Harlequin Floors boosts expanding Contract Division with new management appointment

Craig Thomson

Harlequin Floors’ appointment of Craig Thomson as Contracts Manager brings additional expertise and experience to an already strong division responsible for installing the company’s range of stage, dance and display  floors.

Craig will be based at Harlequin’s Tunbridge Wells HQ and work closely with Contract Director, Ray Lloyds. In this newly created position, Craig will manage Harlequin’s installation teams and back office staff and co-ordinating flooring project programmes with the company’s sales division. In addition he will be involved with new product developments, research, sourcing of special materials and Harlequin’s manufacturing facilities.

Craig brings with him a wealth of experience in the flooring industry, gained through working for various major contractors,( including Harlequin) on high profile jobs. These include The Olympic Stadium, The House of Commons and The Dorchester Hotel. For the last four years, Craig has been supervising installations on major projects for one of the UK’s largest flooring contractors.

Harlequin’s Mark Rasmussen addresses IADMS 26th annual meeting

Mark Rasmussen - Harlequin Floors

Invited guest speaker, Mark Rasmussen, Group Marketing Manager for Harlequin Floors recently addressed the 26th annual conference of the International Association for Dance Medicine and Science (IADMS) who were meeting for the first time in Wanchai, Hong Kong.

Sharing the platform with Peter Lewton Brain from l'Ecole Superieure de Danse de Cannes-Mougins Rosella Hightower, Mark’s presentation plotted the history and evolution of vinyl surfaces used for dance, the types available and the demands of different dance styles. Peter Lewton Brain, for his part concentrated on the contribution and impact vinyl dance  floors have made and allowed the development of new ideas for choreography and new  technique thanks to the characteristics of the performance surface.

Poster prize winner

Mark was also on hand to present the winner of the Majorie Moore Student Poster Award which has been Harlequin sponsored for the last five years. As always, the poster presentations drew a large crowd, with the senior members circulating to select the winners. After some deliberation this year the award went to K.Michael Rowley, BS, BA, for his poster on ‘Activation of the Flexor Hallucis Longus In a Dancer’s Releve’. Although not available for the photo opportunity in Hong Kong, he kindly sent a photo of himself and others from his research team once they were back in the US, with trophy proudly in hand.

Summing up this year’s IADMS  conference, Mark Rasmussen said, “Harlequin Floors has been a supporter of IADMS’ work for as number of years and it was a great honour to be invited to participate in the conference. Harlequin continue to support relevant research and to encourage emerging talent through scholarships.”

Harlequin Floors on tour with Jean-Michel Jarre

Photo courtesy of Louis Hallonet

Kicking off in the UK at the beginning of October, French Electronic musician Jean-Michel Jarre’s European tour  got off to a fantastic start, captivating audiences with its spectacular show production, with Harlequin Reversible as the floor of choice for the duration of the tour. 

In the words of The Guardian which has called the show ‘sensational’, Jarre’s show ‘enthralled the crowd and full-house at London’s 02 Arena’. For the highly stimulating show, complete with towering laser beams, production values were high and so Production Manager, Kevin Hopgood, turned to the flooring provider he knows and trusts. 
“Harlequin floors are my first and only choice for all my touring productions. The rigours of concert touring are one of the toughest tests on these products and they never let me down.”

He continued: “The quality of finish is an important factor in the presentation of the show and gives performers the consistency of look and feel that they need. They are equally robust to the challenge of use on multiple shows in arenas across the world and our touring crews and stage manager can always rely on the product to take the punishment of the road".

Printed Harlequin floors feature at the opening of Embankment Garden Cinema

Photo: Courtesy of People

When live experience agency, People, were contracted to design and build a temporary 800-seat cinema for the 60th BFI London Film Festival at Victoria Embankment Gardens, they had quite the audience to impress. And they didn’t disappoint.
 
Production Director, Chris Nevins turned to Harlequin Floors. People wanted to find something special for the floor in the box office and bar area and that’s why they came to Harlequin; for a bespoke printed vinyl floor – printed on Harlequin Reversible.The final effect was as glamourous as the stars that showed on the cinema's screens, during the 12 days of the Festival. 

Commenting on his experience with Harlequin, Production Director, Chris Nevins said: “Harlequin’s response was quick and efficient meaning the order was delivered within the short timescale we needed. The result was great and delivered the impact we were really hoping for.” 

