The World Dance Festival code of conduct is designed to make the event enjoyable, safe and comfortable for our dancers. We expect everyone to follow this code. Always use your best judgment. 

Discrimination, Harassment, and Assault

World Dance Festival will always work on being an environment free from harassment, assault, or discrimination for any reason, including but not limited to age, sex, gender, sexual orientation, gender expression, religion, race, or ethnicity. This applies to attendees in any capacity, staff members, volunteers, artists, DJs, Media teams, and vendors. We do not tolerate any sort of discrimination, harassment, or assault regardless of who the violating party is. We encourage you to report any untoward incidents so that we can manage the situation appropriately.

Accepting or Declining Dances

We want to ensure that everyone will have a positive and welcoming experience during the event. Please use your best judgment pertaining to dance etiquette. It is considered rude to decline a dance and then immediately dance with someone you know or would prefer to dance with right after. This can particularly devastate our beginner dancers. You can accept or decline an invitation to dance for any reason. For example, you can decline a dance because of your energy level, preferred dance role, injury, or just not wanting to dance with that person.

We do expect that, except in extraordinary circumstances, you treat the person you are declining or accepting with respect and dignity, and highly recommend not giving that person an attitude after consenting to dance with that current partner.  

Modifying a Dance or Interaction

Immediately address any issues during a dance if for any reason you are made uncomfortable. You are encouraged to request that your partner stops a specific behavior or that they avoid any particular movement or set of movements. For example, you can ask not to be hugged (on or off the dancefloor), or to not dance in close hold, do lifts or dips, or perform head movement. You can also ask partners not to do things that are uncomfortable, for example, gripping your fingers too hard or moving your legs in an uncomfortable way. If you have any personal injuries that hinder your ability to do certain movements make them known.

Stopping a Dance

While it is not generally done except in circumstances where boundaries have been violated, you always have the right to stop a dance for any reason and at any time. We encourage you to end a dance if you have made your boundaries known, but your partner ignores these requests. For example: unwanted romantic advances, or concerns about safety. We strongly encourage patience and tolerance when dealing with newer or nervous partners, and using constructive but kind feedback to guide them towards providing a better experience for both of you without stopping the dance.

Hygiene

We expect all attendees to maintain appropriate hygiene, including washing your hands, wearing deodorant, and changing sweaty shirts when necessary. Check up on your hygiene regularly to make sure you’re the best you can be for your partners.

Consent

We expect every attendee to make sure they have consent from their partner for any dance, movement, or intimate moment. While accepting a dance does imply consent for a dance within normal boundaries, you should get additional consent prior to performing any lifts on the floor, and especially before engaging in any sexual behaviour (including kissing or touching). You should also immediately respect any request to not perform a specific movement, or a request to stop some sort of intimate behavior. If you are unsure if a partner is OK with something, you are expected to verbally ask. If you are unable to accommodate a certain request during your dance, you should end the dance rather than continue and violate your partner’s boundaries. “No means no, not maybe”

Our Staff Policy

We expect our artists, volunteers, and staff to maintain the same standards as you, and to aid us in creating a safe and positive space for our participants. If one of our staff, volunteer team, or artists makes you feel uncomfortable, please let us know. We will do our best to resolve the issue, and will take action if required.

Complaints & Support Process

Before or After the Event

If you need to tell us about an issue before or after the event, you should reach out directly to the World Dance Festival team at Info@worlddancefestival.co . The earlier you let us know, the more time it gives us to plan for and/or handle the issue.

During the Event

If anything at the event happens that you are uncomfortable with or do not know how to handle, you can approach any of the following individuals:

Dola Ige (Producer)

Kaya Barraza (Director of Operations)

Edwin Rivera (Artistic Director)

Esther Teh (Logistics Manager)

Geovanny Velasquez (Head of Security)

During the event, you should reach out in person as we may not be able to reliably check email. If you have trouble locating one of the designated individuals who will be wearing a light up bracelet, text this number:  

Substances & Alcohol Policy

The Hilton will sell and serve Alcohol during the event. Please drink responsibly and do not bring any substances into the venue itself.

