Harlequin build a ballet wagon for Finnish National Opera

Harlequin has recently completed installation of a flying ballet wagon in Helsinki for the Finnish National Opera.

The ballet wagons allow a fully sprung dance floor to be quickly installed for ballet or other forms of dance and yet stored vertically in the fly tower when not required on stage. The system has been developed by Harlequin to integrate Harlequin Liberty sprung panels into an aluminium frame produced by Hoac and with lifting gear supplied by Wagener Biro.

The overall dance floor is 16m x 16m comprising 2 pairs of hinged sections, each measuring 16m x 8m and weighing just over 3 tonnes. The ballet wagon sub-divides to allow the floor to be raised or lowered from horizontal into the vertical storage position without flexing. Sections are linked to together with pin joints along the centre line and can be manually separated or closed by means of a manual locking system. Hoists are then used to raise or lower the floor to a height of between 12m and 15m above the stage floor. The complete ballet wagon contains a total of 112 Liberty panels and is used with a Harlequin Cascade dance surface.

The Harlequin Contracts Division assembled the ballet wagon on site in Helsinki over a period of four days in September.