Alright. Let’s see if I can provide all of the relevant links here, so anyone who is not caught up on the Tribal Fest situation can get caught up, before I share my opinion.
On Sunday, this happened… although at the time, no names were attached to it: Public Statement Regarding Tribal Fest. Even without names attached, the people who were sharing it were people who I know and trust within the dance community.
Today, we received two separate responses from Tribal Fest, one from Kajira and one from Chuck (one of the perpetrators of the events mentioned in the Public Statement).
So my thoughts on this? I stand with the teachers and vendors who are pulling out of the event. I share their feeling of having their trust violated.
Regarding Kajira’s response, I believe her when she says she did not know about the secret group. I believe her when she says how upset she is. On the other hand, I have heard from multiple sources that she did not, in fact, reach out to them to apologize. Since I am not directly involved on either side, I cannot know for certain what happened, only what I feel in my gut.
My gut feeling? No one would pull out of Tribal Fest lightly, not when they had already been announced as a teacher, not when they had a years-long relationship with the event, not when setting up there as a vendor served as a large chunk of their annual income, not when being accepted to teach there for the first time next year was going to give their career a big leg-up. As such, I am choosing to believe the teachers and vendors when they say that the official response they received before going public was insufficient.
It has been promised that despite the number of teachers and vendors pulling out, TF16 will still continue next year. I want to make it clear that I am not going to judge or think less of anyone who chooses to attend, for whatever reason. However, I will not be joining you. Why? For me, Tribal Fest was never about the fact that it was Tribal Fest. It was not about Kajira and Chuck and Sebastopol. It was about the friends and teachers and vendors I wanted to see. The people are what truly makes an event. The people are why I go to LVBDI year after year even though I kind of hate Vegas. And the people are why I will NOT be attending Tribal Fest next year, because most of the people I know and love will not be there. An event is not a name or a place. It is a community, and that community can be relocated or renamed.
There has been some push within the community to go anyway, to support Kajira. They say it’s unfair that she should be punished for her husband’s actions. I agree. It is unfair. But that doesn’t change the fact that it is going to happen. Actions have consequences that reach beyond yourself. Chuck’s behavior hurt a lot of people, and in turn, a lot of people will be hurt as a result of those actions coming to light. Kajira will be hurt by the damage done to her event, as well as whatever emotions she is feeling personally. Local businesses in Sebastopol will be hurt by the smaller attendance at the event. The teachers and vendors who stay will be hurt by lower class enrollment and less shoppers. The people who choose to attend will be hurt by having less awesome teachers, vendors and performers. The photographers and videographers will be hurt by having less performers there ordering from them. And so on and so on.
Does it suck? Oh yeah. But that’s the way things are. Any bad action and its resulting consequences ripple far beyond just the perpetrator and the initial victim. That said, my primary sympathy is still with the victims.
Will I ever return to Tribal Fest? It’s possible. But not in 2016. I’m leaving it to other dancers to attend, and tell me how they felt. Did they feel safe? Did they feel welcome? Did they feel like all of the perpetrators of this hateful event were expunged? Do they feel like the event can return to its previous wonderful reputation? If they say yes to all of these things, then maybe a few years down the road I’ll feel willing to give it a second chance. But broken trust is not easily mended. In the meantime, I want to explore some of the other events I’ve heard good things about, and visit with other parts of the global dance community.
So that’s my .02. Again, I’d like to reiterate that I don’t blame anyone who has decided they want to continue to support the event, and I wish good luck to Kajira and any teacher, vendor, or student who chooses to be a part of TF 2016.