Call 800.523.0960 for Information
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • Youtube
  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn

800.523.0960

Free Online Shipping! Exclusions apply

Contact Us Get a Quote
Menu   ≡ ╳
  • Dance Floors
    • What Floor is Right For You
    • How To Buy a Dance Floor
    • Most Popular
    • Timestep Dance Floors
      • Super Timestep Dance Floor
      • Timestep Dance Floor
      • Timestep T Floor
    • Shaw 10
    • Bravo
      • Bravo Classic Dance Floor
      • Super Bravo Dance Floor
    • Rave
    • Woodstep
      • Woodstep Dance Floor
      • Woodstep Plus Dance Floor
      • Woodstep Ultra Dance Floor
    • Dancestep Plus
    • Quietstep
    • Encore Hardwood
      • Encore / Encore Elite
      • Encore Home
    • Permanent Hardwood
  • Subfloors
    • Most Popular
    • Springstep Collection
      • Springstep II
      • Springstep III
      • Springstep IV
        • Springstep IV A
        • Springstep IV B
      • Springstep V – NEW
        • Transporter Springstep V
      • Individual Components
    • SpringFlex System
  • Installation
    • Shop Installation Products
    • Tapes & Adhesives
      • NEW! Social Distancing Tape
      • Temporary Installation
      • Semi-Permanent Installation
      • Long Term Semi-Permanent Installation
      • Permanent Installation
      • Double Face Tape
      • Vinyl Top Tape
      • Glow Tape
    • Foam Underlayment
      • Foam Sheeting
      • Foam Cubes
      • Foam Blocks
    • Transition Ramps
    • Vapor Barriers and Floor Ventilation
      • Flooring Vapor Barriers
      • Vented Wall Base
    • Our Preferred Installer
    • Installation Guide
  • Maintenance
    • Shop Maintenance Products
    • ProClean Family
      • ProClean
      • ProClean ULTRA
      • ProClean D Plus
      • ProClean NS
    • SimplyGone
    • Slip NoMor
    • Wipeout Plus
    • TapShield
    • FloorShield II Kits
    • FloorCare Complete Systems
      • FloorCare System Replacement Packs
    • Maintenance Guide
  • Home Studio
    • Shop Home Studio Products
    • Flooring
    • Practice Floors
    • Tap Boards
    • Glassless Mirrors
    • Wall Ballet Barres
    • Encore Home
  • News
    • 2020 Dance Flooring Guide
    • Blog
    • Installation Guide
    • Maintenance Guide
    • Choosing a Floor
  • Online Store
    • Home Studio Products
    • Personal Practice Floors
    • Barres and Mirrors
    • Tap Products
    • Installation Products
    • Maintenance Products
    • Touring Products
    • Tapes and Adhesives
    • Pre-cut Floors
    • Discounted
  • Cart

Innovative Dance Flooring… The History of Stagestep

In the beginning, all we had were wood dance floors, and if we were lucky, a basket-weave floating subfloor underneath.

 

Linoleum was used for a time but it was heavy and very weather sensitive. It would shatter like glass in cold weather. The majority of dance studios had VCT tile sitting directly on concrete. No one knew better.

 

Then, one day, the Marley Company in England came up with the reversible, flexible, lightweight “Stageflor”. That was the original name. Both the company and name are now history. The term marley has been appropriated meaning any PVC roll out flooring designed for dance. Early on, only professional ballet companies latched onto Marley’s “Stageflor”. Back then you had to order your floor directly from Marley and they would ship it to you five months later.

 

 

You had to handle the paperwork, duty and get it picked up from the dock. It wasn’t easy, but the floor was so inexpensive at the time, dance companies would throw out their dance floor after one season and order a new one for the next season. Prior to the oil crisis, gas prices were twenty five cents a gallon (They pumped your gas, cleaned your windshield and gave away sets of glasses and china.) and PVC is a derivative of oil.  There was no dance floor business and no stock of flooring in the USA. You had to wait 5 months. Period.

 

In 1967, fresh out of college, I started F. Randolph Associates. It was a company devoted to providing services to the performing arts community. We represented dancers, teachers, choreographers, a conductor and an expert on subscription. Soon thereafter, we were selling records, videos, gifts and books in a newsletter called Footnotes. This little publication grew to 96 pages and our pitch was “if you need it, we can get it for you”.

