Darshan, Zingaro Theatre - Photo Agathe Poupeney

Installed in a traditional wooden theatre at Fort d'Aubervilliers, just outside Paris, the Zingaro Theatre was founded 25 years ago by horseman-director Bartabas. Bartabas has now chosen to break with old habits —he's staging his new equestrian show exclusively on his home court this time, rather than doing another world tour. The Darshan show premiered on December 4th and is programmed to run through to June 2010. That meant completely dismantling and rebuilding the theatre so as to position the audience in the centre —no longer around the outside of the ring— on terraced seating atop a slowly rotating conical structure.

Most important, the theatre was fitted with Aliapur's specially developed, European-patented, Mustang flooring in July. Made from used-tyre granulates, this new-generation equestrian floor consists of a surface of bonded aggregates covered with a layer of loose aggregates. Since the changes were made, riders and horses have been training up to six hours a day, not counting shows.

Being both resilient and firm the new flooring has been fully integrated into the new Zingaro Theatre structure. In the special shadow effects created by Bartabas for his Darshan show no dust is kicked up and hoof sounds are muted, thereby enhancing audience awareness of the graceful movements of the horses and the delicate touch of the riders.

For Aliapur, seeing its equestrian floor chosen by one of the most famous riders on the international equestrian scene is confirmation indeed of the product's technical prowess and its considerable development potential in the equine world.

To find out more about the features of tyre-based granulate equestrian floor, click here.

Laying the granulate-made equestrian floor