.
Dips, drops, and any move where your partner's weight depends on your support require verbal consent before initiating — not mid-move.
Unsafe dancing includes: yanking or jerking a partner forcefully; initiating deep dips without consent; any lift where both of the follower's feet leave the floor without prior agreement.
If you bump into another couple, apologize. If you hurt someone, apologize, check in, and think carefully about whether to continue that partnership.

3.3 Floorcraft in the WCS Slot

WCS is danced in a slot — this is unusual among partner dances and requires shared floor awareness:

Couples align their slots down the center of the floor. Do not park perpendicular to other couples' slots.
Traveling dancers (two-step, nightclub) travel counter-clockwise around the outside. Do not cut through the WCS line.
Use your full range of senses. Every dancer is responsible for the safety of their own partnership and their awareness of the couples around them.
Choose moves appropriate to the floor density. A crowded floor is not the place to work on new patterns.
If you witness a fall or injury, stop and offer help. For serious injury, contact an organizer immediately or call 911

4. Hygiene

Partner dancing involves close, sustained physical contact with many people over the course of an evening. Hygiene is a matter of respect for your partners:

Bring deodorant, a change of shirt, and something for your breath, as needed.
Sweat happens and is expected. What matters is managing it.
If a partner makes a hygiene-related request, receive it graciously.

5. Alcohol

NAWCSA events that are held at licensed venues that serve alcohol will adhere to three principles:

Defer to all alcohol policies of the venue.
Visible intoxication is grounds for removal. If you appear to be intoxicated to a degree that impairs your judgment, dancing, or treatment of others, you will be asked to leave without a refund.
Alcohol does not establish consent. Neither you nor your partner being under the influence lowers the bar for what touch is acceptable. If you are impaired in a way that makes it difficult to respect this Code, please sit down and recover before dancing again.
Do not share alcohol with anyone under 21. Violations will be reported to venue staff and, if necessary, to law enforcement.

Alcohol can make it harder to read limits — yours and your partner's. Please be mindful of your consumption so you can be mindful of others.

6. Photography & Video

NAWCSA events may be photographed and filmed for promotional use. By attending, you acknowledge that incidental capture may occur. However:

If you are filming a single couple for more than a few seconds, obtain their verbal consent first.
Harassing, non-consensual, or voyeuristic photography is a violation of this Code and will result in immediate removal.
Please ask before posting images of others to social media.

7. Prohibited Conduct

The following conduct is prohibited at all NAWCSA events and activities:

7.1 Harassment

Unwanted physical contact of any kind.
Verbal harassment, including derogatory comments, slurs, sexual remarks, or repeated unwanted advances.
Discrimination based on race, gender, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, disability, national origin, or any other protected characteristic.
Stalking, following, or intimidating behavior.
Pressure after a declined dance, repeated asking after multiple refusals, or any retaliation for being turned down.
Our events are centered on dance, not treating the community as a dating pool. However, it is natural for people to form connections. If rejection happens, handle it with grace.

7.2 Sexual Misconduct

Any form of sexual harassment or assault.
Using dance holds or movements to make sexual contact without consent.
Initiating close embrace, dips, or other intimate moves without agreement.

7.3 Registered Sex Offenders

Participation in any NAWCSA event or activity by any individual listed on a state or national sex offender registry is strictly and unconditionally prohibited.

This prohibition applies regardless of the nature of the offense, time elapsed since conviction, or registration status in any particular jurisdiction.
Any person who conceals their registration status to gain access to NAWCSA events will be permanently banned and reported to appropriate authorities.
NAWCSA
If a person's registration status is discovered after they have accessed an event, they will be asked to leave immediately. If they refuse, law enforcement will be contacted.

7.4 Violence & Threatening Behavior

Physical violence or threats of violence toward any person.
Behavior that creates a reasonable fear of harm in another person.
Damage to venue property.

7.5 Online & Off-Site Conduct

Your conduct outside our events — online, at other dance events, or in the community — is subject to this Code if it poses a threat to the safety or wellbeing of community members. A ban from NAWCSA events applies everywhere NAWCSA operates.

8. Reporting a Concern

8.1 How to Report

Speak to a board member. If you don’t know who the board members are, ask the person at the DJ booth and they will direct you to one.
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Email the Board of Directors at northalabamawcs@gmail.com. Reports are reviewed by at least two board members.
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Submit a confidential report at https://forms.gle/vSQEt6TMTeCZLQKt7.

8.2 What to Expect

Your identity will be kept confidential unless you choose to disclose it or safety requires otherwise.
You will receive an initial response within 48 hours of a formal report.
You will be asked what outcome you are looking for. We will tell you what we can and cannot do.
If your report involves potential criminal conduct, NAWCSA will cooperate fully with law enforcement.
Retaliation against anyone who makes a good-faith report is itself a violation of this Code.

8.3 Interim safety measures

While a safety concern is being reviewed, NAWCSA may implement temporary measures, including:
Event restrictions
Supervision requirements
Limited participation
Temporary suspension

9. Enforcement & Consequences

Board members or appointed volunteers have the authority to act immediately to protect the safety of participants. Consequences are proportionate to conduct and may include:

A private conversation and verbal warning.
A required behavioral change as a condition of continued participation.
Removal from the current event without refund.
Temporary suspension from future events pending board review.
Permanent ban from all NAWCSA activities.
Notification of venue management.
Notification of law enforcement.
Information sharing with other regional dance organizations, at the board's discretion, for significant safety concerns.

Violations involving registered sex offenders, sexual assault, or violence will result in immediate removal without prior warning and without refund. No exceptions.

10. Our Partnership with Venues

NAWCSA is committed to being a responsible tenant and community partner at our host venues. We pledge to:

Uphold all venue rules and codes of conduct established by the management.
Communicate and enforce this Code of Conduct at every event held on venue property.
Report any safety incident to venue management promptly.
Cooperate fully with venue staff in any enforcement action.
Support the venue's commercial goals as part of making these events sustainable for everyone.

Conduct that results in action by venue staff will also be reviewed under this policy and may result in additional consequences.

11. Organizational Accountability

Board members, organizers, instructors, and volunteers are expected to uphold and model the behavior this Code describes. No role in this organization grants exemption from this Code.

A board member who witnesses or receives a credible report of misconduct and fails to act is themselves in violation of organizational policy and may be removed from the board.

Any Board member involved in a complaint, personal relationship, or conflict must recuse themselves from related decisions.

This Code is reviewed by the Board of Directors no less than annually. Community members may submit suggested revisions at any time. Updates will be communicated to the members and posted publicly.

12. Acknowledgments

This Code of Conduct was developed with gratitude to the dance communities whose work made ours possible. We have drawn language and structure from Dance Jam Productions (Kay Newhouse & Dave Moldover), Mission City Swing, Seattle Swing Dance Club, Boston Intown Dance Association (BIDA), Mobtown Ballroom, Houston Swing Dance Society, Boogie by the Bay, Chicago Bluetopia, Austin Blues Dance, Capital Blues, and the World Swing Dance Council. We encourage any community to adapt this document for their own use.