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.”