Dance Floor for home

[changemystory]

DD has a wooden floor in her room and frequently practises ballet and modern but is banned from practising tap there! She'd like some kind of portable floor (For Xmas!) so that she can practise tap and I was wondering what others do/ what you know is available?
Thanks

[riverdancefan]

My DS has one... For irish heavy practice , Left over laminate flooring cut to size, glued together by hubby and it just slots behind the bed when not being used
Cheaper version

[changemystory]

Thanks Riverdancefan - sounds perfect. Sadly impractical hubby - don't suppose yours fancies knocking up another one?

[riverdancefan]

Thanks Riverdancefan - sounds perfect. Sadly impractical hubby - don't suppose yours fancies knocking up another one?

He isn't that good - it took him 2 or 3 goes

[Katymac]

http://www.dancedeck.com/affordable-vin ... -tiles.asp I imagine these are expensive

[changemystory]

Oo they look nice, but probably expensive as you say katymac - will have to investigate...
Well, he got there in the end Riverdancefan
Thanks!

[Flosmom]

Sadly impractical hubby - don't suppose yours fancies knocking up another one?

He isn't that good - it took him 2 or 3 goes

I just caught a glimpse of this thread and was quite shocked until I realised you were talking about dance floors

Deb x

[funnygirl]

Just a cautionary word, but it really isn't sensible to practice any style of dance at home. It is easy to pick up bad habits this way and can even lead to injury if moves are not done correctly.

[changemystory]

I'm shocked Deb thought this was a family forum

Take the point Funnygirl - certainly wouldn't dream of letting her near her pointe shoes away from her ballet teachers, nor would she want to risk injury herself to be fair, so she's pretty cautious about what she does. It's fairly usual practice for the dance schools to give out a CD to practice the dances in particular at home in the lead up to exams in ballet, tap and modern though. She has just been asking for something to practice on, as tap shoes on our wood floors aren't allowed! DD has also found the RAD DVDs quite helpful in the past too. She is also expected to come up with some of her own choreography now too, so wants to practice beyond just marking it. That said, the space in our home is NOTHING like a dance studio, which is the preferred option for dance of course

[funnygirl]

It isn't just pointe, injury can be caused by all sorts of things. The most likely at home is using the muscles incorrectly due to lack of correction and not being fully warmed up. In my view it is a negligent teacher that encourages practice at home. There is nothing wrong with watching DVDs as long as they are used simply to mentally learn steps, timing etc and for very gentle marking (usually just with the arms/upper body). THe RAD DVDs, while useful for marking etc, are intended for teachers!

[Welsh Mum]

have to say my very experienced DD (up to Advanced level) practised at home. If they have been taught correctly how to warm up etc and have good technique I think it's OK to practice dances and exercises at home. Very useful in run up to exams. With tap repetition is important. Sensible children (which I am sure all our are ) will be fine.

[Hecouldshine]

Just joining in this debate to sit on the fence Our dance school also gets the kids to take the music away on a memory stick to practice before an exam. I know a fair number of people (including our guru Anjuli_Bai) on the balletco forum talk about picking up bad habits by practising at home. I think that practising between lessons, rather than trying to learn from scratch at home from a DVD or book, can't risk too much damage and is helping to reinforce what is taught in the class. Also serious students are obviously working on stretches daily and need some space for that. (Which is why my ds could never be a serious student - he hated doing the daily exercises set when he was a RBS JA, and he completely failed to do the exercises set by a physio to give him a reasonable turnout )

[Hecouldshine]

have to say my very experienced DD (up to Advanced level) practised at home. If they have been taught correctly how to warm up etc and have good technique I think it's OK to practice dances and exercises at home. Very useful in run up to exams. With tap repetition is important. Sensible children (which I am sure all our are ) will be fine.

Cross posted with you Welsh Mum - what you said It's usually the tap dd and ds do at home (wrecking our amtico floor )

[riverdancefan]

I'm afraid that some of the ultra complicated Irish dance moves need to be practiced at home
I trust him and his teachers implicitly ( well maybe the teachers )
It can take hours to master one move
So our little portable dance floor helps enormously :-))

[funnygirl]

Just think, though, that if you spend hours practicing something and you haven't got it quite right. You then need to spend even more hours unlearning it and starting again.

My dd is also advanced level and at a vocational school where they are not even allowed in a studio unless there is a teacher present. The school and her previous RBS trained teacher would be horrified to think that anything other than watch and mark was done at home! The exercises given out by RBS JAs are simple and parents are shown what is required so that they can supervise what the child does.