May I have this dance (floor)? Today's portable event flooring selections offer a variety of styles & options.

Pulling off a successful social event at your club--whether it's a wedding reception, birthday party, or anniversary celebration--depends on a lot of factors, such as the quality of the food and beverage, the preparedness of your wait staff, and, of course, providing the right entertainment. But it's also about the little extras--making sure the entire look of your event offers the best possible appearance for your members and guests, from the ceiling all the way down to the floor.

Or, to be more exact, all the way down to your dance floor. It's a standard yet possibly overlooked element of any social function at your club, but the quality and appearance of your dance floor--including having the right type of dance floor for your particular situation--will go a long way toward helping improve that all important element of member and guest satisfaction long after the night is over.

Keeping Up Appearances

Think about it: Aside from perhaps falling into the wedding cake, there is hardly a more unsightly image for a just-married bride and groom than to take their first dance on a floor that is marred, warped, discolored, or just plain old ugly and outdated. Luckily, there is a wealth of event flooring options out there to choose from, each with their own styles and color options presented in a variety of modern materials.

"All our dance flooring products are made from sheet vinyl," explained Pat Basilio, general manager of American Harlequin Corporation, a supplier of professional dance flooring products to a variety of different institutions, including the Celine Dion stage show in Las Vegas. "Flooring made from sheet vinyl can be used for either portable or permanent installations."

When choosing between portable or permanent (usually more appropriate for dance studios, but also may be considered for some private clubs that have a dedicated dance area), Basilio also recommends considering what material your subfloor is made from--i.e., concrete, stone, tile/linoleum, wood, or carpet.

However, for most uses in private clubs, which generally is limited to social dancing at parties and events, Harlequin's Liberty product is a portable flooring solution made "from interlocking and relocatable sprung engineered panels mounted on a complex flexible pad structure," Basilio said. Put simply, the floor is designed to take many evenings' worth of slow dances and tangos. For a permanent dance floor solution, American Harlequin offers the Activity model, which is comprised of semi-flexible panels supported on resilient foam.

Dance floors that feature laminate surfaces are continuing to become more popular with consumers and manufacturers, due to the inherent attractiveness and ease-of-maintenance of this type of product.

Speaking of the new Cam-Lam Portable Dance Floor from Sico America, Nancy Clark, the company's corporate marketing manager, said: "This is the first year we have had this product available, and this is the first one of our dance floors that offers the laminate finish. This flooring-grade laminate requires no refinishing, and is more resistant to the kinds of chipping and fading normally associated with some other types of dance floor. A major plus of any laminate flooring system is its enhanced durability."

Clark added, "The surface is attractive, and it can be quickly wiped down when it is no longer in use." With the Cam-Lam, the floor is also available in four choices of stain: Northern Birch, Cherry Rose, Natural Oak, and Heritage Oak.

Similarly, the DanceDeck product from Signature Flooring utilizes an easy to clean, simulated wood grain or solid-colored laminate into each of the floor's tiles. The already finished, high quality appearance of the laminated floors also makes it ready-made for a variety of club events.

Set-Up, Maintenance, & Storage

At American Harlequin, their dance floors are designed for added slip-resistance as a result of being made from sheet vinyl, and can be set-up by staff members within minutes. "Staff members just roll them out and tape the seams. Once they're done, they then just tape them for storage," Basilio said. For most portable flooring products, they can be disassembled or rolled up and stored on moveable storage carts.

Panels of 3'x3' are commonly used with many portable dance floors, which are then joined together to create finished areas of various sizes. The Cam-Lam and Cam-Lock flooring products from Sico America break the mold by coming in 4'x4' panels, "which make it faster to assemble for a large dance area," Clark said. "It takes one to two people max in order to set-up the floor."

A big issue with portable dance floors is the means by which the separate panels are joined together. With Sico America's Cam-Lock floor, the product features a self-aligning system that securely unites the sections together with a reliable locking mechanism. The feature, which was originally designed into their line of Starlight Portable Dance Floors, was just recently integrated to work with the company's laminate flooring products.

Clark explained, "The cam lock allows you to automatically align panels and trim pieces together for a faster and more secure fit. A half-turn with an allen wrench is all that is necessary to lock or unlock panels, reducing the time and labor usually required to lay down a dance floor." The system also serves as a capable substitute for magnetic- or gravity-based systems that keep panels interlocked. "Magnetic floors may look good, but when those panels become soiled, their attractiveness is diminished."

Some older models of dance floor, including the original product still available from Sico America, are heavy units of solid-wood design with all-metal frames. While such rugged construction may make for a durable, heavy-duty product, it also makes it harder on staff members who need to set-up and maintain the portable floors. "Our new product, the Cam-Lam, features an all-balsa wood core, making it lighter and more manageable," she said.

With the Signature Flooring's DanceDeck, the floor sections are joined together through a specialized "hook and loop" connection system. This allows for rapid installation of the pieces with minimal trouble and without the need for extra tools. While the DanceDeck floor sections come in standard tile sizes of 3'x3', the sections can be broken down further into sections as small as 1'x1' for even greater design flexibility.

At American Portable Dance Floors, their solid wood flooring products are fitted together with a unique, patented connection system that "requires no screws, moveable parts, or connection plates to break loose," the company's website states. As opposed to a laminate system, their floors are hand-finished with three coats of specially formulated polyurethane.

So, how long can a portable dance floor last? It all depends on the level of use and how well the floor is maintained. "Some may choose to replace their dance floor every five to six years if it is used heavily," Clark said. "Wood parquets occasionally need polishing and resurfacing, depending on use." Basilio added, "With proper maintenance, a dance floor could last as long as 15 years on the high end. Usually, though, you may just need a spot repair, where a piece of the floor is patched in with the aid of a hot welding gun."

Sizing it Up

Once you know the type of dance floor most suitable to your needs, you must then consider how much floor you really need. Again, it all depends on the unique needs of your club and the types of events you host most regularly. Some points to consider:

* Whatever the size of guests you're expecting, realize that only one-third of that number will be using the dance floor at any one time, if at all. Don't waste money on an expansive area that is not needed. "A 900-square-foot floor will cost around $4,000," Basilio said.

* On the other hand, clubs that host Jewish functions should note that the customary dances at these events will often involve half of the total number of guests at any one time, so it would be advisable to have more dance floor space under these circumstances.

* Consider all possible obstructions in the area such as furniture, posts, plants, entertainment systems, etc.--all take up space and will affect the ultimate size of your dance floor. Try to make the area as free of obstacles as possible.

Selecting the right dance floor doesn't have to be difficult, but by making a few simple considerations before your big event you'll make sure that a wrong move doesn't end up crashing the party.