In December Allegro launched into a year end fund raiser. In less than a month, by the end of the year, we had raised $34,000. Woozer! That also meant a lot of responsibility.
We were moving into an additional building, tripling our square footage and allowing us to increase our programing.
We were in need of fund raising for Allegro’s general fund.
With new programing come new expenses.
We continue to award financial aid to students in need. Last year we awarded over $19,000 to students.
All of us at Allegro were so blown away by the generosity of our community. This would bridge our path to the next level, but only if we used the money responsibly.
One of the big reasons for the need of space is our theatre program. Part of theatre is dance for the stage and a place to rehearsal and teach choreography for Allegro shows. The mission for the theatre department is to train dancer for musical theatre. To give them that competitive edge. Our mission is not to create classical ballerinas!
But creating a dance studio can be very, very expensive. Mirrors, Marley flooring, and a sprung floor. How do you do all that on a budget while also making sure the arts are accessible to everyone in the community through scholarships and financial aid?
For all of you non-dancers, a sprung floor is installed to protect the dancer from injuries. Think about what jumping up and down on a concrete floor would feel like, over and over again? Safety is also a large priority for us.
Armed with the cost of a dance floor, we began to research. Here’s what we found: there is no standard unless the sprung floor is purchased from a dance supplier. The size of our room could have cost up to $18,000 for just the sprung floor. That didn’t include the marley dance floor to go on top or the mirrors. That simply wasn’t an option.
If anyone knows our Executive Director, Sam Yoder, you know he’s a researcher above all else. He believes in the fiscal responsibility of the donations and grants received by Allegro. He’s always going to look for the best deal that serves the best interests of our families.
What are the options? Oh so many!
But what is the best option? What are the benchmarks of a good sprung floor?
Most floors are created with grids of lumber and disks of foam. A floating floor, sprung floor, is based on air under all the surface points. The air is put in place in the form of foam.
One of the original sprung floors was built around a spongy rubber substance inside the lumbered grid.
We also found dance floor foam that creates the spring to the floor. Expensive stuff since it’s created for the dance industry. Guess what? We discovered in comparison that the foam density of the dance floor foam is the same density found in as the pool noodles! They are both made of polyurethane.
So you guessed it! We opted for pool noodles. First of all, they match the vibrancy of Allegro colors! :)
Second of all, they are very affordable! .
50 pool noodles cut into 2” round donuts gives us 2155 pool noodle disks. And our dance floor!!
We want to thank Royce Kelly and DPF Restoration for installing the floor and being the room sponsor for our dance room. We also want to thank Home Depot for their assistance with the lumber and delivery.
Stop on by. The floor walks well!
Total cost for our dance room -
$95 pool noodles
$532 - lumber
$1800 - high end marley flooring, purchased off the Facebook Marketplace
$1500 - mirrors purchased from a Warrenton neighbor, found on the Facebook Marketplace
Installation donated - 3 people working 20 hours each
Total - $6927
Cost of a traditional sprung dance floor: $18,000 (materials and installation)
Allegro savings: $14,373
