Terms and Conditions

Welcome to SwingStep GmbH (“SwingStep,” “we,” “our” or “us”) and/or any of our affiliate websites that feature other products and services by SwingStep GmbH. 

Please read this document carefully. We offer a range of services that can enhance your experience as a dancer. When you use our services (for example: join our subscriptions, classes, parties, events, engage with the community on our platforms, purchase gift certificates, online videos, or any other products) you will be subject to the guidelines, terms and agreements applicable to our services.  

These terms and conditions apply to all our websites, studios, events (collectively, “services”) and they apply to all visitors, users and others (“you”) who access or use the services.

By using any of the products or services owned and operated by SwingStep GmbH, you are confirming that you have read and accepted these terms and conditions. 

By engaging with our services, you confirm that you are of legal age to form a binding contract or that you have parental consent to receive our services. You also agree that you are providing true, accurate, current and complete information about yourself as prompted by the registration or purchase process for the service you engage with. You agree that you will maintain and update your registration data to keep it true, accurate, current and complete in case of changes. We do reserve the right to suspend or terminate access to our service at any time if we suspect that you have not provided us with true, accurate, current and complete information, or if you break our Code of Conduct. 

Current Products:

Privacy Policy

For your convenience, we have added information to our privacy policy that helps you understand what your rights are and what you can demand, not only from us, but from any service providers you encounter. We highly recommend you to read our privacy policy where we clearly explain how we use and store your data.

Our Services

SwingStep GmbH offers both open-to-all videos and activities as well as videos and activities for those who sign up for a subscription. 

OPEN-TO-ALL SERVICES

As we are part of a bigger community, it is important that there are opportunities for people to meet and interact independent of where they take classes. 

In Berlin and Heidelberg we offer weekly free-practice sessions that anyone can join independently of any subscription with us. Occasionally we also have social dancing events that are for free and open to all. 

We also have prepared videos, for example history lessons, that are available on our website for anyone who wishes to deepen their knowledge about this dance. 

SINGLE TICKET PURCHASES

You can book a single drop-in lesson using our single-ticket offer. Also, we offer services not included in our subscriptions, for example occasional workshops. In those cases, we clearly indicate which aspects of the service are included in a subscription and which require a single ticket purchase.

SUBSCRIPTIONS

We currently offer the following programs:

  • OnlinePass Subscription
  • CityPass Subscription (Heidelberg Pass, Berlin Pass etc.) 
  • Teacher Training Program

Having an ongoing subscription is necessary in order to have access to these services. 

The subscriptions that come with a monthly payment are set to automatically be paid to SwingStep GmbH via stripe or paypal services. If you need another way to set up your subscription please contact us. If a payment is not completed, you will automatically lose access to your subscription and be moved to the Free Pass Subscription. Payments are made after an existing payment period of 30 days and on the first day of the new 30 day period.

For the Teacher Training Program, payments will automatically end after three 30-day periods; after these three months you will lose access to the Online Pass material and to all live coaching sessions and recordings, but you will retain access to all of the audio and text lesson material.

Please note that all our charges include 19% VAT as well as fees for music licensing (GEMA). Our events with live acts include the contributions to the artists’ health and social care authority (Künstlersozialkasse).

With each subscription or service you will receive regular email containing information connected to your subscription and payment.

How to Pause or Cancel a Subscription

You will have access to a personal account page from which you can pause or cancel your subscription on a 30-day basis. 

When you pause your subscription: 

  • You will continue to have access to online content and in-person classes until the end of the remaining 30-day period.
  • After this period ends, you will no longer have access, and you will no longer be charged for the subscription; you can always come back to your account and reactivate your subscription to regain access.
  • If your 30-day period runs out before your ongoing courses do, please communicate with us and we can work out an arrangement together. 
  • The benefit of pausing your subscription is that you do not have to enter your payment details again when you restart, which makes the process much easier for you. 
  • There are no charges for pausing subscriptions.