This year’s BFI London Film Festival of 184,700  broke the record for audience attendance and was  up 18% on last year with the new ‘pop-up’ cinema, known as Embankment Garden Cinema  being a big factor.

Dance Proms sponsors, Harlequin Floors has tickets to be won for this year’s spectacular gala event

 Two pairs of tickets are  up for grabs for Dance Proms, the annual gala event, taking place on 30^th October at the stunning Royal Albert Hall. Sponsors of the Event Sponsors, Harlequin Floors is also the official dance floor supplier for the fourth year running.

Since its inaugural event in 2011, the Dance Proms has gone from strength to strength, supported each year by the biggest names in the dance industry such as Darcey Bussell CBE, Len Goodman and Wayne Sleep. Joining Darcey as Patrons for this year’s extravaganza is Arlene Phillips CBE, Akram Khan and Matt Flint, to name just a few.

Dancing their hearts out on a Harlequin sprung floor with Harlequin Reversible vinyl surface will be hundreds of extremely talented young dancers from all over the world, covering a range of different dancing styles from Ballet to Ballroom, from Tap to Tango. Professional guest acts will also be taking to the stage, to provide a jam-packed evening of top quality entertainment.

One of the keys to the event’s success is producer Jo Daykin, who has been with Dance Proms from the very start. Explaining her strategy for the production of this event, in a recent interview with Harlequin, Jo said “there was no way we were going to have a show that didn’t have the highest production values. I couldn’t possibly let something through that was ragged”. And this, for her, is where Harlequin came in: “We had to go to Harlequin. And it was absolutely worth it, from every direction because of the level of support we had and the quality of the floor.”

Harlequin’s Group Marketing Manager, Mark Rasmussen commented: “It’s a great pleasure to see future dancing stars perform on our floors at such an inspiring event as the Dance Proms. We’re extremely proud to be sponsors and look forward to sending four lucky winners to experience the action first hand.”

Harlequin Floors’ Mark Rasmussen all set for debut presentation at IADMS Conference in Hong Kong

Mark Rasmussen will take major speaking role art IADMS

Representing Harlequin Floors at the 26^th IADMS Conference is Group Marketing Director, Mark Rasmussen. Mark will be presenting a paper at the upcoming event, which takes place in Wanchai, Hong Kong from October 20^th to 23^rd. 

With the IADMS conference already an established key date in Harlequin’s calendar for more than ten years, this year sees Harlequin stepping up its involvement even further. As well as continuing to present the Marjorie Moore Student Poster Award, Mark will also be making a joint presentation alongside Peter Lewton Brain from l'Ecole Supérieure de Danse de Cannes-Mougins Rosella Hightower. Their presentation entitled ‘Shall we dance? The science and art behind vinyl dance flooring surfaces’ draws on Harlequin’s considerable experience in the development of dance floors. By working closely with experts in healthy dance for many years, Harlequin has acquired a high level of knowledge and expertise itself on the various ways of enhancing the health and well-being of dancers and works with other associated organisations to help promote this important topic.

Commenting on his upcoming trip to the IADMS conference, Mark commented, “Attending IADMS every year is paramount to Halequin as the messages it promotes are very close to our hearts. To be presenting alongside someone like Peter Lewton Brain this year is a real privilege.”

Harlequin Floors hosts Chinese Delegation in London

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Harlequin Floors was the privileged host for a party of four delegates from China, during a mission to find out about theatre standards and regulations in the UK. 

The group from China were made up Ministry of Culture delegates, Li Quili, Inspector of Policy and Rules and Yan Ping, Head of Policy and Rules and delegates from China’s Art, Science and Technology Institute Director, Weng Fang and Director of Stage Equipment Testing Center, Wang Tao.

First stopping in Germany for two days, the delegates were hosted by Harlequin’s collaborative partner and stage technology company Hoac, before arriving in London on Thursday 15^th September. Ready to greet the guests were Guy Dagger, Harlequin’s Managing Director, Kasper Nyboe, General Manager of Harlequin Asia, Larry Chung from the Sales team in Hong Kong and Susy Chandler, Communications Executive, and with them, a jam-packed agenda for the next couple of days.  

