Please all kinds of dancing feet: some floors are made for more than one genre.[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] When Andrea Paris-Gutierrez moved her studio five years ago, she rolled up her floors and took them with her. Despite the studio's name--the Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. Ballet Academy--it also offers jazz, tap, hip hop hip-hop or hip hop n. 1. A popular urban youth culture, closely associated with rap music and with the style and fashions of African-American inner-city residents. 2. Rap music. adj. , and even Pilates classes to more than 350 students six days a week. Though the dance styles vary in each of the studio's three rooms, all have a sub-floor topped with a multipurpose mul·ti·pur·pose adj. Designed or used for several purposes: a multipurpose room; multipurpose software. multipurpose Adjective durable marley that provides sure footing for any kind of class. If you have limited space and lots of genres, flooring experts agree you should pick something that everyone can use. "It avoids scheduling problems," says Claire Londress, American Harlequin's marketing manager. "Otherwise if there are three tap classes at once but only one tap studio, there's an issue." A studio with a single focus has the option of using a floor that works best for that genre. "You want to match your activity to your floor system," says Stagestep president Randy Swartz. "Ask yourself, 'Do I have the luxury of a specific studio for just ballet, or just one studio for consecutive classes?'" When picking a multipurpose floor, studio owners need to consider whether they expect to have the space permanently, as well as the floor's cost, texture, and maintenance. "If a studio is renting their space, they want to make sure that whatever floor they get is non-permanent," says Londress. "So if they want a sprung floor A sprung floor is a floor that absorbs shocks giving it a softer feel. Such floors are considered the best available for dance and indoor sports and physical education. They enhance performance and greatly reduce injuries. , they should consider panels. Then the vinyl on top should be put down temporarily, either loose-laid or put down with double-sided tape Double-sided tape is a variety of adhesive tape that is coated with adhesive on both sides. It is designed to stick two lightweight surfaces together. Double sided tape is often more effective with sticking objects, such as paper, cardboard, and arts and crafts together than , not adhesive." Harlequin's Cascade model has proved their most popular multipurpose floor. The long list of those who have chosen it speaks to its versatility: American Ballet Theatre American Ballet Theatre, one of the foremost international dance companies of the 20th cent. It was founded in 1937 as the Mordkin Ballet and reorganized as the Ballet Theatre in 1940 under the direction of Lucia Chase and Rich Pleasant. , New York City Ballet New York City Ballet, one of the foremost American dance companies of the 20th cent. It was founded by Lincoln Kirstein and George Balanchine as the Ballet Society in 1946. , Grand Rapids Grand Rapids, city (1990 pop. 189,126), seat of Kent co., SW central Mich., on the Grand River; inc. 1850. The second largest city in the state, it is a distribution, wholesale, and industrial center for an area that yields fruit, dairy products, farm produce, Ballet, Montgomery College For the community college near Conroe, Texas, see . Montgomery College is the oldest and largest community college in Maryland, U.S. It is located in Montgomery County, MD and divided into three campuses, the largest of which is in Rockville; the other campuses are in Takoma , Harvard University Harvard University, mainly at Cambridge, Mass., including Harvard College, the oldest American college. Harvard College Harvard College, originally for men, was founded in 1636 with a grant from the General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. , the National Dance Institute of New Mexico, and Just for Kix studios, to name a few. The floor holds up well to high traffic, Londress notes. "Steps on Broadway Steps on Broadway is the prestigious and well-renown dance studio on Broadway, NYC,which opened in 1979 by founder and artistic director Carol Paumgarten. There are approximately twelve studios on three floors which offer a variety of classes for all levels. has that model throughout their building," she says. "They've been there for years and that place never closes! They're going from early in the morning to late at night. As long as a floor is cleaned properly it can last." Some studios that focus on one particular genre--tap, for instance--never consider a marley multipurpose. But because nails in the shoes act like a chisel, Matt Lincir, Alva's president, feels marley can work well for studios that teach other genres in addition to tap. "Tap dancers are really into the sound," he says, "but marley only cuts out the highest frequencies." He also feels it's easy to keep up. "Just use a mix of one quarter vinegar to three-quarters hot watch," he says. "Smells like Greek salad for an hour or two, but the vinegar cuts through the sweat." There are nearly as many subfloors to choose from as surfaces. Like many floormakers, Alva's offers a do-it-yourself kit that includes loam loam, soil composed of sand, silt, clay, and organic matter in evenly mixed particles of various sizes. More fertile than sandy soils, loam is not stiff and tenacious like clay soils. Its porosity allows high moisture retention and air circulation. blocks, instructions, a jig, screws, and a phone number to call for help. When Paris-Gutierrez's studio moved, they chose it and got memories as well as great looking floors. "Two parents spearheaded the project," she says. "We asked for volunteers. It was a bonding experience and the kids got to see what went into putting all that together." Paris-Gutierrez points out a simple way to keep floors in great shape is to have students change into their dance shoes while in the studio to avoid bringing in any external dirt and grime. "If they want a great floor," she says. "they have to participate in helping to take care of it." WHY WOOD? If your studio is focused specifically on tap or ballet, consider wood flooring rather than marley. For ballet or ballroom, Ed O'Mara, president of O'Mara Flooring, recommends birch, a slightly softer wood. For percussive per·cus·sive adj. Of, relating to, or characterized by percussion. per·cus  sive·ly adv. dance styles like tap and flamenco,
maple is more durable and gives a more resonant sound. O'Mara notes
that the wood quality should be a concern. "Even if you're
building a sprung sub-floor, ask questions about the material," he
says. "A sub-floor panel made with chips of wood that are pressed
together has no resilience. It doesn't give you anything back when
you dance on it." Above all, O'Mara urges dancer safety.
"Sometimes the floor is the last thing you put in, but it's
the most important because having the best dance floor keeps people from
getting injured."--E.M.
FLOORMAKERS Alva's www.alvas.com American Harlequin www.harlequinfloors.com California Portable Dance Floor www.cpdfc.com Dance Equipment Intl. www.danceequipmentintl.com Entertainment Flooring www.flooradvice.com Gerstung www.gerstung.com O'Mara Sprung Floors www.sprungfloors.com Rosco Laboratories www.rosco.com Stagestep www.stagestep.com Emily Macel is an associate editor at Dance Magazine. |
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