Rosin on your home hardwood floor

[Pirou]

I'm low on funds at the moment, and will be doing my barre at home for a few weeks. I have a hardwood floor that's hollow underneath, and I'm not jumping right now anyway, so I think it is fine to do barre and our center port de bras, tendu/pirouettes, and adagios. However, it is REALLY slippery, even with my leather slippers. Would it totally destroy it if I bought and used rosin? Or should I just keep a wet washcloth nearby on the floor to tap into as I started doing tonight. It seems that is too sticky when it is wet, and dries almost immediately to be completely slippery again.

 

 

[please move if this should be in the buddy section...I wasn't quite sure]

[Mel Johnson]

You'd probably have to desurface your floor in order to prevent the wax from adhering to your shoes, and then you'd track it into your studio. Not a good thing to do to your classmates. That means solvents and a big electric floor polisher with a wire brush. Not an economical solution at all!

[Pirou]

Darn!

[Clara 76]

Bare feet- that's your answer.

[Redbookish]

My experience of several years doing class in a big gym with polished floors: rosin was forbidden, so we used water. We wet the heels of our shoes, and kept a damp sponge to use -- rather like a rosin box -- throughout the class. Pointe work -- well, we were very careful ...

[Guest ingve]

A careful use of coca cola on the slippers can be a help.

[lampwick]

I love slippery floors for supplemental barre work. No possible way to force your turnout.

[citibob]

Most home floors built with joists underneath provide a fair amount of springiness. It's much better than dancing on top of a concrete slab.

 

The problem of getting wax on your shoes (if you used wax on your floors) can also be solved by buying an extra pair of slippers. A pair of slippers costs about the same as 1 class.

 

However... I would never dance on my hardwood floor at home. It sounds like a quick way to destroy the finish, and then that would cost thousands to repair (sanding, new polyurethane, etc). And I would certainly not use rosin, coke or water on my home floor either.

 

If I wanted to practice at home, I would buy a piece of marlee and lay that on top of my floor.

[MJ]

You don't want to ruin your nice floor. I would buy a pair of leather shoes and keep them strictly for home use. Leather holds water better than canvas, so wetting them should help. Use a suede brush on the pads if they get slick. If you have a hard polyurethane finish, it will smooth the suede pads fairly quickly.

 

Like Mr. Major Mel stated, rosin will ruin your finish. Coke/Pepsi/Mr. Pibb will attract rodents and vermin. There are sticky solutions you can put on your shoes, but they will undoubtedly scratch the finish. I've seen dancers wear DanceSneakers on slick floors. Most Jazz shoes now come with rubber soles as well.

[Pirou]

Thusfar, I have been sticking (no pun intended) with my leather slippers and a wet washcloth nearby. I don't think I have either wax or polyurethane on my floors. The surface is seems kind of like a hard stain. It's not ultra-shiny, but it's not unprotected, exposed wood, either. It does not seem bothered by a wet washcloth sitting on it for an hour and a half. I would love a piece of marley, and plan to get one, but only after the writers' strike when I hope to be back in ballet class again in the first place. I also have a pair of those ball-of-the-foot "paws" which I am going to try once I remember to get them out of the trunk of the car. The slipperyness is great for some things like tendus, but I feel myself tensing for turns, etc., when I am afraid of my foot going out from under myself (obviously, when I'm a better turner, I assume I'll outgrow that!)