When you cancel a Pass subscription: 

  • you will continue to have access to the online content and classes until the end of the remaining 30-day period. 
  • After this period ends, you will no longer have access, and you will no longer be charged for the subscription; you can always come back to your account and reactivate your subscription to regain access.
  • If your 30-day period runs out before your ongoing courses do, please communicate with us and we can work out an arrangement together. 
  • If you cancel your subscription, you will have to re-enter your payment details in case you choose to re-subscribe. 
  • There are no charges for canceling subscriptions.

When you cancel the Teacher Training Program:

If for any reason, you wish to cancel your pass before your third month, you can do so. Please write us an email and we figure out how to best go about your cancellation and access to your remaining days of content. Simply write to: [email protected].

Money-back guarantee on your first 30 days

All our subscriptions come with a first 30 day money back guarantee. If you sign up for a subscription, and after the first 30 days you feel it was not what you expected and you are not satisfied with the experience, you can ask for part or all of your money back. We believe our services will bring you a lot of value so we are confident that we can provide you this guarantee.

However, please note that this policy only applies to the services directly provided to you by SwingStep GmbH, and does not include any costs for traveling, accommodation, catering or any other services or costs not directly paid to SwingStep GmbH. 

The Online Pass Subscription

For how long do I have access to the content?

With these subscriptions you have access to all their courses and live sessions throughout your subscription period. When you pause or cancel your subscription, you’ll stop having access to the online classes included in the subscription, and we ask that you no longer join our live sessions.

Do my partner and I need separate accounts?

Yes. We are counting on one account per person. However, if the subscriptions fees are not working for you, please look at our pay-it-forward-fund and decide if that is a good solution for you.

The Teacher Training Program

For how long do I have access to the content?

You have access to all lessons and live sessions, as well as an Online Pass, throughout your three-month program period. If you need to pause your progress, please contact us directly to find a solution.

Do my partner and I need separate accounts?

Yes. We are counting on one account per person. However, if the subscriptions fees are not working for you, please look at our pay-it-forward-fund and decide if that is a good solution for you.

The City Pass Subscription

The City Pass Subscription gives you access to all of our courses, whenever there is space available. Our goal is for each subscriber to get at least one, ideally more, class per week. However, we cannot guarantee that there will be something for you every week. If we fail to give you a drop-in or fixed course for a week, we ask you to be understanding of the situation. However, if we fail to give you either drop-in or fixed courses for multiple weeks in a row, please contact us so that we can find a solution for you. The solution could be a refund in the form of credit or other solutions.

We reserve the right to adjust the offer as we gain more experience with this model.

PARTICIPATING IN CLASSES

An in-class experience is any service in which you visit one of our event locations, such as our dance studios, and participate in a class – typically with instructors and other participants.

Cancelling a course

If you have to cancel your registration and participation in a course, please email us at [email protected].

Information on classes

We try to keep all of our posted information as up to date as possible, but we cannot guarantee that information on courses (e.g. dates, fees) is always accurate on every online and in-studio posting.

If you are registered in any courses, you’ll also receive a weekly email containing your recap video as well as relevant information about the swing dance community. This service is part of the course booking and is covered by our privacy policy.

Follower-to-leader ratio

When processing registrations for fixed courses, workshops, etc., we do our best to ensure a good follower-to-leader ratio so that we do not contribute to an experience where a lot of dancers don’t have a partner in the class. However, we cannot guarantee nor be held accountable for cases where participants do not show up due to illness or other factors beyond our control resulting in suboptimal follower-to-leader balance.

For classes indicated as “drop-in”, we will exert little to no control over the leader-follower ratio.

If you register to an event together with a partner, we will check for sufficient space, but not for an appropriate leader-follower ratio, since signing up with a partner does not influence this ratio. However, in case either of you cancel your participation, we reserve the right to also cancel the participation of the other person in order to maintain proper balance of roles at the event.

Prerequisite

Sometimes we also advise registrants to sign up to a more appropriate course in case we recognize that the group of their choice will not be suitable to provide the best experience for all involved. Although it occurs rarely, we do reserve the right to refuse participation or ask a person to change groups if their ability to keep up with the group has a negative impact on the experience of the group as a whole.

Please do not expect a perfectly homogeneous “level” in classes, and be prepared and welcoming of training with other students even if they have a different background or amount of experience.

Missing classes & how to catch up

We understand that it can happen that you are unable to attend one or multiple classes for individual or personal reasons. We do not refund any portion of your subscription fee due to missed classes.

We have options for you to catch up with the missed content (through online courses, recap videos, practice times). However these options are not part of our contractual agreement; we offer them as a gesture, but cannot guarantee they will always be available.

EVENTS NOT INCLUDED IN OUR SUBSCRIPTIONS

Confirmation & Payment Process for events not included in the subscription payment

Once we can confirm your registration, you will receive an email in which we state your confirmation and how you can complete the contract: by paying within 14 days – unless we clearly state otherwise in the confirmation email sent to you. 

Please note that all our charges include 19% VAT as well as fees for music licensing (GEMA). Our events with live acts include the contributions to the artists’ health and social care authority (Künstlersozialkasse).

If we do not receive your payment within the stated time period, we may send a reminder email as a courtesy to remind you of your payment obligation. However, we also reserve the right to cancel your participation, for example to give the spot to another participant. 

100% Money back guarantee

The portion of the services that comes directly from SwingStep GmbH always comes with a 100% money back guarantee! If you attended an event and feel it was not what you expected and you are not satisfied with the experience, you can ask for a part or all of your money back. We believe our services will bring you a lot of value so we are confident that we can provide you this guarantee. 

However, please note that this policy only applies to the services directly provided to you by SwingStep GmbH and does not include any costs for traveling, accommodation, catering or any other services or costs not directly paid to SwingStep GmbH. Also, the 100% money back guarantee is only applicable when you attended the event or class. If you cancel the event for any reason and do not attend, our cancellation and refund policy applies instead.

Cancelling your participation for an event not included in our subscriptions

If you have to cancel your registration, please email us at [email protected].

A cancellation is defined as you not being able to attend the event or class you registered for, independent of the reason. 

The following cancellation terms apply to all workshops (e.g, Chase Festival, SwingSummit, Cirque du Solo).

Refund policy

Beyond your right of withdrawal within 14 days of online purchase (see section Right of Withdrawal),the following refund policy applies:

  • If you cancel up to 3 months before the event, 100% of your payment will be converted into credit for our services.
  • If you cancel up to 1 month before the event, 50% of your payment will be converted into credit for our services.
  • If you cancel up to when the event starts, 25% of your payment will be converted into credit for our services.

You can use your credit for any of our offers, including subscriptions and workshops. You also have the option of getting your credit in the form of a voucher that you can use, give away or sell. Credits are valid indefinitely: even if you take a longer break, we will always be happy to welcome you back. 

Please note that SwingSummit comes with a 120€ non-refundable deposit which is not subject to the above timeline. However, the deposit can be transferred to another participant if you find a person who is not signed up to the event yet and who will replace you.

It is possible to transfer your participation in any in-class experience to someone else and thus, depending on the arrangement you make with the other person, recuperate all or some of your payment. However, we do not promise to accept your replacement choice as it will depend very much on the follower-to-leader ratio as well as the level of the replacement participant.

If you change your registration to a smaller package we can apply the cancellation policy on the difference (for example: changing from full pass to parties only).

What if we cancel an event?

Courses / Teachers cancellation

  • We cannot always guarantee that a course will take place — for example in the event of a teacher’s illness or loss of a room. Should this happen, we will inform you immediately. 
  • We cannot always guarantee that you will have one or both of the official teachers of a course you booked as it is possible that something happens such that a teacher cannot make it to a class. 

What 2020 has reminded us of is that events outside of our control can and at some point will happen. That means we might be forced to cancel an event due to reasons beyond our control. However, we want to do our best to honour your commitment to us by making sure that you get full value for your payment.

