Opting out of performing

Your child can stop performing at any time, at any step, with no questions asked and no penalty.

The promise

Any child, or any parent or guardian, can say no to performing at any time:

No questions. You don't have to give a reason.
No penalty. Opting out never affects Passport stamps, badges, graduation, class participation or how coaches treat your child.
No pressure. Staff will not try to talk a child back into performing. Other children won't be allowed to tease or pressure them either.

At any of these moments, and any moment in between:

Before you sign the performance consent form, simply by not signing it.
After signing, by withdrawing consent.
The day before an event.
At check-in on event day.
Backstage, a minute before going on.
On stage, in the middle of a set. See the Stage freeze protocol for how the Lab adult helps a child step off smoothly.

We teach children that any of these work, and that they all count the same:

No child has to explain why.

For one event: tell the Lab adult at check-in, or contact Stephen Henry before the event.
For all performances: contact Stephen Henry at 872-255-9333 or stephen@selassiefest.com and say you are withdrawing performance consent. It takes effect as soon as we receive it. We record the withdrawal with your child's consents, which only coaches can see.
You can give consent again later if you change your mind.

An Open Decks slot at Rainbow Wednesdays (when that series runs) is your child's to use or decline. Declining it does not cancel graduation.
Nothing your child gives up is announced to the crowd or the class as a "no-show." The MC simply moves to the next act.

A child who never performs still: