Each year the International Association for Dance Medicine & Science Conference gathers medical practitioners, researchers, and educators in the field for four days of sharing and reflection. As a longtime sponsor of IADMS, Harlequin Floors hosted an important discussion on flooring and dancer safety at this year’s October conference in Rimini, Italy. 

Facilitated by Dance Media writer Kathleen McGuire, the panel on safe flooring for every style of dance featured Kendall Alway, a San Francisco–based physical therapist and founder of Pointe Safe, and Sheyi Ojofeitimi, director of therapy services at Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and co-founder of the Dance Ready Project. 

First Things First

The panelists quickly agreed that a sprung floor is the safest option to reduce impact, regardless of the style of dance.“Ailey is a repertory company that does all types of dance except pointe work,” noted Ojofeitimi. “So, they might rehearse a ballet piece and then the next rehearsal is a jazz piece, followed by a hip-hop piece. Over the years, one thing that is clear is that you want a sprung floor. It is what you put on top of the floor that changes depending on the dance style.”

How Does Traction Come Into Play?

Ojofeitimi shared that in hip hop and breaking, dancers require a much slicker surface to avoid injuries to the knees and ankles. She mentioned that, when necessary, Ailey dancers will cover the bottoms of their sneakers with gaffer tape to reduce friction.Alway has seen hip-hop dancers use bowling-alley wax to slick down a too-sticky surface. 

The nuance of the “perfect” floor extends beyond its ability to support multiple dance genres. There is nuance even within a particular dance style. “In speaking with dancers at San Francisco Ballet, I hear that the flat-shoe dancers will find a surface too sticky, but the pointe dancers find the same surface too slippery,” says Alway. 

Why an Evenly Sprung Floor Matters

In terms of just how sprung a floor should be to reduce impact, Ojofeitimi says that previous research using mechanical impact has shown that it is not the relative stiffness of the whole floor that matters as much as the floor’s variations in stiffness, which can cause problems. Alway sees this issue frequently in Bay Area studios, where taped X’s will indicate soft spots in the floor for dancers to avoid. 

While many dancers have experience adapting to variations in floors that do not completely meet their needs—for example, by using rosin, taping their feet, or changing their footwear—the importance and availability of versatile flooring is paramount for dancer safety. Harlequin Floors offers options that are designed to meet a multitude of needs within the dance industry. Use its floor selector tool to identify the option that works best for your dancers, and for your budget. 

This article was originally posted by Dance Magazine.