When such events occur, we will send you an email or survey where we give you the following options:

You can transfer the full value of your credit to any other SwingStep GmbH service or product without any time-limit. It really helps if you can support us by either transferring your payment to one of our other events or even, if possible, consider treating a part of your payment as a contribution. Any contribution from you – direct or as credits – helps us to continue organizing events for you in the future.

Of course it may not be possible for you to afford the credit or contribution options, so the form also includes the option of a refund. In the case of a refund request, we communicate what the refund payment time-frame will be. Depending on the size of the event, we might not be in the position of making a prompt refund payment and need to distribute the refunds over a period of time. 

Please note that we cannot be responsible for other costs that occur due to the cancellation of the event – such as travel, hotel and food costs or any other costs you might have had in connection with our event. For this reason we highly recommend that you always book individual travel insurance.

General Policies

The following rules and policies apply to all our services, both subscription and non-subscription. 

Right of withdrawal 

When you order anything online, you are protected by the “right of withdrawal” for most types of products and services you buy; this regulation of course also applies to us. For any of our services, when you register and purchase our services, you have the right to cancel that service and get a full refund of your money within fourteen days without giving any reasons. The 14 days start from the conclusion of the contract. This is when the following happens: 

In the case of our online services and subscriptions, that means from the moment you have initiated your payment for our services. In the case of our events not included in the subscriptions, that is from the moment you accept your spot in the class. A detailed instruction comes with each confirmation email. 

Your happiness is important to us, which is why to exercise your right of withdrawal, you simply need to send us an email to [email protected] (SwingStep GmbH, Kurfürsten-Anlage 58, 69115 Heidelberg) and inform us that you want to withdraw from your contract. Although we appreciate your feedback, no reason is necessary from your side. 

Once you withdraw from your contract with us, we will reimburse all payments we’ve received from you in connection to that specific contract. 

In case there were costs associated with delivery of goods (e.g, Casually Fancy items),we will also reimburse you the cost of delivery (with the exception of supplementary costs resulting from your choice of a type of delivery other than the least expensive type of standard delivery offered by us). Please send us back the purchased goods within 14 days for a return and damage inspection. We will return your payment within 14 days after that. The reimbursement will happen by the same means of the original payment, unless you have expressly agreed otherwise; in any event, you will not incur any fees as a result of the refund. You will have to bear the direct cost of returning the goods. You are only liable for any diminished value of the goods resulting from the handling other than what is necessary to establish the nature, characteristics and functioning of the goods.

Please note that when you order a personalized item, such as an item made to your individual measurements and specifications, personal wishes or in a specific color, the right to withdrawal does not apply.

Copyright

All content available through any of our services, such as text, graphics, logos, digital products, pdfs are subject to copyright and cannot be used without written permission from us. 

Trademarks

The words “SwingStep” as well as “Casually Fancy” are subject to trademarks and copyrights owned by SwingStep GmbH and are not permitted for use without explicit approval from SwingStep GmbH.

Trademarks on our websites and services not owned by SwingStep are the property of their respective owners.

Content

The content on any of our websites and services is provided to you in the intended format and for your personal use only and may not be downloaded, copied, reproduced, distributed, transmitted, broadcast, displayed, sold, licensed, or otherwise exploited for any other purposes whatsoever without the prior written consent of SwingStep GmbH. We reserve all rights, even if not expressly granted, in and to the service and its content. 

Please access and use our websites and their content for your personal use in their intended normal functionality. Accessing our services for any purpose or in any manner other than the intended use is expressly prohibited.

Health Disclaimer

Dancing, in particular swing dancing, can be a strenuous physical activity. This is why we urge you to seek the advice of a professional physician or listen to your own judgement before attempting any of the movements you learn from any of our videos or in-class instructions. Our instructors and staff are not professional medical experts and cannot give you medical advice or diagnoses. 