World Dance Festival reserves the right to remove any individual who, in our opinion, is too intoxicated to participate responsibly in the event.

Venue Policies

We have a beautiful venue (Hilton Inner Harbor Baltimore) – but they have a few very important requests of our dancers. We expect you to follow these rules. Otherwise, the venue may choose to remove you – or we could potentially lose the ability to use this venue in the future.

Only dance in areas that are expressly and exclusively rented by Baltimore Congress. This means no hallways, back passages, or empty non-Baltimore Congress rooms. There are 2 other events occurring during our congress. We want everyone to have a good time so please be mindful of noise during late hours. We would like to keep using our venue ?

Children and Dependents Policy

You are welcome to have dependents under the age of 14 attend the event with you without a full pass. However, they are not considered attendees of the event, and World Dance Festival makes no representation or guarantee as to the environment’s safety for your child, music explicitness, availability of childcare, etc.

If you bring your child or dependent, you assume all responsibility for your child, including ensuring they are properly supervised and do not damage the venue or event materials. Any damage caused by your child is your sole responsibility.

Please do not attend World Dance Festival Baltimore if you have any contagious illness.

You are absolutely not permitted to attend the event if any of the following apply to you:

You have an acute illness (for example, cold, flu, or viral infection) at the time of the Festival and Coronavirus has not been excluded as a diagnosis;

• You are from a region with prevalent local Coronavirus transmission;
• You are from, have travelled to, or transited through an area with a Travel Advisory for Coronavirus or higher in the 21 days prior to the event; or,
• You have been in contact with a confirmed or suspected Coronavirus case in the 21 days prior to the Festival.

Depending on your unique situation, we will waive pass transfer fees, offer a refund, or allow you to apply your pass to the following World Dance Festival in any of the above cases. We will also waive fees if you decide not to attend the event and transfer your ticket because you are or will be in close contact with someone who is immunosuppressed.

Please note that we may ask to see documentation or information proving that you fall into one of the above categories.

AT THE EVENT

If you become symptomatic during the event, you will not be permitted to continue attending the event until you have been examined, tested, and cleared for further participation. Depending on your situation, we may provide you with one of the following:

A complimentary or discounted pass to next year;

• A full or partial refund; or,
• Waived transfer fees.

AFTER THE EVENT

If you attend World Dance Festival Baltimore and are diagnosed with Coronavirus within 21 days of the event, you must let us know as soon as possible so that we can inform other attendees.

CORONA VIRUS EVENT PRECAUTIONS PLAN

World Dance Festival Baltimore will take the following precautions at the event:

Symptomatic Individuals: Any individual with suspicious symptoms will not be allowed to attend the event until they can be examined and cleared. That person’s roommates may also be asked to quarantine themselves.

HAND HYGEINE 

Hand sanitizer will be provided at water refill stations, food stations, the registration desk, and workshop/dance entry points. Hand sanitation will be mandatory upon entry to rooms. Frequently hand washing with soap is strongly recommended. Announcements will be made at various intervals encouraging this.

Common surfaces (microphones, etc.) will be wiped down with a disinfectant wipe between users.

CORONA VIRUS EVENT CANCELLATION PLAN

Pre-Event Cancellation Plan:

It is our responsibility to ensure that all our attendees are as safe as possible. In the event of a public health emergency, this may involve canceling or postponing the event. We will monitor the evolving situation closely. At this time, it is impossible to know what the situation will be in May 4-7. We currently do not plan to cancel the event.

If public health authorities determine to suspend schools, public transport, or other group gatherings, we will cancel or postpone the event. This is to ensure that our community remains as safe as possible.

If a Case is Diagnosed During the Event:

If any case of COVID-19 is confirmed during the event, we will work with local health authorities to manage the situation. This may include quarantining participants or venues where the event took place, and may result in the rest of the event being cancelled. All attendees are expected to comply with the directions of public health officials.

If an Attendee is Diagnosed After the Event:

If Baltimore Congress becomes aware of any individual diagnosed with COVID-19 within 21 days of the Festival end date, we will notify all participants so that they may take the necessary precautions to manage their individual situation and quarantine themselves.