 

One day, we got a frantic call from a Mississippi customer in need of a Marley dance floor in two weeks. A task at the time that seemed at best, improbable.  Picked up the phone and called the Pennsylvania Ballet. The Ballet Company had not yet thrown out their floor. They were very amenable to getting a new floor in exchange for their used one. The Mississippi crew were happy to secure a Marley floor when they needed it.

 


I remember driving to the Ballet Company’s studio and stuffing the rolls of floor into my car with half of the rolls sticking out of the rear window, driving to the airport and shipping them air express to Mississippi.

 

Fifty years ago,”Stageflor” cost $1.60 a square yard. A 30 x 30 floor was $160.00 plus shipping and duty. It was so inexpensive that instead of cleaning and storing them, dance companies would order a new one for delivery in the fall.

 

I made $25.00 for my efforts that day, however it sparked an idea that we could handle the logistics and paperwork for future orders, and so we did.

 

That was the beginning of Stagestep™, a subsidiary of F. Randolph Associates.

 

After a bit, we were bringing in full rolls of “Stageflor” into a temporary warehouse with no heat, where we custom cut them by hand for each customer. Now the wait time was reduced to a month.

 

By 1983, the tail was wagging the dog and we changed our corporate name to Stagestep™.

 

In the ensuing years Stagestep™ introduced the first multipurpose floor, “Timestep™”, the first foam backed floor for ballet, Quietstep™ and the first foam backed roll out floor that could be directly installed on a concrete slab, Dancestep™.

 

Stagestep™ was the first to introduce cross-link cell foam cubes, blocks and forms to the dance world in order to create inexpensive floating subfloors. Stagestep™ went on to be the first company to introduce dance floor finish for vinyl and wood floor surfaces, FloorShield™.

 

We invented SlipNoMor™, the liquid rosin used by studios around the world.

 

Moving into the twenty first century, Stagestep ™ introduced dance floor products including vapor barrier, vented cove base and ReUseIt™, a release mesh ”adhesive” system using suction to attach flooring to the subfloor.

 

This year, Stagestep ™ introduced the first 10ft wide dance flooring in white, black and grey with free shipping in the contiguous USA called Shaw 10™.

 

Stagestep™ provides a complete line of installation and maintenance products along with subfloor and flooring. Check out our online store 24/7. Today, we ship custom cut floors within 24-72 hours – quite a bit different from the 1970’s!

 

We recently completed updating our installation and maintenance guides which are available online or by mail, free of charge and without obligation.

 

The dedicated employees of Stagestep™ are honored to support the artists, teachers and choreographers who make the magic on stage and in the classrooms.

 

www.stagestep.com

 

800-523-0960

Marley Dance Floors

More

  • Home
  • Request a Flooring Quote
  • Contact Us
  • FAQ
  • Blog
  • Testimonials
  • Safety Data Sheet
  • Financing Your New Floor
  • Message From The President
  • Important Policies
  • Sitemap

STAGESTEP, Inc.

4701 Bath Street #46 B
Philadelphia, PA 19137

215.636.9000

800.523.0960

Toll-Free in the U.S.

866.491.9019

Toll-Free in Canada

Follow Us

  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • Youtube
  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn

OUR NEW FLOORING GUIDE



© 2021 · StageStep. All Rights Reserved · Stagestep™ · Stagestep and the Stagestep Logo are trademarks of Stagestep, Inc.

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish.
Accept Reject
Privacy & Cookies Policy
Necessary Always Enabled

  • Online Store
  • Request a Free Quote
  • Dance Floors
    ▼
    • Dance Floor Options
    • How To Buy a Dance Floor
    • What Floor is Right For You
    • SDS at a Glance
  • Request a Free Floor Sample
  • Subfloors
    ▼
    • Springstep Collection
    • SpringFlex Collection
  • Home Studio
    ▼
    • Tap Boards
  • Maintenance
    ▼
    • Maintenance Products
    • Maintenance Guide
    • Maintenance Program
    • NEW! ProClean ULTRA
  • Installation
    ▼
    • Installation Products
    • Installation Guide
    • Our Preferred Installer