Friction Model between Shoes and Floor in Ballroom Dancing

Abstract

Friction between shoes and floor is crucially important in Ballroom dancing and in other types of dancing. Dancers feel sometimes that the floor condition is too slippery and in some other cases feel rather too sticky. In this study a simple mechanical model is presented for this friction movement and is analysed to obtain the adequate condition for the stable smooth dancing. The intended normal and tangential forces to the friction surface are matched to the smooth dancing movement and the resultant forces are derived from the mechanical model composed of the mass, spring and the friction coefficient which is a function of the relative velocity. The stability is examined with parameters in the friction analysis.