At Windy City Fusion, we have the following expectations:

Be Safe: Engage in behavior and interactions that are safe for you, your partner, and those around you on and off the dance floor. 

Have Fun: We want everyone to enjoy dancing at Windy City Fusion. We encourage our dancers to be friendly with each other, engage with dancers new to our events, and feel free to express themselves however they see fit. We discourage behavior that negatively impacts another person’s ability to have fun at our events.

Dance: This is a no brainer!

We find that most issues in a dance community derive from violations of these expectations.

When an expectation has been violated: 

  • We would like the opportunity to speak with the individual who experienced and/or witnessed the infraction so that we may directly address the issue with the offending dancer(s). 
  • The best people to talk to are our organizers, Janea and/or Kent. 
  • If you are unfamiliar with their faces, feel free to ask the volunteer at the front desk, the DJ, or even another dancer. 
  • There are also a few other dancers around who may be willing to talk to you about your issues and relay them to Janea and/or Kent on your behalf.

Our response to the violation: 

  • Our goal is to inform and educate dancers demonstrating problematic behavior about where and how they crossed line(s) so that they can correct their behavior. 
  • Our approach to addressing issues that arise is to assume the issue or transgression was not malicious and that the individual responsible is receptive to feedback. 
  • We have found that many situations can be resolved by effective and empathetic communication by all parties. 
  • We acknowledge that this may not always be possible and we shall afford ourselves whatever means necessary to ensure the intellectual, emotional, and physical safety of our dancers and event.

Useful terms and how they are used by Windy City Fusion:

Safe Space: a place or environment in which a person can feel confident that they will not be exposed to discrimination, criticism, harassment, or any other emotional or physical harm.

  • We feel that the above definition applies to all of Windy City Fusion’s venues and events by nature of ‘Be Safe’ and ‘Have Fun.’ Violations of those expectations inherently violate safe space.
  • Bigotry of any kind, be it racism, homophobia, sexism, etc., is not tolerated at Windy City Fusion.
  • If any dancer feels that safe space has been violated, they should reach out to Janea, and/or Kent at their earliest convenience so that violators may be confronted.

Consent: permission for something to happen or agreement to do something.

  • By entering WCF, you consent to our policies and expectations.
  • We do NOT assume your consent to dance with everyone in the room, nor to perform all the dance moves your partner may desire. We highly encourage that consent for things such as close embrace or any kind of dip is actively and explicitly sought and acquired with each partner.
  • Consent within a dance may be withdrawn at any time for any reason by either partner. Consent to our policies may only be withdrawn by leaving the event. If a dancer has concerns about our policies, they are welcome to speak with Janea and/or Kent about them, inside or outside of an event.​

Restorative Justice: a system of justice that focuses on the rehabilitation of offenders through reconciliation with victims and the community at large.

  • Where appropriate, repeat offenders of community expectations may be required to complete a restorative justice process in order to return to Windy City Fusion’s events. What that restorative justice looks like will depend on the nature and severity of the infractions.
  • While many issues Windy City Fusion deals with arise from the clash of different dance cultures and expectations meeting for the first time on a fusion floor, we don’t view bigotry as a clash of culture. Those who issue slurs of any kind against another dancer will be asked to apologize to that dancer, given a single warning about their behavior, and repeat offenders will be asked to leave that event and to take a break from attending Windy City Fusion events.
  • If a crime is committed at Windy City Fusion, that crime automatically breaches our Community Expectations. The offender will receive a minimum three month ban from the event, and depending on the crime, may also receive an extensive restorative justice process in order to return to Windy City Fusion’s Events. Windy City Fusion also has a duty to report the crime to the appropriate authorities.