Safety and Access Policy

Effective May 2026

Mission and Values Statement

We aim to share our love of Blues music and Blues dancing with our community. We have developed the following code of conduct and Safety and Access policy to set expectations for behavior and describe how we will address concerns. These guidelines are not exhaustive, and we expect all attendees to do their best to follow them in spirit and create a positive environment. The values guiding our concern resolution process are flexibility, confidentiality, transparency, mediation, clarity, and restoration.

We want everyone, regardless of race, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, physical ability, religion, financial means or other demographic or identifying features to feel welcome at our events. We acknowledge that Safer Spaces policies have historically prioritized white women to the detriment of Black and other non-white dancers, which is particularly problematic since Blues is a Black American art form. Collectively Blue believes Black Lives Matter and commits to celebrating Black voices. At our events, we ask that you keep your mind open, listen with empathy, and learn. We hope your dancing will inspire you to learn more about Black American culture - both past and present.

The Code of Conduct

Collectively Blue (CB) aims to create spaces that are fun, respectful, and inclusive. We expect all participants in our physical and virtual spaces to help us with this aim. We support and welcome people into our community regardless of race, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, physical ability, religion, or financial means. We consider harassment, including but not limited to sexual harassment, verbal abuse, assault, racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, ageism, ableism, classism, or intentional slander to be violations of our code of conduct.

Contact methods

There are 3 primary ways to reach out to us about a Safety and Access concern or need.

• Email us at collectivelybluesaferspaces@gmail.com
• Fill out our reporting form (anonymous unless you choose to share your information)
• Speak with a CB board member or North Star Blues Safety and Access team member in person at an event

Access considerations

We aim to balance a variety of needs with respect to access and our space.

• Strongly fragranced products are not allowed as we have sensitive community members. Specifically please avoid: perfume/cologne, strongly scented lotions (think Bath and Body Works), and scented hand sanitizer.
• We will provide gender-neutral bathrooms whenever possible and will support community members’ choice of bathrooms when only gendered options are available.
• We will label and/or avoid food allergens that have been identified to us.
• Registered service animals are welcome. We appreciate advanced notice since many of our events are hosted in dancer’s homes with their pets present. We will note if a host has pets. Pets (other than the host’s) are not welcome unless discussed in advance.
• We strongly encourage minors under 18 to have an accompanying parent or guardian — we are happy to waive admission if you are at the event to support a minor.
• We welcome you to bring kids to our dances and/or lessons. We understand that kids will likely need attention and/or may cause some disruption - and that’s fine. This is a community and kids are part of it. If being a parent is preventing you from attending our events, please reach out and we’d be happy to discuss options.
• We do not permit underage drinking or use of any substances that are illegal in Minnesota at our events. We do not allow smoking or vaping at any of our events.

If you would like to attend our events but are facing an obstacle to doing so, please let us know! We will do our best to support and accommodate you and your access needs.

Behavior guide

The purpose of social partner dancing is to have fun and share our love of Blues Dance and music. To enable this, CB has established the following guide to behavior at our events:

I will take care of myself and communicate my needs:

• Dancers can say no to any dance and do not need to provide an explanation.
• We encourage providing verbal feedback if a dance partner causes you pain or discomfort as people can remain unaware if they do not receive feedback, including disclosing about any injuries or disabilities that are relevant for a dance partner to know about to keep you comfortable. If you are not comfortable doing so yourself, you can reach out to a team member.
• Dancers are expected to regularly take care of their personal hygiene including bringing changes of clothing, towels, and/or low fragrance hygiene products as needed to manage sweat and/or body odor.
• Dancers are expected to be mindful of their consumption of any legal intoxicants. If anyone becomes excessively impaired, they are expected to take steps such as: taking a break, reaching out to a friend or team member, having a snack, and/or hydrating.
• Blues Dances start in close embrace, however dancers may sometimes be uncomfortable with close embrace. We encourage you to take more space if you need it. Close embrace is historically and culturally important to Blues Dance. If you are opposed to all close embrace, please note that Blues Dance may not be a good fit for you.