We urge you to prioritize your health and only elect to take part in any activity you deem appropriate for your health. By using our services you represent that you understand that you are responsible to judge your own physical and mental capabilities for the activities demonstrated in any of our services. Please listen to your body and do not exceed your limits while performing the activities demonstrated for you. Also, please make sure you have placed yourself in the appropriate class for your skill and physical fitness, because the movements might get more strenuous as the difficulty of the classes increase. Typically, you can either read about the expected difficulty level, or whether specific fitness requirements are needed, before registering and purchasing our services. If you are unsure, please ask us to clarify the content so that you can make a better decision for yourself.

From time to time our instructors may suggest physical adjustments or the use of equipment. It is your sole responsibility to determine if that information is appropriate for you. By joining our services you explicitly waive and release any claim that you may have at any time for injury of any kind against SwingStep GmbH, or any person or entity (instructors, employees, independent contractors and affiliates) involved with SwingStep GmbH.

Coronavirus and Other Special Circumstances

The Coronavirus epidemic has presented new challenges for dancers. We do our best to make all services as safe as possible, keeping up to date on the current local situation and getting advice from government authorities when possible, and will do this whenever a similar situation might present itself.

Please see our relevant City or event page for the most up to date information for any service. We ask for your cooperation:

  • Follow any stated or posted rules regarding masks, proof of vaccination, etc
  • Do not attend class if you have any covid-like symptoms, or have been in contact with someone who has covid.
  • Follow our hygiene rules, to protect yourself and others.

When you sign up and participate in our courses, you do this at your own risk. We’ll do all we can to make it as safe as possible, but of course we cannot make any guarantee. By participating, you acknowledge that you’re aware of the risk and that SwingStep GmbH can’t be held responsible for possible infections.

Lost or Stolen Items

While we do our best to make our facilities secure, by the nature of the services we offer and facilities we use, we cannot guarantee that your property will always be safe. In the event that any of your items are lost or stolen, SwingStep GmbH will do our best to help, but cannot be held liable.

Minors

Although we currently do not offer any services directly designed for minors, we do welcome minors to our in-class lessons as well as learning from the online videos. We believe that the dance is for all ages. 

However, some of our locations serve alcohol during the evening social dances. Minors are still welcome to those events, but only with the accompaniment of a parent or legal guardian. We also ask minors to wear a badge or indication of age so that it’s clear for others that no alcohol or cigarette should be offered to them. 

Events where minors can join:

  • Our weekly local classes are open to minors. We endeavor to offer a safe space for everybody to have a good learning experience.
  • Our festivals (e.g, ChaseFestival, SwingSummit, Cirque du Solo etc.) are not designed with minors in mind. Therefore, minors can only attend when accompanied by a parent or legal guardian.

User Account

Some of our websites offer subscription services where you can create an account to get access to the respective services. Currently, this applies to www.swingstep.com and  www.swingstep.tv, where you can purchase our online courses and subscriptions.

Upon creating an account, you will be required to choose a password and username. Please note that you are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your password and account information, and are fully responsible for all activities that occur with your password or account. Please inform us immediately if you notice that your account has been compromised and you notice activities not initiated by yourself. Please do not use another user’s account, nor offer yours to another person, as it is against our terms and conditions. In case you forgot your password, or wish to change it, click on the “Forgot password?” link on the sign-in prompt page and follow the instructions. 

In-class rules 

Be your best self in class. Please be respectful and welcoming to others. Also, if at any point you feel or notice something inappropriate, please contact us. We highly recommend you read our Safer Space and Code of Conduct page in full.

Please attend regularly and on time! This will improve not only your experience but also that for everyone else.

When you are sick or feel that you are getting sick, in order not to infect the teachers or the other participants, do not participate in the class.

Smoking is strictly prohibited indoors at all our studios, events and facilities. To ensure everybody’s health and comfort, if you wish to smoke please ask our staff where the designated smoking areas are.

To ensure we can continue offering you our services at our studios, events and other facilities, it is very important that we all respect our neighbourhoods, for example by keeping a low voice while outside of event locations.

