The Queen’s Swing Dance Club (QSDC) partnered with the Human Rights Equity Office (HREO) and Sexual Violence Prevention Response (SVPR) for a lesson and dance social aimed at promoting the practice of consent within dance.
Marking the final event of Consent Awareness Week at Queen’s, the Sept. 20 event began with a one-hour Lindy Hop lesson, led by Allyson Smith and Alex Mallen, Kin ’27, followed by two hours of social dancing with live music provided by student DJ Sefanit Zeray, CompSci ’25. The dance took place in the Elspeth Baugh Fireside Room at Ban Righ Hall, which was transformed into a lively dance venue with colourful string lights.
READ MORE: Consent Awareness Week takes place this week
Throughout the dance lesson, there was an emphasis on dance consent. Queen’s SVPR organized the Consent Awareness Week, which ran from Sept. 18 to 22, to acknowledge the importance of consent, particularly in the first weeks of school when instances of sexual violence tend to increase. All proceeds collected from the event were donated to Kingston Interval House, an organization for women and children in crisis.
Since swing dance involves switching partners frequently, the QSDC encourages dancers to say “no” to someone if they aren’t comfortable dancing with them, reminding attendees to take “no” gracefully without demanding an explanation or taking personal offense.
There are no gender roles in the QSDC, solely a lead and a follow, and there’s no gender pressure involving which role each person is expected to play.
“We want to normalize consent in our own context. Dance is a good example of how we give and ask for consent in a lot of places in our lives. We want to normalize and practice consent in a structured setting like swing dance,” Executive Vice President of QSDC, Amy Parks, PhD ’24, said in an interview with The Journal.
Swing dance has deep roots in Black history and is often performed to jazz music. The rise of the Lindy Hop and other forms of swing dance occurred in the Harlem Renaissance, a cultural revival of African-American music and art during the 20s to 30s in Harlem, New York.
“The dance is a Black cultural dance with a lot of history behind it. We spend a lot of time learning about the music and where it is coming from. There is a certain amount of respect you have to have as a dancer,” said QSDC Social Media Representative Sam Gene in an interview with The Journal.
QSDC, which meets every Monday and Wednesday evening, is celebrating its 25 year anniversary this year. Swing dance, as a social dance, fosters an inviting community for people of all ages, making it a tradition worth preserving.
“No matter how bad or good dancers are, if you show up and we’re dancing to music, we are together and enjoying ourselves in a safe, healthy, and diverse way. It’s a very positive community that we want to preserve,” Parks said.
Gene discussed how QSDC serves as an outlet for students and community who are overwhelmed by external responsibilities, as it’s an open minded, respectful, fun, and non-judgmental community.
“It’s not swing dance, it’s not pleasurable, it’s not creative if one or more people are coerced. If one person doesn’t give their consent, there’s coercion, and that’s not the kind of swing dance we want. You don’t want to be touched by someone who wouldn’t want to ask,” Parks said.
As Consent Awareness Week draws to a close, QSDC provided an enjoyable and creative space to let loose. Every time we share our bodies and movements with another person, it’s crucial to ensure comfort and consent.
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