Our Guidelines

Self Awareness + Other Awareness = Healthy Community

The two approaches

There are two approaches when bringing a community together:

  • The “Focus on the Problems” Approach: Give everyone a list of behaviors and language that will not be tolerated. This approach — however well intended — focuses on the problems, not the solutions. Worse, it encourages us to see OTHER PEOPLE as being responsible for our pain and discomfort.

  • The “Focus on the Solutions” Approach: The approach we take asks everyone to focus on the joys and personal responsibilities of being in a community. This requires students and teachers to first hold themselves to a set of reasonable standards and responsibilities. This approach requires self-awareness first and THEN healthy communication with others.

Keep it simple

Improvisation is spontaneous. The unexpected not only CAN happen, but it often DOES. Because of that, we strive to create an environment of artistic exploration and freedom in a safe and permissive atmosphere. In our studio, participants are allowed and encouraged to experiment while they learn. If we make mistakes - and we most certainly will!! - that's OK. We don’t believe our goal is to avoid mistakes, rather to learn from them when they occur.

Our community asks all participants & instructors to follow these simple guidelines:

  • Be welcoming and kind to everyone!

  • Have fun!

  • Accept and celebrate differences!

  • Communicate & respect boundaries kindly!

  • Assume good intentions!

  • Allow for mistakes! 👍🏼 😊

Our instructors are here to provide a welcoming and fun environment in which to learn. When they don’t see students adhering to our guidelines, they’ll discuss those in the moment. We include many opportunities to speak & share during classes. Students who feel uncomfortable are encouraged to open up, be vulnerable, and tell the community so that we can have your back and support you. For those requiring more discretion, we encourage speaking with an instructor privately after class, by phone, or by email.

We’re all here to help one another learn and feel heard and valued on our journeys.

Humans and communities change over time. As a result, we’ll evolve and re-evaluate these guidelines as the need arises. Thank you, in advance, for helping our community to gather in kindness, joy, and personal responsibility.

Last Update: Feb 8th, 2025