The first meeting, on Thursday afternoon, was with Theatres Trust’s Interim Director and Theatres Advisor, Rebecca Morland, who imparted her considerable knowledge from many years of operational and practical experience in managing theatre buildings. She explained the role of the Theatres Trust and the kind of advice they provide on protecting old buildings, improvements, funding schemes and planning applications for new theatres.

Friday started with a visit to ABTT (The Association of British Theatre Technicians), which took place at The Barbican Centre and included a very special tour of the Fly Tower with Technical Manager, Ashley Pickles and Theatre Systems & Maintenance Technician, Serena Scaramuzzi. This tour gave the delegates the chance to stand 33 metres above the stage floor, on its recently renewed grid.

Hosting the meeting overall was the ABTT’s Chief Executive Officer, Robin Townley, who knew an endless amount on technical theatre and provided fantastic material for the delegates on standards for places of entertainment. Louise Jeffreys, Director of Arts at the Barbican also dropped by to meet the Delegates and talk about the running of the Barbican Centre.

A lunchtime meeting was then held just outside The Barbican and the group was joined by Matthew Wheeler, Rigging Manager at the National Theatre, who spoke to the delegates about the technical needs of production, relating to rigging, armed with photos to demonstrate his work.

The afternoon was spent in Fulham, with PLASA’s Managing Director, Peter Heath and Commercial Manager, Andrew Organ, who welcomed the Chinese delegation to their office despite last minute preparations for the PLASA exhibition at Olympia, which was  opening at the weekend.Giving a breakdown of how the association works, Peter and Andrew went on to explain the nature of its involvement in the development of standards and directives worldwide.

Leaving the next day with an abundance of information and bags of literature to take home with them, it was safe to say the Chinese delegation visit was ‘mission complete’. Harlequin would like to thank its dear friends at Theatre’s Trust, ABTT, The Barbican Centre, the National Theatre and PLASA for all their help in making the visit such a valuable one for the Chinese delegates.   

Sponsors Harlequin Floors present triple winner Bangarra Dance Theatre with the award for Outstanding Performance By A Company at The Australian Dance Awards 2016

It was a wonderfully successful and emotional evening for Bangarra Dance Theatre at this year’s Australian Dance Awards, picking up three awards including the award for Outstanding Performance By A Company, presented by Harlequin’s very own Mark Rasmussen, Group Marketing Manager. 

Welcoming the VIP guests on the night alongside Mark, who gave a passionate speech about the importance of Australian dance, was Ros Dundas, representing Harlequin’s presenting partner of the awards, Ausdance. A touching tribute was given to the late composer and performer, Roy David Page, who was awarded the prize for Services to Dance for his ‘prolific output of memorable and exceptional compositions for Bangarra Dance Theatre’. Completing the winning streak for Bangarra was Elma Kris who won the award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Dancer for her captivating performance in the company’s performance lore. Other winners from the night included Sydney Dance Company’s David Mack, awarded for Outstanding Performance by a Male Dancer and Lucy Guerin for Outstanding Achievement in Choreography for Motion Picture. Dance teacher Terri Charlesworth, won The Lifetime Achievement Award, for her ‘initiative, dedication, generosity and passion, which have greatly influenced generations of Australian dancers.’

Mark Rasmussen commented, “It was a privilege to present the Outstanding Performance By a Company Award to such an inspirational dance company like Bangarra. The way its dancers explore such personal themes through dance while connecting emotionally with the audience is truly enchanting.”

2, 4, 6, 8... Who do ParaCheer appreciate?

Team England ParaCheer have chosen a Harlequin FreeStyle floor for its training sessions as it shtarts its journey to the World Championships in Florida which take place . with the glory of Rio’s spectacular Paralympics still fresh in our hearts and minds, another fantastic feat in disability performance comes as the world governing body of Cheerleading, the International Cheer Union (ICU), formally agrees to accept ParaCheer and ParaCheer Freestyle Pom as official divisions for the 2017 Cheerleading World Championships.

And as of this month the England team are proud owners of a Harlequin Freestyle vinyl performance surface, giving them a true taste of what it will feel like to dance at the all-important Championships.

