About Us
Mission
Northern California Dance Collective (NCDC) is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization and a community of people who love to dance.
Our Mission Statement:
To nurture body, spirit, and community through dance and creative self-expression. We recognize and value the diversity of the world, and we host events where all kinds of people are welcome, belong, and are encouraged to do their own unique and beautiful dance.
We serve as a resource to the Bay Area freestyle dance community and beyond, providing information and support to local dances. Dancing together, working together, and playing together builds our community and offers us a model for the way the world can be.
Culture
NCDC has evolved from the tradition of smoke-free, alcohol-free, barefoot dances found in communities around the world. Our events are substance-free — we get high on dance! The heart of our events, the evening DJ’ed dances, include a wide variety of musical genres to encourage creative self-expression, connection, and play.
We consider dance camp to be an experience of community, a village of dancers, and we rely on everyone to participate in making camp happen and keeping up the vibe. When opportunities arise to volunteer or help out in some way, we hope you will participate joyfully!
We ask that you refrain from using scented products at camp (perfume, cologne, essential oils, scented body lotions and sunscreen, etc.) as some members of our community are chemically sensitive and become ill when exposed to those products.
We are committed to providing high-quality meals using primarily organic ingredients, and we reuse and recycle as much as possible.
Dance camp is a warm and intimate environment where healthy, playful expressions of sensuality are welcome. The acceptance of nudity, especially at the waterfront, is also part of our culture. We intend for camp to be a safe place that is as comfortable and respectful as possible, remembering that this is a family environment as well. We welcome many different expressions of spirituality, and we include ritual and ceremony at camp. You are welcome to organize your own spirit-based activities while at camp.
We value affordability and so our events are primarily volunteer-run. We also value shared leadership and group decision-making. Many thanks to the hard-working friends who make NCDC events happen!
NCDC endeavors to create a safe and supportive space for all. We ask all participants to be sensitive in their actions on the dance floor and their speech and actions off the dance floor. Some of the basic principles include, respecting personal space of others, approaching others with awareness, identify and honor you own needs, let honesty be your kindness, use your words if necessary, even in a talk-free dance space or workshop, be mindful of parents and children and respectful of others with your sensuality, and honor and be aware of the myriad of difference in gender, race, sexual preferences, etc. while at camp.
For more information, please see our NCDC Behavioral Agreements.
Northern California Dance Collective
Who We Are
Work With Us!
About 1/2 of our campers work to make camp happen during the event and the months that precede it.Working at camp you co-create with magical participants who make camp special.You also receive significant tuition discounts for your efforts!
Our Behavioral Agreements at NCDC Dance Events
Imagine a dance camp where we practice Conscious Connection in every point of contact. Where we relax, open up and express our full-range selves. Where we check in with each other about our impact often. Where we practice asking for what we want. And where we trust that each individual is representing themselves honestly. Where “no” is an authentic expression of kindness and an investment in connection. And where “yes” is trustworthy and represents a genuine desire to connect.
Imagine how fun and freeing it would be to dance, on and off the dance floor, in this place. THIS is what we are striving for at NCDC events. In order to guide us in the direction of this vision, we offer the following eight practice guidelines. Please read carefully, discuss with others often and consult a camp organizer immediately if something feels “off” to you in regards to your experience of safety and consent at camp.
1. Respect Personal Space
Many dancers here enjoy dancing with themselves or with only a select few partners. Please check any assumptions that someone is interested in interactions with you on the dance floor. They may be! But they may also not be. If someone does not respond to your efforts to dance with them, or if they communicate a desire for space, please treat this as a “no” and continue with your own dance.
2. Approach with Awareness
If you seek interaction with another dancer, make a small or subtle invitation and observe their response. For instance, allow your movement to match theirs in some way or make eye contact. Do not approach from behind because this does not give the other dancer the opportunity to consent. If their response appears to be mutually inviting, make another small step towards interaction. With each step, carefully observe non-verbal cues to assess in each moment whether or not the interaction is mutually consensual. This increases the likelihood that your presence will be welcome and that your dance together will be juicy because both partners are a yes!
3. Identify and Honor Your Own Preferences
Please practice trusting in your internal communication network that signals to you, “Yes, I want this!” and “No, I don’t want this”. Tune into that voice and practice conveying it on the outside as often and as clearly as you can. We encourage you to avoid interactions you don’t want and to discontinue interactions that you are not enjoying. You never need to wait until the end of a song to end an interaction. Whenever you are clear inside, take action.
4. Let Honesty Be Your Kindness
We may be tempted to suppress our own needs in order to avoid offending or disappointing another person. Please consider that honestly expressing our personal preference is the best way to come into authentic relationship with others. It is in fact a kindness! Respect that each person can process whatever feelings they have about what is true for you without you having to change yourself to protect them from discomfort. See, isn’t that a relief?
5. Use Your Words
If someone is not responding to your nonverbal “no”, please tell them what you want. For instance, say “I want to dance on my own now” or “I prefer less physical contact” or “I get dizzy if I spin too much. Please put me down”. Be as direct as you need to be to get your message across.
If someone is not responding to your nonverbal invitations, please take that answer as a “no” and do not persist by asking them to give you a verbal “no” as well. If there is some confusion, please use the default assumption that they are a “no” to continuing. You may later, off the dance floor, ask if the person is open to talking about the interaction by saying, “Would you be open to talking with me about what happened earlier on the dance floor?” Then honor their yes or no in response.
6. Making Out
At NCDC events, sensuality and sexuality can be celebrated as part of the dance of who we are. We also want to be sensitive to those who feel uncomfortable observing overt sexual activity in public spaces. Thus, we ask that you choose non-public spaces for making out, eg. no make-outs on the dance floor or just outside of dance hall. "Making out" in this case refers to extended french kissing and/or direct hand to genital contact. We also hope that if you do make-out with anyone at camp that you will both practice conscientious consent and open communication as outlined in this document.
7. Check Post-Dance Assumptions
Many of us use the dance floor as a free space to explore our present emotions and interactional possibilities. In order to experience maximum freedom while dancing, we ask that you avoid assuming that intimate connections you have on the dance floor imply a willingness to follow up later. A very close or sexy dance can be complete unto itself and does not indicate consent to advances off the dance floor. If you want further connection with someone off the dance floor, that should be a separate conversation, unburdened by assumptions generated during a dance. For example, after a dance you might approach the person and say, “I’d like to connect with you. Are you open?” If you receive this kind of invitation and are not interested, it is a kindness to the other to offer a, “No thank you”. With those three words you are saying, “I value our connection enough to be honest with you”. If you receive a no thank you, then the interaction ends there. If you get a “yes”, then continue to check for openness and commit to going only as far as there is a mutual, “Hell yes!”
8. Be Aware of Differences
We all come from different backgrounds and we may enjoy different types of dance and personal connection. Please do not assume a mutual interest in weight sharing, extended eye contact, close physical contact or any other space-sharing preference. Our innate personalities and our past experiences may leave us hungry for connection or wary of boundary violations. Or both! Only with conscious awareness can we arrive at whatever is mutually consensual. The practice of checking assumptions and drawing boundaries allows a doorway to find out what is true for each other. For example, “Are you open to cuddling?” “How do you feel about being lifted?” and “I don’t enjoy extended eye gazing while I am dancing”. Check and share often, and then we can trust that what remains is real!
[This document was adapted from one created by Jessica Tartaro and Tim Hartnett].