GROUND RULES

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Violating the following ground rules is grounds for expulsion:

• NO expressions of hate, violence, or harassment. 

• Respect people, their boundaries, the space, the event, and the practice

• The jam is not a pick-up scene.

• No drugs or alcohol.

• Stay home if you are sick or contagious.

 

HOUSEKEEPING

 

• Please leave shoes, bags, and belongings on the bottom floor of the building. Water bottles with lids, notebooks, and other necessary items can go in the side lobbies. No food, open containers, or cellphones in the dance spaces (medical, access, and emergency use excepted.)

• No scents please: perfumes, essential oils, shampoos, etc.

• Berkeley Finnish Hall is a community space. We invite everyone to show care for the building by helping to tidy and clean as needed, alerting organizers if supplies are low, etc. 
  The neighborhood has a 10PM noise curfew. Keeping voices down in the parking lot at night helps us maintain good relations with our neighbors.

• A photographer will be at the jam Saturday.If you do not wish to be photographed, please let us know ahead of time. We will also do our best check with anyone featured before public release of images. 

 

GUIDELINES

 

Schedule 

 

• Please arrive to classes on time, and respect their container. When classes are full, a sign will be on the door: don’t sneak in. 

• When more than one activity is offered simultaneously, you may experience "FOMO". We strongly encourage you to pick one thing and be with it, rather than try to experience everything. Please do not hang out, chat, or jam independently in a space where a class is happening. 

Focus

 

• A jam is a focused environment in which to practice Contact Improvisation. Sound and speaking are welcome as part of the dancing. However, please keep strictly social conversation off the dance floor. Feel free to remind others of this when they want to chat. 

Spatial Awareness 

 

• Jam spaces may be crowded. Dance at any speed, but stay aware of your surroundings.

• Move non-dance interactions to the cafe.

• Bodywork is ok as long as it is consensual and not in the way of the dancing.

• The whole room is always in one dance together. Keep adjusting the settings on the telescope of your awareness. Solos, duets, trios, quartets, and groups are all part of the greater dance; the floor is your partner at all times. Please, begin your dancing with a spirit of attending to what is already happening. 

• Observing is a great way to participate, support the space, and learn!
   

Safety & Boundaries 

 

• Use your words. Saying “No” or “Stop”, or asking “Is this OK?” is appropriate at any time. 

• Leave dances whenever; no explanation is needed.

• Be cordial. Be kind. Both give and listen for feedback as needed. 

• Do not teach or correct another dancer without being asked to.

• Please keep in mind that the unjust racial, gendered, and economic power dynamics of the world do not magically disappear on the dance floor. We invite you to consider who is or isn’t in the room, who speaks, who is heard, who leads, and who makes demands. 

• Many states and impulses can surface during dancing, including passing feelings of sexual arousal. However, sexual behavior, regardless of whether it is consensual or not, is not appropriate, including making feelings of arousal the focus or intention of the dance.

• In the event that anyone experiences a boundary violation that is beyond your capacity to address, we ask that you reach out to a core organizer. We will address any incidents that arise with a commitment to giving all parties an opportunity to be heard by an impartial third. We will seek resolutions that work for everyone, and we will enforce our bottom line rules of respect and safety. 

 

Hygiene 

 

• Wear a shirt. Bring extra clothes if you tend to sweat profusely. 

• Wear shoes in the parking lot and sidewalk.

• Cover warts and wounds well.

• Wash hands frequently. Take showers.

• Do not come to the jam if you have a contagious infection of any kind.

• Remember to rest and hydrate. The schedule is packed; you cannot do it all!

 

Kids

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• Children of registered jammers are always welcome in the cafe. 

  • If your child is using an electronic device, make sure they have headphones. 

  • Do not leave your child unattended for extended periods. 

• No kids in the class spaces.

• Kids are welcome to jam if space allows.

• Accompanying adults must supervise their kids at all times. To jam with a kid, you must be responsible for their safety, mindful of their impact on the room, and open to feedback.

  • If you are handing off supervisory responsibilities, please make sure you have clear verbal consent, not just a vibe check.

  • No food on the dance floor.

  • Encourage your kids to do CI! Some things you might say:
    ★ We are here to explore movement in our bodies together.
    ★ We always notice what is around us.
    ★ The jam is mostly a quiet space.
    ★ We pay attention to each other and respect each other's boundaries.

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A SPECIAL NOTE ON CARE, POLITICS, AND BOUNDARIES 
 

The West Coast Contact Improvisation JAM makes space for a community of practice dedicated to the practice of moving bodies navigating gravity in the present moment. This requires dedication to sensing into moments of unknown, practicing being uncomfortable, and negotiating difference. 
 

This year’s festival takes place in the midst of multiple global emergencies: the rise of totalitarian right wing governments, especially here in the U.S., a deepening climate crisis, and worsening violence and injustice in many places across the world. The festival offers a number of special events that make space for underrepresented identities and/or sensitive sociopolitical issues. We ask that as you explore and exchange about structural injustice, political crises, and oppression, you remember the sensitivity and openness with which we know how to listen to each other while dancing.  
 

Just as we do at the jams, we also invite you to hold your personal boundaries with care during conversation. Holding a boundary is not being unkind or rude, it is a way to structure safe exchange. If you feel you need help with this at any point during the festival, don’t hesitate to reach out to us.  That said, please note that attending this festival requires some self-resourcing: we do not have trained therapists or conflict mediators on staff.  As festival organizers, we will not tolerate violence, harassment, racism, hatefulness, homophobia, transphobia, or misogyny. We firmly reserve the right to deny anyone participation should any of these arise during the festival, or should conflicts escalate beyond our capacity to find solutions that work for all parties. 
 

wcciJAM holds a diverse group of individual humans, each with our own beliefs, motivations, and opinions. While the festival does not explicitly endorse the views of teachers and presenters, we wholeheartedly value exchange of ideas and feelings. As organizers, we believe caring disagreement, frank reflection, and clear, kind boundary setting are good for our community’s development. We invite everyone to engage each other with honesty, inclusivity, and curiosity.  

No matter what, we are all in one big dance together.