Harlequin FreeStyle, as the name suggests, was initially developed for street and hip hop dance styles but it has also found favour with other artists such as the multi-award winning indigenous Australian contemporary dance group, Bangarra Dance Theatre. Harlequin FreeStyle's combination of cushioning and mottled surface made it an ideal choice for Team England Paracheer.

Rick Rodgers, one of the founders of ParaCheer, came to meet the Harlequin team and collect the flooring at their head office in Tunbridge Wells just in time the team’s first training session the following weekend.

Aaron Simmonds, Head Coach for Team England ParaCheer, commented on the relationship with Harlequin: “As a competitor myself, I understand how difficult it is training on a wooden floor and then transition to a competition floor where your turns, your leaps, your spins feel different. It’s so useful for us to now be able to experience that beforehand.”

He added: “Also for our disabled athletes to understand how it’s going to feel with the variations that we create for them, so when we go out on to the competition floor at the World Championships, it’s going to feel like home, thank you so much Harlequin!”

Harlequin shines bright in prime position at PLASA 2016

PLASA exhibitors, Harlequin Floors, reported a successful show at this week’s London event,staged for the first time at Olympia. Harlequin’s brand new stand, in a prime site, attracted record numbers of enquiries, particularly for the new flooring products launched at PLASA for theatre, event and display applications.

Harlequin’s on-stand support reflected the global nature of the company, with flooring consultants drawn from various offices in Europe and Hong Kong, ready to share their expertise in the correct use and selection of flooring products.

The newly launched metallic Hi-Shine range, in Gold and Silver, was the hot topic, causing double-takes from visitors as they entered the exhibition. Samples of the new product flew off the shelves, with only two remaining at the end of the three days, as enquiries flooded in from set designers, photographers and event producers, to name a few industries.

Other areas of interest for the stand’s guests were printed floors and Harlequin Reversible Pro, which, also recently launched, is based on the original reversible product by Harlequin but benefits from an additional layer, for even greater stability and ease of laying.

Another new product attracting attention this year was Harlequin Rocksure, Harelquin’s hardest wearing product yet, which was, for demonstration purposes, attached to liberty panels with bolts, allowing stand guests to deconstruct the layers with an allen key to see how it all fits together.

Commenting on this year’s exhibition, Sales Manager, Teresa Rogers said: “This year’s PLASA show was a great success and our new Hi-Shine Gold and Silver had a huge amount of interest. There was a real mix of customers, from a range of industries and such a positive vibe. We’ve tripled our enquiries from last year which shows how well our new products have been received”.   

Notes for editors

Harlequin Floors is recognised as the world leader in the development, production and installation of high quality dance floors. Harlequin dance floors are the choice for most of the world’s leading dance companies and performance venues and are also widely used by schools teaching dance classes in the public and private education sectors.  Harlequin Floors supports and nurtures emerging talent in conjunction with major events in several countries.  The company also helps sponsor various research progammes which seek to establish a better understanding of the mechanisms that cause various injuries to dancers and to use this knowledge in advancing the design of dance floors.

Harlequin Floors expands marketing team

Melissa & Susy join Harlequin's marketing team.

Harlequin Floors has announced two important new appointments to further strengthen the company’s marketing team.  Melissa Chapman and Susy Chandler join the Tunbridge Wells based company that has gained world-wide recognition and established market leadership for its innovative developments in setting new standards in quality for floors for dance and the performing arts.

Group Marketing Manager, Mark Rasmussen said, “ We are delighted to welcome Melissa and Susy to Harlequin Floors at a very exciting stage in the company’s development.”  Senior Marketing Executive, Melissa Chapman brings a range of marketing experience to the post. A graduate in European Marketing and Spanish from the University of Hertfordshire, Melissa has recently specialised in digital marketing and social media, building on previous roles in events organizing, corporate communications and PR. Fluent in Spanish, part of Melissa’s career was based in Spain. With two young girls aged 10 and 8 Melissa says she ‘has her hands full’ and lists cooking and eating among her favourite activities outside work.

Susy Chandler, appointed as Senior Communications Executive will focus on Harlequin Floors’ press and public relations activities. As a marketing and communications specialist, previously Susy forged strong relationships with journalists in Europe, Asia Pacific, North America and Latin America when working in the insurance industry. Until the move to Harlequin Susy had been developing content and communications initiatives for the Global Leadership Foundation, in Melbourne, Australia. With a first class degree in French and English from Reading University, Susy’s interests include travel, music, drama and sport.

