What Do I Need To Know?
ABSORPTION OF ENERGY
All movement activity generates energy. Energy directly returned to the body can result in shin splints, back and knee problems, fatigue, strains, and even broken bones. A non-energy absorbent floor or flooring system is dangerous. It can result in injury and law suits. Concrete is non-energy absorbent. Any substance put directly on concrete does not remove you from the concrete unless it contains air (like foam). Basket weave and foam sprung floating subfloors provide shock absorbent characteristics that eliminate the problems associated with hard, non-absorbent floors.
No floor can be the most absorbent and the most resilient at the same time. There is only so much energy and it can only be diffused in varying relationships of absorption and resilience. We call that "feel" and it affects performance. Different surfaces and subfloors have different "feels," each appropriate for different styles of dance.
LATERAL FOOT SUPPORT
Perhaps the most important and most overlooked attribute of a floor is lateral foot support. Without lateral foot support, you can not maintain balance. Today, the leading cause of injury is not shin splints but ankle injury, due in part to flooring systems that rely solely on absorbent materials or systems that are too spongy.
A term you may come across is point elastic, meaning deflection of the floor at the point of impact. The greater the deflection, the more unstable the floor.
RESILIENT ENERGY
In addition to absorbency, energy can be dissipated by resiliency -- think of a diving board or trampoline. Energy transfers from the body to a subfloor that deflects and safely returns energy (spring). Wood is the best of the resilient materials.
Call us with your questions. We will have the answers and the numbers that go with them.
Non-slip
Safety is the number one issue with dancers and their teachers when it comes to floors. The first safety concern is the non-slip characteristic of the surface. Ballet dancers need very non-slip surfaces while modern dancers in bare feet need smooth giving surfaces so the floor does not cause injury to the bottom of their feet. Tappers need some give, yet also need the assurance under foot of a non-slip surface. Ballroom and theatre dance require a "fast" (less non-slip) surface. What to do?
In an ideal world, each dance discipline would have its own unique floor surface. Since this is unlikely, Stagestep offers floors that can be "adjusted" to meet the average needs of different dance disciplines. We also have finishes and treatments that can modify a floor surface to be more accommodating to other dance styles.
Check the dance/style use chart [click here], identify your primary use and call us for advice. With 40 years of serving the dance and theatre community, no one compares with Stagestep’s experience and expertise.
Safety and Shock Absorbency
The second safety concern dancers have is the ability of the floor to absorb and dissipate energy, and/or safely return energy (resilient energy). If the floor fails to absorb or safely return energy, the body becomes the shock absorber, resulting in fatigue, pain, and injury. A performer's nemesis is concrete or any other surface that is hard and unyielding.
The guaranteed way to get injured is to work on an unyielding, non-shock absorbing flooring system. Concrete is your enemy. Stagestep features roll out floors and subfloor systems that protect the body from stress fractures, excessive fatigue, and joint stress.
