A portable tap dance mat gives you the freedom to practice tap dancing no matter where your lifestyle takes you. What are the best mats on the market for tap dancing?
Here are the best portable tap dance mats:
- Artan Balance Dance Floor
- Dot2dance Authentic Portable Dance Floor
- Stagestep Tap in a Tube
- LeStage Portable Dance Floor
- Stagestep Tap Mat
In this guide, we’ll review all five of the aforementioned portable tap dance mats. We’ll also present a brief buyer’s guide to help you make the best decision, so make sure you keep reading!
Starting our list is the Artan Balance Dance Floor, which costs under $170.
What we liked:
- This multipurpose dance floor measures six feet by three feet so it’s plenty spacious for you to practice all your tap dance routines when away from the studio.
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Built from durable vinyl, the mat rolls out easily and then rolls right back up when you’re done using it and want to take it home or to the next destination.
- The semi-matte surface is slip-resistant so that even if you sweat, you won’t have to worry about losing your footing.
What we didn't like:
- Covering 18 square feet, we’d say the only downside is that the Artan balance dance floor is maybe a little too large to be convenient for long-distance transport.
If you’re looking for more flexibility than what the Artan dance floor offers, try the Dot2dance portable dance floor.
What we liked:
- You can choose from four sizes for this dance floor: 16 inches, 24 inches, or 32 inches. The largest size is priced under $220, so it’s still cost-effective.
- Weighing less than two pounds, it should be a lot easier to tote around the Dot2dance dance floor.
- The carrying handle, which is nautical-grade, will help you carry this bag to and fro. The handle tucks when not in use so you don’t trip it on when dancing.
- The marley flooring is designed for safer dancing. The round shape and tapered edge make it easy to get tap dancing whenever you want to practice.
What we didn't like:
- Some users have complained that the shipping on this dance floor is rather steep.
Stagestep’s Tap in a Tube is the ultimate in convenience.
This polyvinyl chloride dance mat in a tube also features marley flooring.
What we liked:
- The matte surface is designed to prevent slipping once you lay the mat down, especially on a slick surface such as a hard floor.
- The price is right too at about $100 for this portable dance tap mat.
What we didn't like:
- The cardboard tube that the Stagestep Tap in a Tube comes in isn’t meant for repeated use, which is certainly a downside!
The LeStage portable dance floor also comes in a cardboard tube.
When unfurled, the tube measures 48 inches long by 36.5 inches wide.
What we liked:
- Designed for vinyl, laminate, tile, and hardwood surfaces (as well as other hard surfaces), the PVC construction with slip resistance keeps you stable and safe as you tap dance for hours.
- The mat costs less than $120 and includes a free stretch strap as a bonus.
- The soft mat rolls up when you’re finished using it so you can take it home and wipe it down.
What we didn't like:
- This LeStage mat, like all the others, is hand-wash only, so resist the urge to put it in your washing machine.
The last portable tap dance mat we’ll look at is this mat from Stagestep, which is available for under $200.
What we liked:
- Made of bamboo in a warm walnut color, the bamboo is lighter than you’d expect.
- It’s also heavy-duty, durable, and sure to last for a lot of tap dance practices to come.
What we didn't like:
- The bamboo boards might not feel that comfortable on your feet if you’re dancing in any other shoes than tap shoes (and especially barefoot).
Why Should You Use a Portable Tap Mat?
Portable tap mats are highly advantageous no matter how much experience you have as a dancer.
The reason? The mat allows you to practice, and practice makes perfect.
You can only put in X number of hours per week and per month into your dance classes.
If the tap classes last two hours twice a week, that’s four hours of dance per week and 16 hours per month.
Why limit yourself to just those few hours when you can practice as much as time allows?
You’re not even limited to dancing in a studio. With a portable tap mat, you can practice at home in your bedroom or in your kitchen, at a friend’s house, or even at the gym if your facility allows it.
While you do want to give yourself breaks, the more you commit to practicing, the better you’ll become at tap dancing.
Better yet is that it could happen faster than if you only attended your tap dance classes.
What to Look for in a Tap Mat
Earlier, we presented five very viable portable tap dance mats. That said, you only need one, so how do you choose?
The following are qualities that any tap mat worth the money should possess.
Manageable Weight
Since your dance mat is supposed to be portable, if it’s too heavy, that kind of defeats the purpose, wouldn’t you say?
How heavy a mat is will vary by a person’s body weight. You might find a mat heavier than your friend does or vice-versa, so choose a mat with a weight that works for you.
Easy Carrying
If you’re going to lug your tap dance mat all over the city, you at least need it to have convenient carrying features.
Whether the mat tucks into a tube or it includes carrying handles, these features will reduce your fatigue when traveling with your mat.
Quick Unfurling and Rolling
The faster and easier your tap mat unrolls and then furls back up when you’re done, the better!
Non-Slip and Sturdy
Not only should the surface of the tap mat have non-slip properties, but you want the underside to be sturdy as well.
It would be disastrous if your mat skidded on you when you perform an especially vigorous tap routine. You could slip and fall and end up injured.
Good Price
All five of the portable tap dance mats we reviewed today are fairly priced, with the starting price at about $100 and the highest price for a mat about $250. You can’t go wrong no matter which mat you choose.
Can You Make a DIY Tap Dance Mat?
You’d like to save a few bucks, so you find it a lot more feasible to simply make a DIY tap dance mat at home. Can you?
Yes, you can! The project would require OSB sheathing, jigsaw flooring, laminate floor planks, and an adhesive to glue everything together.
The laminate costs about $10 for a 4×4 plank, the jigsaw flooring is $20 for a 4×4, and the OSB costs about $12 for a 4×8 board you can cut down to size.
This is undoubtedly more affordable than buying a portable tap dance mat but more effort-intensive. You’d need woodworking tools to make the project work.
Keep in mind that your dance mat is really more of a dance board, and it’s not very portable at that.
Related Questions
What Can You Use for Tap Flooring at Home?
Tap dancing just isn’t the same without that trademark sound of metal tap shoes against a hard surface, right?
The same materials described in the section above will make for suitable tap flooring at home.
For more reading on dance flooring, take a look at our comprehensive article What’s The Best Dance Flooring?: A 20-year dancer weighs in. There is a wealth of information in the linked article which is sure to add to your dance floor knowledge and make you a better dancer from the ground up!