Mark Rasmussen commenting on the new appointments explained, “Our products are the dance floors of choice for major dance companies globally, thanks to the research investment that has enabled us to create floors that dancers love to use.  Harlequin has worked closely with dancers to create floors that give them the confidence necessary to perform to the limits of their ability without holding back for fear of slipping or injury.” Mark continued, “Our range of display floors are increasingly popular with set designers to create stunning sets for TV shows, to add gloss and shine to fashion runways and to build dramatic exhibition stands.  Harlequin also has considerable experience in the construction of stages, where recent projects include theatre stage building and refurbishment, stages on board cruise ships and in schools. As a niche business operating globally we look forward to Melissa and Susy playing an important role in moving the business forward. ”

Harlequin donates to Theatres Trust Resource Centre

Mark Rasmussen (Harlequin Floors) hands 

cheque to Rebecca Morland (Theatres Trust)

On 24 August, Harlequin Floor’s Group Marketing Manager, Mark Rasmussen met with Rebecca Morland, Interim Director of Theatres Trust to make a donation toward the upkeep of its Resource Centre, which houses a library, special collections and an archive as well as dedicated spaces for theatre professionals and scholars to access these.

Commenting on the donation, Mark said “The Theatres Trust library is a fantastic resource for people who work in technical theatre. This donation is a token of our support, not only for this unique collection, but as part of the longstanding relationship between Harlequin and Theatres Trust”. 

Harlequin Floors Tapping into Brighton

The Brighton Tap Festival was back again this summer after a spectacular first year when over a hundred students passed through its doors across the three days. On Tuesday, Harlequin Floors’ Senior Marketing Executive, Melissa Chapman went coastal to catch all the action, taking with her Harlequin’s Tap ‘n’ Turn board and Harlequin’s Practice Mat for the students to tap away on.

With Brighton being such a bustling hub for the Performing Arts industry, it was an obvious location choice for the visionaries, Jamie Spall and Kate Ivory, when they decided to set up a tap festival for 2015 to match the standard of those across Europe and the USA. The event was such a success that it was back again this year with Harlequin invited to attend. 

Taking place in the urban-themed Brighton Youth Centre, complete with graffiti-covered walls, there was a fantastic line up of classes across the three days, for all ages and abilities, in a range of styles.

Setting up camp in one of the four studios, Melissa was on hand to welcome students to try out the Harlequin Tap ‘n’ Turn board and Harlequin Practice Mat, which can both be purchased online from The Harlequin Shop and are perfect for home practice. 

Each of the teachers, who are among the world’s most renowned tap dancers, brought their own flavour to the event from Afro Funk with Maud Arnold, known as one of tap’s Leading Ladies, to Improvisation with Daniel Leveill�, seven times world tap champion at the International Dance Organization. 

In the evening different events took place with a Tap Jam at the Komedia on the Tuesday night, a Cutting Competition on the Wednesday night and ‘the crowning glory’, the Tap Gala which was held at the beautiful Brighton Dome Corn Exchange on Thursday. 

Reporting back, Harlequin’s Melissa said “It was a fantastic event and the atmosphere was really buzzing. Harlequin’s range of home practice products went down really well with the students and as for the dancing, I enjoyed it so much that I went back to Brighton on Thursday night for the Gala. It was well worth it!”

Harlequin set to roll out new floors at PLASA 2016

New silver Hi-Shine used at fashion show. 

Photo supplied by Chadwicks, Australia.

Entertainment and events flooring specialists Harlequin Floors will be exhibiting at PLASA 2016, Olympia, London from 18^th to 20^th September on stand F10. In a move back to west London and with PLASA also returning to its traditional September date, the show organisers promise it “will deliver a renewed proposition, providing an exhibition solution more suited to current industry needs.”

Harlequin Floors offer a wide range of floors for live entertainment, the performing arts, dance, special events, set building, television studios, exhibition stands, as well as theatre stage construction and stage refurbishment projects. At PLASA this year Harlequin will additionally be launching a number of exciting new floor options, including the addition of Gold and Silver, the first two in Harlequin’s new Metallic range, joining the already immensely popular Hi-Shine event and display floors.

