Dutch National Opera and Ballet choose Harlequin Liberty Switch®

The Dutch National Opera & Ballet has been a client of Harlequin for many years, choosing Harlequin floors for its studios, auditorium and for touring. The Dutch National Opera & Ballet decided it was time to upgrade the main stage by installing Harlequin Liberty Switch®.

Dutch National Opera & Ballet, located in Amsterdam, is home to many singers, dancers and creators from the Dutch National Opera and the Dutch National Ballet.

With numerous productions taking place throughout the year, both the Dutch National Opera and the Dutch National Ballet perform and rehearse on the main stage. Due to the frequent quick turnarounds, it was decided that Harlequin Liberty Switch® would be installed so the main stage floor could transform quickly from a rigid floor for opera, to a sprung dance floor for ballet.

Prior to the Harlequin Liberty Switch® installation earlier this year, the opera house used a ballet wagon with Harlequin Liberty sprung floor panels.

Harlequin’s European installation team worked with the UK technical and installation teams to deliver the first major Harlequin Liberty Switch® installation on a main stage in the Western Hemisphere. Harlequin worked closely with the Dutch National Opera & Ballet technical teams throughout the design and installation process. 

Joost Verlinden, Head of Stage at Dutch National Opera & Ballet, said: “There are a lot of benefits for us. First of all, the dancers still have a sprung floor which they can continue working on in a safe way. For my technical team and crew, a big benefit is that it saves us a lot of physical work which reduces the chance of any back problems by putting all the panels in.”

Jamie Stirling, International Development Director at Harlequin, said: “It also enables them to free up storage space. The panels on their ballet wagon are stored up in the rigging but the rest of the panels were all on carts that needed to be kept in a designated storage area. As they now have Harlequin Liberty Switch, that storage can be used for other purposes.”

The Dutch National Opera & Ballet has many productions leading up to Christmas and the New Year, including Die Fledermaus and The Nutcracker and the Mouse King.