IG HOP’s Code of Conduct

Dancing together involves a lot of verbal and non-verbal communication.

In our classes, we aim to show what’s needed for the dialogue in terms of dancing the dances. But with the dancers being humans, there’s more to it than that.

So here’s a bit about that common dance-language which will help create poetry on the dancefloor, having an epic time and avoid (unwanted) drama.

Note that some things may seem unnecessary to even point out but everything we write here is based on the experience that it is necessary to point it out*.

This is how we play

Our aim at IG Hop is to offer an open and tolerant environment in our courses and at our events. There are a few obvious things which don’t go along with that, for example sexist, racist, homophobic and other discriminatory actions as well as willful carelessness. People who don’t respect (the boundaries of) others will be asked to leave the course or event.

So you think we can dance?

Everybody can ask everybody to dance. People can say yes or no and in 99% of the cases, they will do that in a considerate and friendly way. If somebody says no or reacts to a no in a shitty way, it’s probably not a great person to dance with anyway.

Social dancing isn’t a training session

 … at least not for everyone. Please don’t correct your dance partners on the social floor unless they ask you to. While it’s great to give constructive feedback when you learn together, not everybody appreciates getting improvement tips when they go out social dancing (or giving them; often trainers are happy to simply enjoy social dancing, too.)

Floorcraft – The art of using dance(floor)-space without killing each other

Since in class we try to make sure that people have enough space to train, it appears to be hard to translate the dancing to a crowded dancefloor sometimes. So regardless of whether you lead or follow: Looking out for the other dancers (it’s ok to overlook waiters with full trays, of course) on the floor is part of the dance. Knowing what movements are inappropriate on a crowded floor is part of the dance, too. If somebody continues dancing in a harmful and ignorant way even after they’ve been made aware of it by the people around them, don’t hesitate to contact us at the event or course.

*Saying sorry – People think they will. But then they don’t.

Some seem to forget that it is really appropriate to apologize if they step on, hit, run into or otherwise hurt another person on the dancefloor. This is not about whose fault it is. This is about acknowledging that you had an unpleasant collision with somebody and a chance to show some basic social skills.

All the other things

There are many other things which are often pointed out in lists like this – like a note to take care of personal hygiene and reminders not to spread the latest virus in the entire dance community. Also boob- and bum-grabbing and any other kind of inappropriate behavior, sexually or otherwise, is a no-go – unless agreed upon. Just to give some examples.

Again, our aim is to offer a great environment to dance. If there is a reason to feel uncomfortable that you find you can’t solve yourself, please never hesitate to get in touch with us so we can help.