Harlequin HI-SHINE™: "For the love of Cleopatra"

Cleopatra, last queen of Egypt, first queen of Paris

If he had to chose between the queen of Sheba or the queen of Egypt, Kamel Ouali would have no hesitation. For him, Cleopatra is the Queen of Queens.

And with good reason. After the success of “ The Sun King ”, his latest show, “ Cleopatra, last queen of Egypt ”, captured more than 600,000 spectators in 2009. The audience is plunged into a magical universe : incredible/astonishing costumes, extravagant sets, lively music and above all brilliant lighting effects, orchestrated by Jacques Rouveyrollis. And to top it all, there is a real story to follow – not only the destiny of a mythical queen, but the story of the East and the West.

Kamel Ouali creates a magical dream for his audience. Everything must reflect this dream - singers, dressmakers, songwriters and even the performance surface. That is why his choice naturally leaned towards the ultra-shiny black Harlequin HI-SHINE™. It plunges the entire giant stage of the Palais des Sports into an almost mystical darkness.

Under the play of shadows and lights expertly designed by Jacques Rouveyrollis, the sets come to life, the lights shine powerfully and each form and movement is endlessly multiplied. « HI-SHINE™ is made for the stage. It is glamorous and has a long life » explains a delighted Kamel Ouali. “ It adds an aesthetic touch, going beyond its purely functional qualities. ”

With Cleopatra, HI-SHINE™ makes a grand entrance that is worthy of a great Roman emperor!

Le prix de Lausanne 2010: Harlequin was there ...

Viva Argentina!

For the young Argentine Christian Amuchaestegui, January 31st, 2010 was probably the best day of his life. The big winner of the 2010 Prix de Lausanne, he also took the public prize. What a fantastic performance! Harlequin expresses its warmest congratulations to Christian !

During the 10 days of the competition, the very unique spirit of the Prix de Lausanne once again gripped the participants. The air was constantly charged with emotion, hope, tension, pleasure and fear. But this is a very special competition, where the complicity between the star dancers and young talent is palpable, to everyone’s enjoyment!

This year, the boys distinguished themselves by creating a great surprise. In fact, of the 20 finalists, 14 were boys. Christian Amuchaestegui took first prize earning the applause and looks of admiration from the audience, the finalists and the 6 other winners, as the Prix de Lausanne bestows seven scholarships in total.

At the start of January, Harlequin had sent 11 rolls of Harlequin STUDIO™ dance flooring to cover the practice areas for the candidates’ use. The young talent therefore had the chance to try out what has been the Paris Opera’s preferred dance floor for more than 25 years. The floor was developed at the time at the express request of Nureyev. Could there be any better symbol of the promising dancers of tomorrow ?

Danza in Fiera 2010: Everyone was there !

All roads lead to ... Harlequin !

Four days of madness and a record attendance with 240,000 visitors and 25,000 dance professionals, an increase of 20% from the previous year, according to the organisers.

There was also a record attendance at the revamped Harlequin stand which had been covered for the occasion in a black Harlequin HI-SHINE™ vinyl dance floor, currently our most popular display floor. With new visual effects, video animation and a show area on the Harlequin LIBERTY™ dance floor - all the ingredients were there to make this annual rendezvous a resounding success.

This year’s star attraction was undoubtedly the Harlequin scratch card competition : “ Concorso Harlequin a premi ” [scratch & win]. Everybody got hooked on the game. More than 2,500 cards were handed out. Once again this year, the Harlequin stand was the favourite meeting place for professionals and the public.

Eleonora Abbagnato, the great Sicilian dancer, currently first dancer of the Paris Opéra, made a fleeting visit to the stand. Also to be seen was Giorgio Mancini, former dancer at Béjart, Artistic Director of the Grand Théâtre de Genève, of MaggioDanza and currently choreographer in conversation with former friends, today’s dancers and choreographers. There was not a single moment of respite.

The entertainment was crowned by a spontaneous break dance competition at the stand. Five young breakdancers entered into a fierce battle to the great delight of the enthusiastic, frenzied crowd. Several of them were international dancers and winners of global awards: Maksym Babunov, and Max and Renato Scapecchi winners of prestigious prizes, such as Osaka 2009 or the Sydney Festival 2009, not to mention the Hip Opsession 6 in Nantes.

And the parade of stars seemed endless. Here two dancers from the famous Italian dance program AMICI, whose platform was equipped with none other than a Harlequin LIBERTY™ sprung floors with Harlequin STUDIO™, vinyl floor, found themselves scratching cards to be in with a chance of winning one of the three iPods up for grabs.

Even the model Maria Elena Evangelisti came to do a shoot at the stand, wearing an extravagant dress from the clothing designer Nora Cabiani.

This year, all roads led to the Harlequin stand.

L'équipe Harlequin