Partner rotation

  • Swing dancing is not just partnered but also social, which means that a swing dance event includes frequent partner changes. We feel this value is a big part of our swing culture, so it’s important to us that it’s fundamental to our classes. We regularly change partners in class, so that you have the opportunity to experience the dance with many people and train your ability to dance with many partners. (In general, we do not want anyone to exclude themselves from this partner rotation, but we can make exceptions if it’s necessary (e.g. if one of you has an injury or other condition that makes it unsafe and you feel you need to stay with your partner who knows your situation) – please contact us before the course so that we can inform you about the process.) 
  • In special circumstances we might offer limited or no partner rotation – for example during certain phases of coronavirus restrictions, or when class material (such as aerials) is safest with a single partner.

Commercial use of class material

  • If you intend to participate in our classes with the intention to use the content for teaching or other commercial usage, please inform us. 

Taking videos / photos

  • It is absolutely not allowed to take photos or film during a class unless explicitly permitted by the teacher. 

Prohibited Conduct

Please be mindful about the consequences of harmful actions. We do what we can to provide the best possible experience for you and to be able to keep doing so, we ask you to adhere to the following rules: 

  • Only use our services exactly as they were intended and do not extract or transmit information such as our music, photographs, videos, bits of sound, graphics, messages (collectively, “content”) without our explicit consent. You may think that it’s ok to download an image or copy-paste another business’ texts… but actually, it’s not.
  • Follow our Code of Conduct [LINK].
  • Do not give out personal information of anyone other than yourself unless you have explicit permission.
  • Do not spread false or misleading information. 
  • Do not conduct any illegal activities, including unauthorized copying of another person’s copyrighted work. 
  • Do not collect information about other visitors, users, customers, guests and individuals with any role within our events for the purpose of unwanted sharing of information. 
  • Do not intentionally harm our business by spreading misinformation, poaching our customers or doing unauthorized promotion for services. 

Please understand that if you fail to follow our terms and conditions, we reserve the right to block you from participation in any of our events, including cancelling your accounts.

Be aware that you might come into communication with people of different worldviews and mindsets when you engage with our community. Upon your request, we can help you with any communication challenges you may have in order to provide you with the safety you need. However, we cannot be held responsible for the interactions you have with any other subscriber, student, or community member, and our assistance is out of goodwill and not due to legal responsibilities. Please take a moment to also read our Safer Space page.

If we suspect you of violating our terms and conditions, we (including the instructors you have in class) reserve the right to and are authorized to give you instructions, ask you to follow the rules, and, if necessary, demand that you leave – including forcibly escorting you off our premises if need be.

Disclaimer

Thank you for understanding that you use our websites and participate in any of our services at your own risk. We, SwingStep GmbH and its employees, or hired consultants and teachers or others affiliated with us:

  • do not provide any warranties of any kind to our services 
  • are not liable for any errors, mistakes or inaccuracies of content
  • are not liable for any personal injury or property damage resulting from your access to and use of our websites and services
  • are not liable for any unauthorised access to our services and events
  • are not liable for any interruption of your access to our services
  • are not liable for any bugs, viruses, trojan horses or anything else that might be transmitted to or through the websites by any third party
  • are not liable for any loss you may have due to fake services impersonating our services and thus extracting valuable information or money from you
  • cannot take any responsibility for products and services advertised at any of our events and services that are made by third parties

Changes to the terms and conditions

We are entitled to change or supplement the content of our terms and conditions to reflect changes or additions to our services or if it is necessary for legal reasons. In cases where we make changes and adjustments to services with existing customers, we need to change or make additions only to the extent where it is reasonable for you as the customer and SwingStep GmbH. We will inform you by email in case of changes four weeks before their enactment via a “notification of change” email.

Final provision

If any of the parts of our terms and conditions are or become ineffective, this does not affect the validity of the other provisions of the terms and conditions. In the case of ineffective provisions, we will replace them with legally permissible provisions that come as close as possible to what was originally intended. This also applies in the event of an unintentional loophole.

You want to know more?

Data Protection Statement in Accordance with the GDPR
Privacy Policy Page
Filming and Photography at Events Privacy Notice