Is your dance floor kinda iffy?
Most floors aren’t built to support dancers through all the jumps, turns, and pointework ballet offers. Between my touring Nutcracker days, outdoor performances, and some teacher training deep dives when Zoom ballet was new, I’ve learned to protect against injury and keep having fun, on just about any surface.
When I teach online, the classwork I give is customized for small spaces and the kinds of flooring most folks have at home. I also want to give you the tools to modify for your body and environment, everywhere else you dance.
Your number one strategy for injury prevention will always be good technique. Dynamic foot control, a juicy triple fold in your plié, and active posture will distribute load and help manage less-than-ideal surfaces. Beyond technique, here are my top tips for online classes, strange studios, and unique performing locations:
- Choose the best floor available — ideally one with some shock absorption, and that’s not too slippery or sticky. Higher friction surfaces like carpet can lead to stuck toes, grippy tendons, and nasty torsion injuries. 😬
- Sneakers and supportive taping techniques to the rescue! If you’re on a hard floor or your joints could use some extra cushioning, these tools protect and strengthen your whole body, not just your feet. You can wear clean sneakers (if you’re turning, get dance sneakers) onstage until the curtain goes up, and skin toned tape won’t show under your costume. Wear a brighter tape if you want to remind your teacher (or yourself!) that you need to be extra gentle with a certain body part.
- Most importantly: Listen to your body. If something doesn’t feel right, change it up! You can modify the choreography, adapt with floor or chair barre 🪑, or learn an exercise by watching, then taking it to a different environment. Any jumps I teach online would make a great warm up for your in-studio classes, or you could bring your sneakers to a back yard, park, or wooden deck (check that the ground is flat and even — I’ve known many a dancer to sprain their ankle in a hidden divot).
Wherever you’re dancing this week, stay safe, keep breathing, and be kind to yourself!