What do ballerinas owe to industrial foam?

The answer is reduced risk of injury and the confidence and ability to jump higher and further. The secret is in the construction of the dance floor.

Dancers are susceptible to injuries, which can often be attributed to repeated impact on hard dance floors. The lack of shock absorption can put excessive strain on muscles, ligaments and bones, resulting in injury such as stress fractures.

Industrial foam, used in advanced flooring systems, lessens these risks by providing the right amount of cushioning to absorb the stress of impact, whilst creating the right amount of spring to enhance the dancer’s performance. The flooring is suspended on polyurethane foam pads, specifically Poron® foam for its impact absorption qualities, superior compression set resistance and long-term resiliency.

The Poron® pads provide performers with an exceptional feel and dancing experience, as well as confidence that the floor will offer a consistent response and reduced risk of injury.

A range of formulations are available, which can be combined to offer the right level of firmness and bounce, to create a customised dance floor feel. In one case, we laminated two Poron® foams, bringing together two different densities to create the right combination of properties for a ballet dance floor.

Poron® foam offers the same high performance shock absorption across many applications, in a range of industries, including automotive and electronics. Read one of our latest case studies on a Poron® foam protective gap filler in a ruggedised electronic device.