Bamboo for Dance/Yoga

Q: I am opening a dance/yoga studio and of course, on a shoestring budget! I am interested in bamboo for ecological reasons, and wonder if you know if it is a good choice for this use.
My floor (1350 sf)
concrete covered by linoleum.
I believe the recommended treatment is to spring the floor by laying down slats first.
Do you know about this? And have you ever heard of a sprung bamboo floor?
Thank you,
Christie
in Hatfield, Mass.
A: Most dance floors nowadays are sold as kits and the typical surface, much like most basketball courts, is maple. Most commonly these are sold unfinished so that the floor can be sanded flat and site finished after installation to ensure there is no area with variance in floor height and to ensure a finish formulated for this traffic level is used. There are some other kits out there that use a tile like set up or larger floor piece similar to sheets of plywood in size which are done by professional dance studio finishers. Does this mean a sprung bamboo floor can’t be done? No.
If you were to go with bamboo you would need to use something other than the traditional 3′ planks. These are simply too small and the slight flex the floor has would be murder on the floor. Your best bet is to look into a floating product, as these are naturally built to flex slightly. Look into something like Springwood’s click-together line and use a 3mm cork underlayment as this will maintain enough support under foot to prevent the floor from being too springy, while giving just enough flex to cushion movement as the sprung floor is intended to do.
Keep in mind that most dance floors receive regular finish schedules, where the floor is re-screened or refinished every couple of years (depending on traffic levels of course). In you case, screening will become something for your floor to keep the finish look good after a few years of use. I will caution here that if you choose bamboo, go with a natural bamboo as it is more likely to resist denting than carbonized and if you intend to have folks in high heels (ball room rather than ballet dancing for instance) then you may want to look into a more resilient species than bamboo as high heels will cause denting to bamboo over time.
Another ecological choice here would be something like an engineered cork. I know several yoga studios which use cork and now swear by it for comfort, but this can be a matter of taste as cork has some very unique appearances that might not fit what you are trying to achieve.