BALLROOM DANCE FLOORS
A good dance floor is one which is raw maple or oak, wood with no finish; simply polished smooth by a steel wool rotary machine or a fine sander,  and left alone  from further finishing materiel.
            Poly is usually used  for the protection of the floor surface from wear and usually makes it less slippery and very shiny  (Slower).   The best dance floors are those made of hard oak or  maple tongue & groove installed over a subfloor using  hard rubber cushions at each  joint of the sub floor. The dance floor then needs to be polished smooth by thousands of dancing feet. Never wet the floor nor apply any shellac, paint, or poly finish.   All that needs to be done is to occasionally dust the floor off (vacuum) so that there is no dust to rise when the dancers move about on it.  Polyurethane makes the floor look very nice and brings out the grain while preserving the wood but by no means enhances the danceability of the wood surface.  The floors I am describing are referred to as “sprung” or “floating” floors and are usually located in older buildings on a floor other than the ground floor.
            Frequently flooring is simply glued down onto a smooth cement slab of concrete.  Without the requisite subflooring  but with several coats of polyurethane. It simply becomes something beautiful to observe but a torture to those who want to dance on it for several hours at a time.
            Those of you who know what “shin splints” are know exactly what I am talking about.  Those of you who don't know what I am talking about but who are experiencing unusually tired and aching legs, particularly where the muscles meet the Tibia should look into the kind of floors they are doing their dancing on!

Cordially,
 Arthur
 October 12, 1996 — AHGberg@*.com - West Palm Beach, Florida, USA

______________________________________________________________
Date: 12-10-96    From: SANDRA LEE WOLLIN   SLWOLLIN@*.net
It is also of benefit to protect dance floors with IU-30 Penetrating Oil.  It does not cause the problems to the dancers that the other coatings do but the oiling of the wood aids it to last longer, protects it from heel scrapes, and is not slippery at all.
__________________________________________________________
Date: 12-11-96    From: MARK ANTHONY BALZER   m-balzer@*.edu
>  Never wet the floor nor apply any shellac, paint, or poly finish.
 MMMMM
Maybe in an ideal world, where nobody ever spills anything and where everybody wears dance shoes that they carry around in a shoe bag.
            Unfinished wood floors not only absorb spills and acquire impossible-to-clean stains; they become a lovely shade of grey due to all the dirt that gets rubbed into them.

______________________________________________________
Date: 27 Aug 1998   From: TOM MATTOX  (Deceased)
Subj: Dance floor installation advice   sddcmattox@*.com

Don't use Pergo flooring it's not real wood.
MMMMM
The best flooring to use is a product called speed plank. It's real wood with a
perfect finish to dance upon.
MMMMM
The key to installing is to lay a good sub floor, and take your time.

_______________________________________
Date: 31 October 2001   From: ICONO CLAST
eMessage to: alex@madonnainn.com
Subject: Thank you Alex Madonna:                   
MMMMM
During my hitch-hiking days, I was picked up after my first visit to the recently-opened Hearst Castle by
an old man who told me he was a former San Luís Obispo County sheriff. He was very excited about hav-
ing the opportunity to tell me about the Madonnas who built “this road and all the other roads around
here” and that the current boss, son Alex, had just opened a motel in fulfillment of his dreams.
MMMMMHe took me to your inn's door where I had dinner before going home. But I hadn't enough
cash to pay the bill and you didn't take credit cards. No problem. You sent me a memorably pink bill that
I paid immediately upon receipt.
MMMMMSince then, I have always stopped at the Madonna Inn (perhaps more than thirty visits over
the years) to dine and dance (many times with Little Mary), often not paying the bill until I received an invoice upon arrival home. One time it was my first stop on a six week trip to Yucatán. In spite of the
long delay, about which I'd told the server, I was not dunned. An admirable way to do business.
 MMMMM
Monday night there were too few servers to serve us at the dance floor where I usually eat. But we, my girlfriend and I, were early enough that it didn't matter.
MMMMM
When we got to the floor, my girlfriend was thrilled with its quality. I knew it had always been excellent
but it's easy to mess up a good dance floor. Fortunately, it was not merely just as good but possibly better
than ever.
MMMMMI asked Halley “Who's responsible for the dance floor?” She said that you are. I asked her to
tell you that I, an old man who's danced all over the United States of America as well as in many other countries, to tell you to keep on keepin' on 'cause whatever you're doing with that floor is what ought
be done, but isn't, with all dance floors. She said to tell you myself: It is done!  MMMMM
 MMMMM
Thank you, Alex Madonna, for appreciating the needs of us dancers and providing a floor of unsurpassed quality from its initial construction through its outstanding maintenance.
 MMMMM
Here's part of what I put on the 'Net:
 MMMMM
“Monday night we danced with the Lindy Hoppers at the Madonna Inn in San Luís Obispo. They're not
of Ithaca caliber but they're pretty good.
MMMM“I've danced on that floor many times over the years and, each time, have appreciated its quality
but never more than last night. You can find floors just as good . . . but you're extremely unlikely to ever
find a better dance floor.”
 MMMMM

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For additional information, please visit the Dancers' Archive updated April 24, 1999
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