Harlequin Cascade™ makes Riverdance a better show for everybody

Photo:Joan Marcus

Since its beginnings as an interval act during the Eurovision Song Contest staged in Dublin, Riverdance has gone on to conquer the world. And where Riverdance goes so do rolls of Harlequin Cascade™ dance floor. 

Recently British Harlequin Marketing Manager, Caroline Reilly caught up with the show and Executive Producer Julian Erskine, in Killarney. In a recently released video interview published on the the Harlequin video channel and YouTube, Julian explained how an extensive search for the right floor ended with choosing Harlequin Cascade™ - a floor that has since toured the world with Riverdance for seventeen years. On a recent 22 week tour of North America, the floor was rolled out in 77 cities. "The floor went out 77 times….and without any need for repairs. It’s a credit to the product that it does that." In the video Julian emphasises how important the floor is to the dancers’ confidence, so they don’t "hold back" and can "go all out" without fear of slipping. Slipping was a real problem in the early days before Cascade™ as the special shoes used for Irish dance polished the traditional wood surface to a shiny and slippery gloss. "Our dancers’ reaction to the floor is completely positive. When we found Harlequin Cascade™ the confidence arrived to go out every night knowing the major issue of whether they were going to slip or not was over. We find with Cascade™ dancers have no fear and can go as fast as they like, it makes the show better for everybody." In the video interview he also talks about the importance of floor colour to work with lighting and scenic projection. Summing up what Harlequin meant to him is ‘confidence’ in the floor and ‘satisfaction’ with the service received over the years. 

The full interview can be viewed on the Harlequin video channel showcasing the continuing role of Harlequin Cascade™ in this long running success, plus a look back at Riverdance history and an interview with a dancer. 

The American Harlequin Team at LDI

The American Harlequin Team at the 2011 LDI Show in Orlando, Florida. From left to right: Bob Dagger, President; Patricia Basileo, Vice President; Mark Rasmussen, Harlequin Group Marketing Manager; Suzanne Costanza, Sales Manager; Larry Sullivan, Contracting Manager; Maria Gil Dybalski, Account Executive; and Guy Dagger, Harlequin Group Director.

Tickets go on sale for first ever Dance Proms

British Harlequin will be a sponsor of the first ever Dance Proms when the UK’s rising stars will be performing at the Royal Albert Hall on 13th November 2011. Dance Proms is open to the public and tickets are now on sale through the Royal Albert Hall Box Office and website. Twenty-four dance acts from around the UK will perform together at this major new national dance festival which was launched in February 2011 to find the UK’s most talented dance students - in all dance genres, from ballet to ballroom, salsa to street dance and jive to jazz dance. 

Along with guest appearances by Marianela Nuñez and Thiago Soares, principals of The Royal Ballet, Strictly Come Dancing stars Darren Bennett and Lilia Kopylova will be adding to the excitement. The shortlist of 24 acts - involving over 400 dancers - was selected from over 300 entries. 

Dance Proms - organised by the UK’s leading dance organisations: the International Dance Teachers’ Association (IDTA), Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing (ISTD) and the Royal Academy of Dance (RAD) in association with the Royal Albert Hall - celebrates dance in all its forms and the unique relationship between students and their dance teachers. 

Covent Garden Dance Company perform on Liberty floor at Hatch House

Photo: James Whitty Photography.

The Covent Garden Dance Company hired Harlequin Liberty™ panels to create a 10m x 5m sprung dance floor for use with their own custom yellow Harlequin Cascade™ dance surface when they performed recently at Hatch House in Wiltshire. 

Matt Brady said, " With three world premiers and eight world class dancers appearing over the two nights expectations ran high" for the event presented in the depths of the English countryside. More on Hatch House 2011 can be found on their web site .

The Covent Garden Dance Company " aim to combine new and established talents in the fields of production, music, design and choreography and thus produce entertaining and challenging work and are strongly committed to building and educating new audiences". 

Northern Ballet continues to trust in Harlequin’s dance floors

British Harlequin recently installed Harlequin WoodSpring™ sprung floors, with Harlequin Studio™ dance surfaces in all the dance and performance studios for Northern Ballet’s new building in Leeds. 

Talking to British Harlequin, Technical Director Andy Waddington stressed the importance of sprung floors that benefit not just ballet dancers, but dancers of all styles and age groups that use their facility. So when the architects were appointed, a Harlequin sprung floor was high on the priority list. "Harlequin is something I can trust and I know it is going to work," continued Andy. He explained Northern Ballet had a long history of successfully using Harlequin Floors – " it’s the industry standard." 

The full interview with Andy Waddington will soon be published on the Harlequin video channel and on our YouTube channel.