Also of interest to set designers looking for new creative opportunities, Harlequin is rolling out Reversible Pro a floor that is well suited to printing designs and images using advanced wide format computer controlled techniques. Based on the original concept the new Harlequin Reversible Pro is a unique double-sided option that still allows the colours to be changed around. Reversible was Harlequin’s first product and has remained a best seller ever since. The new Reversible Pro version benefits from an additional layer to the standard floor for even greater stability, which ensures it's even quicker to lay flat.

Harlequin’s flooring expertise is not limited to providing stunning display surfaces, or safe surfaces for the performing arts and for dance, but the company also enjoys an excellent reputation for stage floor construction and stage refurbishments. Look out for Harlequin’s new, free guide to stage construction which will be available at the show.

Japan’s Anteprima Incontro fitted with Harlequin Cascade

Hisako Toda (owner of the studio)

Katsue Kobayashi Ballet teacher

Mitsuyo kaneda Ballet teacher

Kazuna kinugasa Ballet teacher

The Anteprima Incontro studio, located on the northern shore of Japan’s Kyushu Island in Fukuoka, has recently gone through a major revamp of its studio and chose Harlequin Cascade™ for its dance floor surface.

Work began on 25^th July, with a representative from Harlequin’s appointed installers in Japan arriving from Tokyo later that week to lay down 100sq.m. of light grey Harlequin Cascade vinyl floor. The teachers expressed their excitement to be using Harlequin Floors, knowing that they’d be dancing on the same floors as the likes of The Royal Ballet and The Bolshoi. Harlequin Cascade™ is widely recognised by professional dancers and technical managers, that thanks to the floor’s silky smooth embossed surface it provides a deceptively good grip allowing dancers to concentrate on their performance without concerns they might slip or fall.

At the beginning of August, General Manager of Harlequin Asia, Kasper Nyboe, visited the studio from the Hong Kong office to meet the owner of the studio and the ballet teachers.  They were delighted with the new dance floor and proudly received the Harlequin Floors certificate.  

Harlequin Hi-Shine floor adds gloss to fashion show

When David Jones launched their Spring-Summer 2016 season with a spectacular runway show of Australia's most celebrated designers, it was staged on Harlequin’s popular Hi-Shine flooring.

Harlequin Hi-Shine flooring is already a ‘hot’ product for set designers for use in fashion shows, television shows and exhibitions – in fact any application where a high gloss floor adds to the glitz and glamour of the event.

Stage Rentals, New South Wales branch, the production company behind the ‘David Jones Spring – Summer 2016 collections launch’ selected and purchased Harlequin’s black Hi-Shine for the fashion show runway. The glossy, ‘wet’ look of Hi-Shine provides a spectacular floor surface, which offers interaction with the event lighting and itself becomes an important part of the set.

Although the deep black option was used on the David Jones fashion launch, Hi-Shine is also available in a range of colours; a range which has recently been extended to include some new options. The current choice now comprises gold, silver, black, white, red, blue and grey. Supplied in rolls of 15m, 20m or 30m and 1.5m wide, Harlequin Hi-Shine rolls out and lays easily to provide a stunning floor. Thanks to a special laminated hard polymer ultra –gloss layer, the surface is scratch resistant too.

Harlequin Floors proud to present the Australian Dance Awards for a record fifth year

On the day that the shortlist has been announced, Harlequin Floors has confirmed it will continue as the main presenting partner for the Australian Dance Awards when the 2016 event is staged at the State Theatre Centre of Western Australia on Sunday 18^th September. In an event presented by Ausdance in conjunction with Harlequin Floors, the Australian Dance Awards will celebrate the best in Australian professional dance at a gala showcase evening of performances and awards

Mark Rasmussen, Harlequin Floors Group Marketing Manager, said, “Harlequin is so proud to be involved for the fifth successive year. The Australian Dance Awards is always a fabulous evening and one of the first events to go into my diary each year.” Talking about Harlequin Floors’ continued support, for the Awards, Ausdance National CEO Roslyn Dundas thanked Harlequin Floors for their on-going contribution, “The ADAs are non-commercial events that rely on the generosity and goodwill of partners and sponsors. Harlequin Floors, as main presenting partner for a record fifth year, are showing their commitment to our industry as we celebrate all that is best in Australian Dance.”

