Practice floor - different woods - different sounds! (?)

[Kimberly]

I'm just starting tap and have been practicing on a piece of OSB (Oriented Strand Board) board over dense foam so as not to drive my downstairs neighbors completely crazy. Well after 3 weeks of practicing it's starting to chip off wood particles. So, this last weekend, I went out to a flooring place planning to buy some better flooring to practice on.

There was a place close to my house that I stopped in and the man said that he had some experience with a tapper that came in to buy flooring. The man proceeded to tell me about the different sounds woods make. He took the end of his pen and started tapping different woods and, indeed, many had very different sounds - dull, bright, full, thin, etc. The wood that the tapper decided on was Brazilian Cherry (which did have a bright but rich sound). Brazilian Cherry would cost about $90 for 16 sf. Red Oak about half of that.

So my question is, does anybody have any input on this? Have you made a dance floor out of something other than plywood? Is it worth the extra cost.

I've searched the internet and there is everything from "don't dance on anything less than a sprung floor or you will hurt yourself" to "you can practice on anything".

Thanks for any input,
Kimberly

[Lane Alexander]

HI Kimberly,
When it comes to considering floors, my three primary concerns are:

1. the sound
2. the support it provides to my joints
3. the durability

It HAS to sound good or else why bother practicing?

It should provide some level of "shock absorption" which will allow you to dance longer and injury free. Even recreational dancers can injure the ankles, knees, hips and backs from repetitive percussive dance. Dancing on a "non-sprung" floor is just asking for an acute injury or long term damage to you bones and soft, connective tissues.

Can it stand up to months and years of practive or performance? I'm not surprised to hear that the other tapper chose Brazilian Cherry. It's one of the hardest woods on the planet and can really stand up to the beating. Many pines, on the other hand, are one step away from melted butter and you will gouge it beyond repair in a matter of days or weeks. Oak and maple are also considered very "hard" woods . . . . . among aficianados, there are probably finer distinctions.

You should check out Gerstung flooring or O'Mara flooring for portable, sprung tap floor information. You can find them both through Google.

Take care of your knees and your knees will take care of YOU!

Tapping through the fog,
Lane

[Kimberly]

Hi Lane,

Thank you for taking the time to reply. I did find both floor suppliers and got some good design ideas for putting together a practice floor. I'm looking forward to it and do have a bit of pressure now that I'm getting new downstairs neighbors. Perhaps the best strategy would be to talk them into taking up tap dancing ;~)

Have a good trip and see you when you get back,
Kimberly