? about Marely with kids not en pointe

[learningdance]

My dd is 9 and i had a question about floors. Is it expected that most ballet training floors will have Marley? I am asking because she is working on her turnout and it is really hard for her to work her turnout on a slippery floor.

[Mel Johnson]

Marley should not be slippery! In fact, that's why studios have so much gone over to marley over the traditional bare wood: the unsurfaced linoleum is more predictable a surface. If the studio floor is slippery, there is a chance that it's been surfaced with the wrong kind of marley - there are so many different kinds now, it's possible. Marley good for tap is not good for ballet. There are surfaces best for modern, jazz and any other discipline you can name. It's also possible that the surface has been improperly maintained; I once saw a floor ruined when the owner decided to wax it. And simply not cleaning it properly can leave deposits of contaminants on the surface which were tracked in from elsewhere.

[learningdance]

Oh. . .I wasn't clear. The marley is not slippery. The problem is that we are taking dance at a community program that is affiliated with a university. The university program has a full ballet program and a modern program and I am not sure which room they are going to put the girls in. I am hoping that she WILL be in the room that has marley because it seems like a better surface for someone who is trying to focus on turnout and alignment, but I could be wrong and that's kind of what I am asking:

 

Is marley (for ballet) considered standard flooring for ballet now, even if the girls are not en pointe? Or are there other acceptable floors for students who are not yet on pointe?

 

And I guess am I making an assumption that marley is the floor of choice for pointe?

[Victoria Leigh]

It is the floor of choice, however, a good wood, well sprung floor does not have to be slippery. If it is not waxed, and properly cared for, it should be quite safe. Rosin is used on wood floors, especially for pointe work, however, if the floors are too slippery for soft shoes, then they are not good. In a program with several studios, and different floors, ballet classes are usually not put in the same studio as modern, because, if the studio is not marley, rosin will be used by ballet dancers, and is not at all good for barefoot work.