I will be a kind, respectful, and responsive dance partner:

• We encourage our attendees to ask new-to-them dancers to dance. We encourage dancers to share names and get to know other dancers. We ask you to be attentive and appreciative of your dance partners regardless of their demographics or skill level.
• People of any gender are free to choose to lead, follow, or both. We expect dancers to communicate about dance role preferences and not assume that gender presentation implies dance role.
• We expect dancers will occasionally receive a ‘no’ when asking someone to dance. We expect dancers to kindly accept a ‘no’ at face value without needing an explanation.
• Dancers are expected to pay attention to verbal and non-verbal cues that their dance partner may be uncomfortable. Please check-in if you are unsure and do your best to resolve discomfort. This includes for invisible disabilities or hidden injuries.
• Do not provide unsolicited dance advice on the social dance floor, unless it is to resolve discomfort. If your advice is solicited, you are welcome, but not expected, to provide it. Please be mindful of the space around you if you take a moment to teach.

I will be mindful and respectful of the people and spaces around me:

• Attending events when you know you have a communicable illness is not allowed. We understand that you will not always know you are sick (before showing symptoms, or when it seems like just allergies). If you know you are sick, stay home.
• Firearms or weapons of any kind are not allowed at CB events. Attendees are expected to responsibly manage any small (<3” blade) pocket knives they routinely carry and any other knives needed for a clear purpose (for example: cutting food).
• We expect dancers to pay attention on the dance floor and do their best to avoid collisions (floorcraft). Lifts, kicks, and other large movements are most likely to cause dramatic collisions and are not allowed on the social dance floor.
• We expect dancers to do their best to use the names and pronouns given by other attendees and to correct any errors they make.
• Social norms change regularly and we expect attendees at our events will make an effort to use respectful language. This includes updating the language you use to reference someone if they request you do so.
• Many of our dances take place in dancers’ houses in residential areas. Please be aware that you are a guest in someone’s home and be mindful of noise levels.
• We expect dancers will follow the rules of any venue where a CB event is being held.

I will report actions that violate this policy to the organizers of CB:

• Organizers cannot address problems we do not know about! Our goal is to provide a safe, welcoming space for us to engage in an activity we all enjoy.

Violations and Interventions

Reporting a safety and access concern can seem scary if you’ve never done it. Our goal is to come at things with kindness and empathy, rather than judgment or punishment. Our goal is to carefully listen to you and to offer concrete, actionable suggestions and/or requirements for moving forward. If you have concerns about safety or access, big or small, please report them. Here is our process:

• If you raise a concern: We’ll ask you to share as much as you feel comfortable sharing and what you need to feel the situation is resolved. We endeavor to resolve things in a way that makes you feel safe and welcome at our events, and we’ll check back in on you to make sure you’re feeling supported.
• If a concern is raised about you: Our team will contact you. We’ll talk to you about the concern raised, invite you to share your perspective, and discuss what actions could resolve the situation. Our goal is to get to a place where everyone feels safe and welcome, and we hope you’ll work with us on that. If we ask you to change your behavior at our events, we’ll check in with you to see how that’s going.
• In situations of conflicting reports, we will not be the arbiters of truth as we do not have the necessary bandwidth or experience to perform an investigation. We aim to make everyone comfortable, not to determine the truth.

We classify Safety and Access concerns in increasing order of severity: yellow, orange, and red.

• Yellow are behavioral concerns that make someone uncomfortable but are not causing significant harm. For example: accidental inappropriate touch, excessive alcohol use, or accidental misgendering. In many circumstances, yellow concerns can be addressed by speaking to the people involved. The goals around yellow concerns are to identify blind spots, find mutual clarity on behavior, and to avoid future concerns.
• Orange concerns are instances where someone has caused harm to another person but we believe there is room for growth and restorative processes. For example, an orange concern could be repeated instances of yellow-level concerns or non-accidental violations of the code of conduct. Addressing orange concerns will vary based on the situation, but some interventions we could implement are 1) added expectation of sobriety at our events 2) having an accountability buddy at our events 3) temporary removal from an event.
  • If we have orange-level concerns about an individual in a position within CB, we will remove that individual from their position (i.e. teaching, hosting, board member etc.) until we feel the concern has been sufficiently addressed.

If you are named in a yellow or orange level report, we promise to work with you before implementing any action(s). We are here to provide support to get you back on track, and we know that everyone makes mistakes.

• Red concerns are instances of significant harm or threats to safety. In these instances, we believe there is no path forward to reconcile concerns. Generally, red concerns are addressed with a ban from all CB events. We may also contact social work, de-escalation, or (in extreme events) emergency response resources.