The annual Australian Dance Awards (ADAs) recognise and honour professional Australian dance artists who have made an outstanding contribution to dance. The Awards are presented in an evening of performance that showcase some of the best Australian dance from the previous year, with a focus on artists from the host state or territory.

The shortlisted nominees for 2016 can be viewed by clicking here.

Harlequin to launch new floors at ABTT Theatre Show 2016

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ABTT Technical Theatre Special – not one new product, three!

 

New silver Hi-Shine.  Photo: Chadstone

Harlequin Floors is a brand not only synonymous with trust, but also innovation. At this year’s ABTT Theatre show, Harlequin are showing off not one, but three new developments starting with an update of one of its most popular lines…

It’s Gold & Silver for Harlequin Hi-Shine

 A new ‘Metallic Range’ featuring gold and silver finishes is all set to join Harlequin’s Hi-Shine range of display floors. Already massively popular with “Saturday night” television productions, set designers, touring bands and fashion shows, the new metallic floors bring a further dimension to the wet glossy look of Harlequin Hi-Shine. Recently silver Hi-Shine was an important element in the set design for several fashion shows produced by Gloss in Melbourne, Australia. 

Harlequin Reversible Pro – the best just gets better!

When an iconic product such as Harlequin’s Reversible roll out floor for stage and dance is the subject of a new launch, you can be sure that it’s something special.

Launching this month and on public exhibition for the first time the ABTT Theatre Show is new addition - Harlequin Reversible Pro.

Known world-wide for its unique double-sided option to allow companies to change colours around, Reversible was Harlequin’s first product and has remained a best seller ever since.

Harlequin Reversible Pro retains the feature of a slip-resistant surface either side, and now thanks to a the introduction of a new fibre interplay layer, Reversible Pro offers even more dimensional stability. In

short, floors roll out and quickly lie flat – an absolute boon to busy stage technicians and touring companies. 

For set designers and production companies, Reversible Pro’s improved dimensional stability makes it a superb surface for printing.

New Stage floor is tough & hard-wearing

Yet another new product being previewed at ABTT is Harlequin Rocksure, which promises the hardest wearing yet easy to maintain stage surface so far. Thanks to the polymer composite formulation of the material, Rocksure is an alternative to Harlequin’s more traditional stage surfaces such as wood, a painted “sacrificial” layer of hardboard or heavy-duty vinyl. Harlequin Rocksure is available as an option on both new stage builds as well as stage refurbishment.  

Harlequin sets the stage for ABTT Theatre Show 2016

Harlequin Floors will be exhibiting their extensive range of flooring products and demonstrating their capability in stage construction at the ABTT Theatre Show 2016, which will take place on the 22nd and 23rd June at Alexandra Palace.  

The Harlequin brand has earned a deserved reputation in theatres world-wide for the quality and breadth of flooring products, as well as expertise and experience in stage construction and refurbishment. The Harlequin stand [A33] will be show-casing a wide range of flooring systems for the performing arts and display applications with technical experts from the company on hand to provide advice.

The Harlequin stand will be furnished with Harlequin’s glossy Hi-Shine floor, which has proved extremely popular with set designers, not only in theatre, but for TV shows, exhibitions and display purposes. Visitors will able to examine many different floor types, including printed flooring, which offers new customisation options. Harlequin also designs, supplies and installs special flooring solutions for theatre stages, television studios, exhibitions and display and is widely recognised world-wide for dance floors.

A Harlequin studio floor may be based on technology, but the installation process reveals something closer to art.

Janet Karin OAM

Janet Karin OAM, a leading dance educator and former lead dancer with the Australian Ballet, recently had the opportunity to see the expertise and skill involved in installing a new Harlequin  dance floor at first hand. Janet explained, “Of course, I knew that Harlequin's floors were top of the range, but I had no idea of the expertise that went into tailoring each individual floor. A studio floor may be based on technology, but the installation process revealed something closer to art.”

The full story of the installation of Harlequin sprung floors is described by Janet on the Harlequin blog. 

Janet concludes, “My students unreservedly love this floor. The company dancers feel able to trust their Harlequin floor in the extremely taxing choreography of the present repertoire. Judging by the way Trinity Laban’s Harlequin Liberty floor in London is unscathed after 12 years of constant use, we can expect to enjoy ours for many decades.”