Flooring

I have noticed that some salsa events use a black and white checkered portable floor. Does anyone happen to know why that is? I don't think it is to do with what is available :wink: ie. you can have this type of flooring in any colour you want, as long as it is "black and white checks" :lol:

I have also heard people saying "it's a fast floor" or "medium fast". How do you judge this? What makes a floor fast/medium fast or slow? I am aware that your shoe soles can affect your speed generally and therefore you sometimes have to do other things to compensate.

What about "slippery" versus "fast floor"?

Some places I go to, I become aware of the floor, in the sense that I can feel it in my legs that there is no give and therefore my legs feel it more. Is there a more "scientific way" of assessing this rather than having to dance 10mins or so, first of all?

Pacion said:

I have noticed that some salsa events use a black and white checkered portable floor. Does anyone happen to know why that is? I don't think it is to do with what is available :wink: ie. you can have this type of flooring in any colour you want, as long as it is "black and white checks" :lol:

I have also heard people saying "it's a fast floor" or "medium fast". How do you judge this? What makes a floor fast/medium fast or slow? I am aware that your shoe soles can affect your speed generally and therefore you sometimes have to do other things to compensate.

What about "slippery" versus "fast floor"?

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i'm assuming that it's a means of describing the frictional coefficient (the amount of wax, perhaps). i don't know what brands of portable floor are available overseas, but here in the states one of the best portable floors here is/was (their newer version is clearly inferior to the older version) master dance floor. i have panels which i put in the back yard to supplement the dance floor i have in my home when i have parties.

Pacion said:

Some places I go to, I become aware of the floor, in the sense that I can feel it in my legs that there is no give and therefore my legs feel it more. Is there a more "scientific way" of assessing this rather than having to dance 10mins or so, first of all?

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this isn't foolproof, but look at the construction; to have a "floating" construction, the panels/piece of a floor (if they are not independently "sprung") need to be interconnected so that the whole floor can rest upon a suspension/padding/whatever which absorbs impact. something like a parquet floor or anything else tiled has to be attached to whatever's underneath, usually (but not always) concrete or something equally unforgiving. one could put parquet on top of a floating platform i suppose, but that gets expensive and is overkill if you've already got a wood surface to dance on. otherwise, i suggest that you just jump on and down on the surface and ascertain the amount of 'give' you feel.

Pacion said:

Is there a more "scientific way" of assessing this rather than having to dance 10mins or so, first of all?

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Knock on the floor. If it sounds hollow that's probably a good sign. Kinda like selecting melons.

a sportsor dance studio floor eg a suash court is wooden usually beech strips laid on wooden battens 2 by 2" on rubber resilient strips so it is resilient and springy rather dead mass and unforgiving. Dancers espeically if involving a lot of jumping, and athletes can suffer compound fractures if the floor is too hard. Therefore a sprung or suspended floor is better for dancing on. Though I have known floors that bounce if too many people are moving around in unison thats why soldiers break up their marching across bridges.