CB reserves the right to share information, including but not limited to, bans, depersonalized summaries of reports, and the nature of offenses with other organizations for the purposes of giving and/or receiving assistance in addressing shared Safety and Access concerns. Collectively Blue reserves the right to ban individuals based on reports from other organizations.

The Organizer Code of Conduct

We believe organizers should do their best to create a welcoming and inclusive environment for CB event attendees. As such, this organizer code outlines our commitment for our conduct at our events.

• We will act as models of good behavior towards our community and each other. This includes welcoming newcomers and participating in events.
• We will educate ourselves on topics relevant to Blues dancing. This includes continuing to work on our dance skills, learning about current Black American culture, learning about Black American history, and the history of race and racism in the United States.
• We will adhere to this code of conduct in public spheres, including social media, as it reflects on the reputation of our scene.
• We will solicit feedback about our events and work to continually improve.
• Hiring:
  • We will expect all of our team members to uphold our scene’s values. If someone we hire does not meet these standards, we will not hire them again until we are confident they will be able to do so going forward.
  • We will not hire individuals if we are aware of a complaint against them that we decide puts our community at risk.
• Safety and Access:
  • Team members will be sober and identifiable during their shifts.
  • We will hear out all concerns, but we will not be arbiters of truth.
  • We will ask about your preferences around keeping your identity confidential and will limit sharing information to the smallest group possible. If we need to share a report with another team/scene, we can depersonalize the information.
    • For some types of reports it is not possible to address the situation without making it obvious to the other people involved who has made the report. We will discuss this with you before taking action.
  • We reserve the right to use judgment in any situation, as each is unique.
  • We will step in and speak up if we see unsafe or harmful behavior, or find another organizer who can do so.
  • We will listen to and integrate your feedback on our code of conduct, policies, and resolution process.

Code of Conduct Limitations

The purview of this code of conduct includes CB organized and hosted events - including CB’s social media. We are not able to monitor or control behavior/attendance at public events or venues such as concerts or restaurants. We are not able to monitor, control, or adjudicate all behavior within interpersonal relationships that extend far beyond the dance floor. We do not have the expertise, authority, or bandwidth to cover situations outside of dance events and closely related spaces. We will provide support and set expectations for behavior in our spaces.

Examples of things we will address

• Making racist or sexist comments in CB’s physical or virtual spaces.
• Dancing skills or posture to improve comfort, reduce collisions, etc.
• Hygiene or clothing concerns that impact comfort while dancing.
• Lifts, kicks, or other large movements being done on the dance floor.
• Unwanted flirtatious attention at our events that continues after a person has explicitly requested for it to stop.
• Inappropriate touch that is outside the norms of blues dancing.
• Complying with a legal order/agreement (such as a restraining order) that has been granted by appropriate authorities and made known to CB.

Requests for no contact

A number of the historical Safety and Access concerns we have received are interpersonal conflicts in which CB events/spaces are not central to the disagreement and where hurt feelings are the most significant issue. In these cases, we have often found that the most helpful thing is for both/all parties to give each other space. To this end, we have created the following template to request that someone else not approach you during CB events. If you edit this as needed to fit your situation and send it to the other person/people we can keep an eye out that you are getting the space you have requested at our events. If you’d like, we can also help you identify a buddy for support during our events.

Template for email (copy collectivelybluesaferspaces@gmail.com):

Hello (person’s name),

I am sending this message to explicitly ask that you do not approach me or contact me at Collectively Blue events when we are both in attendance. I will do the same. I will not approach or contact you.

This message is copied to the Collectively Blue team so that team members at events can keep on eye out that we are both giving each other space. I understand that in public spaces we may end up passing by each other or dancing adjacent to each other. I just ask that you make a good faith effort to give me space.

I ask that you continue to do this indefinitely unless I or someone from the Collectively Blue team contacts you.

Thank you,
(Your name)

Template for text (send a screenshot to collectivelybluesaferspaces@gmail.com):

Hello (person’s name), I am sending this message to explicitly ask that you do not approach me or contact me at Collectively Blue events when we are both in attendance. I will do the same. I will not approach or contact you.

I will send a screen shot of this message to the Collectively Blue team so that team members at events can keep on eye out that we are both giving each other space. I understand that in public spaces we may end up passing by each other or dancing adjacent to each other. I just ask that you make a good faith effort to give me space.

I ask that you continue to do this indefinitely unless I or someone from the Collectively Blue team contacts you.