Someone stole the St. Paul Ballet's portable dance floor, and they want it back

The St. Paul Ballet wants people to be on the lookout for a missing dance floor it believes was stolen.

The floor was stored in a customized trailer locked behind the company's studios in the Hamline-Midway area of St. Paul when it was taken sometime Saturday night.

Whoever took the floor probably doesn't know what they have, said Zoe Henrot, the ballet's artistic director. Dancers used it for 25 shows last year in venues such as the Landmark Center and the Mall of America.

Henrot said the floor is built with enough flexibility to allow ballet dancers to jump or go on point without hurting themselves. The floor also allows for dancers to leap farther, and not having it will limit parts for male dancers in particular.

"It can be outside on gravel because we can put the floor on top of it. It can be on tile or brick floor. It can be on carpet even," she said. "So it really expanded the range of environments that we could bring ballet into."

If the ballet doesn't get the floor back, she said, it will severely limit its outreach shows.

It's unlikely insurance will cover all the floor's $11,000 replacement cost, Henrot said. The ballet says anyone with information should contact the St. Paul police.