core values
The Pony Sweat organization is inspired by queer-centered, intersectional feminist, anti-racist tenets. We recognize that members of the Pony Sweat community hold different types of privilege and we strive to make our community as culturally abundant as possible.
We articulate these values and community agreements to ask all of us to acknowledge our varied experiences, maybe do a privilege scan and ask ourselves how we can care for one another (and beyond), when we come together as a community. Each of us is responsible for creating and protecting the container of this practice, and so we ask everyone to bear these ideas and agreements in mind when doing Pony Sweat. And when mistakes happen, we hope we can learn from one another and practice compassion.
OUR VALUES
We are committed to being fiercely noncompetitive with ourselves and with each other.
We acknowledge that dance/fitness spaces can bring up shame, embarrassment and fear. Our mission is to create a safe container and ritual where we can work through those experiences in order to feel more empowered/grounded/at home in our bodies.
Every Body is a different Body. Every Body is a great Body. Fuck a universal standard. Fuck white supremacy. Fuck transphobia. Fuck fatphobia. Fuck colorism. Fuck ableism.
We acknowledge that most dance/fitness classes have built-in bias against people with disabilities, including Pony Sweat. We want to accommodate needs whenever we can. Please let us know if there is something we can do to make class more accessible for you.
We uphold a philosophy of abundance. There is enough space for everyone when we share it.
This is a PRACTICE. We are all learning and experimenting and exploring from a present body, wherever your body is at today.
We understand and continue to learn how each of us is different, that we have a multitude of complex backgrounds.
We recognize the wide income disparity between the rich and the poor in this country, and how that overwhelmingly affects BIPOC, Trans + Non-Binary + Intersex Folks, Undocumented Peoples, Queers, Femmes, and People with Disabilities. Pony Sweat offers sliding scale for all our offerings, and has No One Is Turned Away For Lack Of Funds (NOTAFLOF) for live stream class and video rentals.
We value the different spiritual practices and beliefs within our communities, and condemn religious intolerance.
We care for ourselves in order to care for others in our communities.
We believe in catharsis as a path to transformation and action.
We acknowledge that we are all on unceded Indigenous land and recognize that class is taught on Chumash, Tongva and Kizh traditional territories. These tribes still exist and this is their ancestral land we are on today, so we pay our respects to them. Look up the traditional territories you are on. We try to go beyond the symbolic, by taking actions in support of indigenous communities and paying a land tax.
We are committed to supporting communities, organizers, and activists fighting for social and economic justice for historically marginalized communities.
Community Agreements
These are actions we ask of all community members.
We ask you to hold space for discomfort that arises from learning and practicing.
Fuck the moves! None of this is supposed to look like anything. Notice how it feels instead.
We ask that you do not assume anyone’s gender or pronouns and to use gender inclusive language.
We ask that you challenge your assumptions that are based on anyone’s perceived or known ethnicity or race.
We ask you to be aware of the privilege you have.
We ask you to assess where you fall on the sliding scale spectrum. The Green Bottle Sliding Scale Tool can help you with this.
We ask you to take up the space your body requires for expression. This is an important practice especially for bodies that are consistently and systematically denied space for full expression and being.
We ask you to hold space for others.
We ask you to defy “compare and despair” thinking. Different experiences are the point!
We ask you to be empowered to set boundaries and to respect each other’s boundaries.
We ask you to ask for consent. We ask you to wait for clear consent.
We ask you to not sexualize other bodies in this space.
We ask you to try things outside of your comfort zone! Moves, outfits, vocalizing, hairstyles, feelings…
We ask you to learn from each other and practice compassion when we make mistakes.
We ask you to take breaks whenever you want!
We ask you to nourish your bodies with water, food, and rest.
We ask you to notice your bodies (breath, feet, bones, muscles, blood, skin.)
We ask you to practice gentle encouragement and tenderness with your bodies, and to treat this practice as one of nourishment, and never punishment.
We ask you to acknowledge that each of us is responsible for creating and protecting the container of this practice.
One last thing! You may feel strongly that you don’t belong, not the right body, not the right ability, not the right expressions of self, but if you want to be here, and our values resonate with you, then you are welcome here and we will support you. Reach out to us if you have suggestions for making Pony Sweat a more inclusive space.
These core values and actions were co-written by Michella Rivera and Emilia Richeson-Valiente. We collaboratively began writing this text at the Pony Sweat retreat in November 2019 with us, Jaquita Ta’le, CJ Miller, and Laurel Butler. This document was born out of the desire to crystallize the Pony Sweat philosophy and clarify our community agreements when we come together to dance. Articulating and publishing our values is a tangible step to addressing harmful behaviors we were witnessing and experiencing in class that did not support the intention of our practice.
We share these values to define the culture of class. Pony Sweat wants to be a space where folks can explore their varying, changing, fluid expressions of self through dance aerobics, and we name the actions each of us need to take to support each other in that. As an organization and individually we have faltered and made mistakes in trying to embody these values. This document is aspirational and serves as a guidepost and a dedication moving forward.