ACDA recognizes that Art can provoke; therefore, during the course of the conference or festival, participants are empowered to remove themselves from conference or festival activities.

ACDA is committed to ensuring all participants feel welcome and safe at our programs and events. Join us by treating your fellow attendees with respect and compassion, holding space for new or challenging ideas, and engaging in discussions thoughtfully. ACDA is dedicated to advancing dance in higher education in the arts through the lens of our Core Values: Service, Education, Inclusion, Respect, and Equity. We encourage all attendees to be mindful of and sensitive to this framework as you engage in event activities and with other attendees. ACDA actively promotes the respect for and value of human diversity within its membership and the profession of dance. ACDA does not condone nor tolerate harassment or offensive behavior. If you feel unsafe at any point during the event or witness behavior that puts others at risk, please contact an ACDA staff member (info@acda.dance) and ACDA’s Executive Director Mattie Fenton (mattie.fenton@acda.dance). ACDA will investigate incidents promptly and confidentially. ACDA reserves the right to revoke, without refund, access to the event.

*The ACDA Code of Conduct for Participants was adopted and modified in June of 2024 from the Code of Conduct created and developed by the National Dance Education Organization (NDEO)  in support of providing a safe environment for the greater dance community.

ACDA values the importance of consent when it comes to physical touch during our practice. Everyone’s comfort level with physical contact varies, and it’s critical that we respect and honor all of those boundaries. Your instructors are here to guide and support you during the learning process, but should make it clear that any physical adjustments or corrections will only be made with your explicit consent. If at any time you’re uncomfortable with being adjusted by a teacher or touched by another participant in class, please feel free to let the instructor know, either verbally or through a gesture. Your comfort and safety are ACDA’s top priorities and we want your experience to be one in which everyone feels respected and empowered.

ACDA strives to create educational spaces where everyone is seen and celebrated. We support and empower everyone’s identities and backgrounds, including pronouns and names. As a participant of an ACDA program, if you are mistakenly identified, for example with an incorrect pronoun or an incorrect name, please correct the error and accept our apologies as part of the learning process.

Dance/USA wrote the following Statement.  ACDA, along with 19 other dance organizations has signed on in support: Professional dance, like any other industry in our society, must reckon with the dynamics of power, the challenges of interpersonal communication, and the impact of systemic inequities. Power can be abused and inappropriate or disrespectful behavior can harm individuals’ ability to thrive.  Furthermore, abuse of power, bullying, and harassment can impact all people regardless of gender, identity, ability, race, age, or sexual orientation. Anyone can be an offender or a victim.

As awareness of the extent and effects of sexual harassment in the arts and other fields has been raised in our country, a cultural shift is underway to decry the silence and impunity that has for too long enabled misuses of power. As a national service organization for dance, it is our responsibility to promote healthy and safe working environments in our field and to support the cultural movement towards a more equitable future.

We challenge and commit ourselves to celebrating our art form of physical expression while ensuring our field is a safe and equitable place for all.

This is an opportunity for everyone in the dance field to audit themselves and their organizations and ask: Is the culture in my dance environment healthy? Are individuals who need to speak up empowered and given a supportive path to do so? Is everyone, in all levels and positions, educated about what behavior is inappropriate and about what constitutes an equitable workplace? Are the individuals in power respectful of everyone around them? None of us should be exempt from honestly conducting this personal evaluation.

To support the dance field during this time of national cultural change, dance service organizations are coming together in solidarity. Together, we commit to advocate for healthy organizational environments that do not tolerate harassment of any kind or abuse of power. United, we champion a just and equitable culture where individuals have supportive pathways to speak up.

By signing on to this statement, we agree to:

• Advocate for a culture that is safe and equitable for all individuals and is intolerant of harassment of any kind or abuse of power
• Ensure our own organizations put in place and enforce healthy and equitable policies and procedures
• Provide resources, information, and/or education to the dance field, as appropriate, to promote safe and equitable work environments for all individuals in our field

Alabama Dance Council; Birmingham, AL
American College Dance Association; Rockville, MD
American Tap Dance Foundation; New York,
NY Audience Architects; Chicago, IL
Boston Dance Alliance; Boston, MA
Dance/NYC; New York, NY
Dance/USA; Washington, DC
Dance Bridge with the City of Boulder Office of Arts + Culture; Boulder, CO
Dance Metro DC; Washington, DC
Dance Resource Center; Los Angeles, CA
Dance Source Houston; Houston, TX
Dance Wire; Portland, OR
Dancers’ Group; San Francisco Bay Area, CA
Destiny Arts Center; Oakland, CA
National Dance Education Organization; Silver Spring, MD
New England Foundation for the Arts; Boston, MA
OhioDance; Columbus, OH
Resources for Dancers at The Actors Fund, supporting dancers nationally, with headquarters in New York, NY
The Dance Complex; Cambridge, MA
The International Association of Blacks in Dance, Inc.; Washington, D.C.

Download the Dance/USA Statement In Support of a Healthy Safe and Equitable Culture