Community Agreements
CI@50 Critical Mass is a place and time for exploring the form of Contact Improvisation. These community agreements are intended to support the dancing and the exchange of experiential knowledge while we all celebrate the history of the form, create a safe atmosphere for experiential learning, and expand and empower our community.
This document represents the efforts of the Critical Mass team to distill the fundamental values of the community we are forming and looking forward to sharing with you. We ask that you read, consider, and sign your assent to them so that we share a mutual starting intention for this community. We recognize that no set of guidelines can create a perfectly safe event. We are trying to build the most respectful and inclusive space that we can. For these guidelines to be effective, they need to be continuously practiced and discussed. Over the coming months, we will continue to develop the necessary structures to support these community agreements. These will include jam specific guidelines and protocols for assisting you in difficult or sensitive situations. As we come together in July we all will continue to form and shape these principles for exploring the history, present, and future of Contact Improvisation.
CI@50 Community Agreements, March 18, 2022:
Respect for the Community
Hard no’s: discrimination of any kind, violence, sexual harrasment or assault, offensive comments or behavior related to sex, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disability, mental illness, physical appearance, body size, age, race, religion, nationality, lifestyle choices and practices, including those related to food, health, parenting, drugs, and employment.
Uphold an environment of consent where every person chooses when and how they interact with others any and all the time. We must work to create a true culture of consent together, where those that hold power act with integrity and use full body listening to pay attention to the multiple ways someone can signal yes or no.
Cultivate awareness around how identity, background, and experience level can create complex power dynamics that affect people’s ability to express their needs and desires, or otherwise be fully seen and heard in their ability to say “no” to interactions, including touch and dances, flirtation, and sexual advances.
Nourish our bodies, rest, and maintain our health. Be attentive to any symptoms relating to contagious disease and do not come if you feel sick. All participants will need to adhere to Oberlin’s Covid Policy to attend this festival.
Engage respectfully if a concern is raised about your behavior, taking steps to address this if necessary with the Response Team, including leaving the immediate space or the entire event if Team determines that your continued presence poses a risk to the safety of others
Be aware of the group; who is engaged and how; respect personal and energetic space, the physical and acoustic environments.
Celebrate, engage, alchemize
Respect for Others
Approach interactions with a sense of openness, lack of controlling agenda, and responsiveness to the non-verbal and verbal cues given by others
Listen and tune to our dance/conversation partners and the space, maintaining the collective focus needed to safely take physical, emotional, and intellectual risks while exploring the unknown together
As everyone has a need for bodily autonomy and freedom of movement do not assume that people want to be touched or do contact in any specific way just because they showed up for this event. We all come with different relationships to our bodies and this form.
Respond to requests, including those regarding safety and well-being, with curiosity and humility. Approach dissonance as an opportunity for growth and connection
Respect for Ourselves
Dance within personal physical limits.
When in doubt: Change focus / redirect / say no / leave for any or no reason.
Communicate our needs, check in, and share our experience with dance partners and colleagues as clearly as possible, non-verbally or verbally
Seek out support when needed - Volunteers in purple shirts will be present and available in all the jams and organized sessions to support your presence and direct you to a Response Team member or Accessibility Coordinator if needed.
We acknowledge the efforts of many organizations from whose guidelines we drew inspiration and language for this document. These can be found in this compendium: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Os8c2ukZRS5cnJhJv0SuBX5MrpGKAMZk6U3i-Pbfezk/edit?usp=sharing
CI@50 Community Agreements Update:
Per the March 18th Community Agreements everyone signed, the CI@50 organizing team has been developing the structures and protocols to support our Community Agreements in the form of Jam Guidelines, Guidelines for Community Leaders, and a Response Team and protocol for boundary violations. Here you will find each of those documents in their entirety:
-Guidelines for Community Leaders