House rules

Urban Essentials is a festival about dance, culture and people. These rules exist so that everyone — dancing their first year or their twentieth — feels safe and welcome here.

They apply to everybody: participants, teachers, judges, volunteers, crew, guests and audience. In every space, on every day, and online too.

By registering you confirm that you have read them.

1. Respect — for everyone, equally

Treat every person as an equal. On the dance floor and off it. That holds regardless of how long someone has danced, where they came from, how they look, how they speak or what they call themselves.

Think about how your actions land. In a room of a hundred people, your joke is not private.

2. Consent first: only yes means yes

Dance is contact, and contact needs consent — every time, not once for the whole night.

Invite people to dance; do not pull them by the arm. Silence, hesitation or an awkward smile is not a yes. If you are not sure, ask. If someone declines, accept it immediately and without comment — no one owes you a reason.

The same goes for conversation, for touch, and for any kind of closeness.

3. Zero tolerance

No tolerance for discrimination, harassment or violence. Not in the hall, not at the bar, not in messages after the festival.

That includes racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism, and harassment based on age, body, background or belief. It also includes what happens on a screen: online abuse, sharing someone’s images, publishing private data, and AI-generated content about people at this festival.

4. Where this culture comes from

Hip-hop was born out of Black and Latino communities in New York. We are dancing in their language — it is worth knowing whose it is, and speaking about it with respect.

Urban Essentials is international. Different countries, different styles, different habits. If you are unsure about someone’s boundaries or customs, it is always better to ask respectfully than to assume.

5. Cyphers and battles

The cypher belongs to everyone. Step in, give something, step out — do not hold the circle and do not block the people behind you.

In a battle you compete with a dancer, not with a person. No physical contact, no harassment dressed up as style. The judges’ decision is final even when you disagree with it — take the disagreement to a conversation afterwards, not to the microphone during.

If you lose, shake hands. If you win, shake hands.

6. Children and minors

There are people under 18 at this festival. Be especially careful with them — boundaries, language, contact, photographs.

Anyone under 18 needs a parent’s or guardian’s consent. That is why we ask for a date of birth at registration.

If you see an adult behaving towards a minor in a way that looks wrong to you, say something. Better to be mistaken than silent.

7. Look after yourself and each other

Sleep, drink water, eat. Five days is a long time.

Protect your hearing — use earplugs, especially if you brought a child. Know your limits: a pulled muscle on day one means four days in a chair.

For first aid, ask at the check-in or volunteers desk. If someone is unwell, do not leave them alone and tell the crew.

8. Photos and video

There is an official photographer and videographer working at the festival. Their images are used in festival communication.

If you would rather not be photographed, tell the photographer or the crew and we will respect it. If you find yourself in a published photo and want it taken down, write to info@lowair.lt.

And if you are filming yourself: ask first. Especially in a cypher, and especially if there are minors in frame. Something happening in public is not consent to being in your recording.

9. If something is wrong, speak up

If you experience or witness something that feels unsafe, come to us. You do not need to be certain. You do not need proof.

During the festival, find Laurynas Žakevičius or Airida Gudaitė — at the check-in or volunteers desk, or through any member of the crew.

After the festival, or if you would rather write it down calmly: info@lowair.lt.

Every report gets an answer. Nothing happens without your knowledge.

10. What happens if these are broken

The festival team decides. Depending on the situation: a conversation, a warning, or being asked to leave.

If you are removed, the ticket or registration fee is not refunded. In serious cases we involve the appropriate authorities.

These rules are not a threat. They are a promise to everybody else.

Questions — info@lowair.lt.