Harlequin interviews Principal and the Director of Dance at Trinity Laban

Recently Harlequin Floors returned to the Trinity Laban to talk to Principal Anthony Bowne, Mirella Bartrip, Director of Dance and students to check out how the Harlequin floors had performed over ten years since they were installed in the then-new building. 

The full interview can be watched on the Harlequin YouTube channel. Mirella Bartrip, Director of Dance has been with Trinity Laban for 32 years. Mirella explained, “It was very, very important for us in this new building to have the very best floors. Harlequin was the name out there. That was our first choice, but we wanted to verify that choice. So we sent a team of three from the dance faculty out to Boston Ballet to check out the Harlequin floors there and then we made that choice. The floors must be of the best quality. First of all, they need to have the right degree of spring in them and that is something Harlequin are expert at. Secondly, the actual surface has to not be slippery or too sticky. So that’s Harlequin for us.“  

She continued, “They have worn excellently, the quality is fantastic and they clean very well. Our floors have been used not just by our students, but by external users, and dance companies and the floors have been terrific for all of that time. The aesthetics in any design of performance are incredibly important, so in the theatre, we have selected not just the grey floor but we can be black or indeed white in the theatre. So we needed to employ a company that was able to give us the product we wanted in a variety of different contexts. We selected grey for the studios because that was a neutral colour, it went with the rest of the building and contributed to the ‘feel good’ factor for our students and the faculty.”

Mirella sums up, “Harlequin is about top quality. The service is always very good. If we have had cause for any advice to be sought, we have always had people on the end of the phone and people have come to speak to us and advise what is best in whatever studio or performance context we are talking about.  It has been a pleasurable experience and we would continue our relationship with Harlequin for all those reasons.”

Professor Anthony Bowne, Principal, says in the interview, “When I hear the word Harlequin I think two things. Of course, I think of dance floors, but I also think of a committed partner. We have been very lucky to work with Harlequin over the years. We wanted the best dance floors. We demanded the best dance floors and Harlequin have supplied them and been a very good organization to work with throughout that time.”