Ontario Regional Contact Jam

A. Community Agreement

1. Physical safety

When in the jam space I recognize that I can best contribute to everyone’s safety by taking active responsibility for my own safety.

I will be aware of the dancers and non-dancers around me. I understand that keeping my eyes open, moving within my ability to keep myself and others safe, and being aware of where I am in relation to others and to the ground will contribute to making the dance space safe for everyone. I’ll avoid wearing exposed items such as zippers, buckles, jewelry that might poke or scratch.

2. Boundaries and communication

I will pay attention to my personal needs, feelings and boundaries and will communicate them as clearly as I can. By noticing and expressing what works and doesn’t work for me I contribute to an open, collaborative environment.

I will pay attention to, and be respectful of, the needs, feelings and boundaries of others.

3. Hygiene and etiquette

I understand that good hygiene and etiquette contribute to making the jam enjoyable and comfortable for everyone. It’s a long, sweaty, weekend, with a lot of people in a closed space, so I’ll wash myself and my clothes. To support those with allergies or sensitivities

I will avoid scents or perfumes (e.g. scented deodorants, creams, soaps, shampoos, detergent, hairsprays, dryer sheets, moth balls) on myself and my clothing.

I’ll keep my dance clothes away from pets.

4. Laws, regulations and values

I understand that the jam space is within the province of Ontario, Canada and that I will abide by Ontario laws and regulations. I understand that the ORCJ will not accept sexual assault, sexual harassment or other harmful and/or unlawful behavior at the Jam.

I understand that the ORCJ is intended to be free of oppressive behaviour (discrimination and harassment) including on the basis of race, ancestry, place of origin, colour, ethnic origin, citizenship, creed (religion), sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, marital status, family status, disability, or the receipt of public assistance.

B. Release and Waiver

In consideration of my participation at the Ontario Regional Contact Jam (the Jam):

1. I acknowledge, agree and represent that I understand the nature of contact improvisation, and that I am qualified, in good health, and in proper physical condition to participate in such activity.

2. I fully understand that:

contact improv involves risks and dangers;
these risks and dangers may be caused by my own actions or inactions, the actions or inactions of others participating in the activity, or the condition of the physical environment in which the activity takes place;
there may be other risks and social and economic losses either not known to me or not readily foreseeable at this time; and I fully accept and assume all such risks and all such responsibility for losses, costs and damages I incur as a result of my participation.

3. I hereby release, discharge, and covenant not to sue any of the Jam organizers or volunteers, nor the owners or lessors of the premises on which the activity takes place and shall indemnify and hold them harmless from all liability, claims, demands, losses, or damages on my account.

4. There will be photography and videography by people designated by the event organizers. Unless I explicitly opt out, photos and videos (“images”) taken may include my likeness and may be released into the public domain. To the extent possible under law, I waive all copyright and related or neighboring rights to these images.

I have read the Ontario Regional Contact Jam

Community Agreement,
Release and Waiver,
Guide for Collaborative Conflict Resolution, and
Safeguards for Organizer Interventions in Conflicts,

fully understand their terms, and have signed freely and without inducement or assurance of any nature and intend this to be a complete and unconditional release of all liability to the full extent allowed by law and agree that if any portion of this agreement, release and waiver is held to be invalid the balance, notwithstanding, shall continue in full force and effect.

Print: _______________________________________ Sign: _______________________________________ Date: ____________

Print: _______________________________________ Sign: _______________________________________ Date: ____________

C. Guidelines for Collaborative Conflict Resolution

We would like to nurture a Jam space where agreement, disagreement, comfort, discomfort, similarities and differences are held in a context of goodwill, learning and collaboration.

We will support people in noticing and expressing their needs, feelings, desires and boundaries. And we will support people in paying attention to and being respectful of the needs, feelings, desires and boundaries of others.

In general, we come to a Contact Improvisation Jam for an experience of sharing and harmony, but we recognize that part of contact improvisation may involve some experiences of conflict. Conflicts may be between individuals or between individuals and the values expressed in the Community Agreement. We will support people in seeing conflict, if and when it occurs, in the larger context of growth, learning, non-violence and collaboration. We will support people in choosing the path forward to best resolve the conflict.

The support we are able to offer can come in many forms:

We will be reminding people to pay attention to their boundaries and to respect the boundaries of others.
There will be volunteers in the dance space who can hear participants share their experience and offer them feedback.
Volunteers can be present as a silent observer as a person addresses an issue with another participant.
Volunteers can facilitate a discussion between participants. This could involve any number of people from two to a larger group.
Volunteers can act as intermediaries if face-to-face discussion does not feel possible to a participant who has identified a conflict. The intermediary role in a conflict can evolve to include facilitation of a discussion between participants.
Volunteers will try to accommodate other support requests as far as they are able.

When a conflict remains unresolved despite the best efforts of those involved within the Jam Context, ORCJ organizers can be requested to make a decision concerning the conflict, or may decide that it is within their responsibility as the Jam organizers to make such a decision.

In the above case, the ORCJ organizers have created written safeguards to help in making such decisions. These safeguards can be found overleaf. Please remember that the ORCJ reserves the right to bar access to the Jam space to any person at any time.

D. Safeguards for Organizer Interventions in Conflicts

We hope that – through the Jam Context – conflicts between Jam participants will be resolved collaboratively and to the satisfaction of those involved. In situations where the ORCJ organizers are asked, or feel it necessary, to intervene to help resolve a conflict, we have set forth these principles for our process of involvement:

We are committed to making our process of consideration as transparent as is reasonable.

We believe that decisions related to conflict are best made with as much information as possible and we will be as thorough as we can in gathering all information available.

We believe that all people concerned in a conflict should have an opportunity to have their voice heard.

The group formed to find resolution in a conflict will consist of at least four ORCJ organizers, and they will operate by consensus: all participants must give consent for any decision to be made.

If one of the people involved in a conflict is concerned that an ORCJ organizer has a conflict of interest in regards to the conflict the ORCJ organizer will remove themselves from the decision process and another ORCJ organizer will replace them.

For transparency and fairness we are reluctant to respond to anonymous complaints.

ORCJ organizer interventions may take the form of restrictions on behavior or possibly asking someone to leave the Jam space. If a person feels that they have been treated unfairly by us we will make sure they have a way to appeal our decision. This may be in the form of a community meeting, involving an independent mediator, or responding in another way requested by the person.