V-TOL Dance Company

V-TOL Dance Company History

V-TOL Dance Company (Vertical Take-off and Landing) was formed in April 1991 by Artistic Director Mark Murphy. Of his choice with this aviational name he said "The thing that excites me most in dance is the speed and flight of something, the risk involved."

The Company gave its debut performance as the sole British representative in the first Dance Workshop Europe Project with Murphy's first production for the Company Crash and Burn. Immediately its hallmark for a gravity-defying brand of dance theatre was established.

The Company hit the ground running and had a remarkably fast development as the result of a strong and unique artistic vision, high quality work in all areas of operation, clear management and a high demand for the Company's work from promoters and audiences. The Company undertook a broad annual programme of artistic work including the creation and touring of artistic productions, an education and outreach programme and film projects. Each year V-TOL toured extensively throughout the UK, beginning initially with small scale venues and then graduating to the middle scale touring circuit. It was also invited to perform in many prestigious European festivals and venues such as Klapstuk (Belgium), Eurodanse (France), Berner Tanztage (Switzerland), Charleroi Danses (Belgium), Trafo FMK (Hungary), National Palace of Culture (Bulgaria) and the National Theatre of Romania.

Over its ten year history Murphy created seven full length productions for V-TOL: Time Spent in the Company of Bad People (1991), Headshot (1992), 32 feet per second per second (1993), In the Privacy of my Own (1995), By Force of Fantasy (1996), ...and nothing but the truth...(1998) and Without Trace (1999). Go to V-TOL Productions page

The Company became renowned for pushing the boundaries of dance through a dynamic integration of film with live action, music, text, choreography and design. Murphy's artistic influences lay within contemporary popular culture and he drew from a wide variety of backgrounds including cinema, visual art, literature, popular music and life itself, The work was concerned with issues which explore human confrontation and the pressures of contemporary society. As a result, V-TOL's work displayed a compelling narrative and had a characteristic interest in communicating intense human emotion through a powerful movement language. Murphy's commitment was to work which is challenging, thought-provoking, and relevant to its audience.

As well as earning high acclaim for its performance work, V-TOL received significant recognition for a progressive education and community outreach programme. Each year the Company led workshops, residencies, lecture demonstrations and post performance talks for students, professionals and the wider community both linked to and independently of its performance touring. During its last tour, the Company delivered education work to over 2,500 people. The pinnacle of its acheivements within education work was its ground breaking model for cross artform education projects that bring together professional artists and students. The three site specific promenade performances it created were: Where Angels Fear To Tread at Union Chapel in Islington (1995), Castle Blanca at Orford Castle in Suffolk (1997) and Running Scared at Trinity Buoy Wharf in London's Docklands (1998). Go to V-TOL Education page

V-TOL's film work included: Where Angels Fear To Tread (1996) - a dance film of the original live production for educational use; Impact Zone (1994) - a pilot film for the BBC; and The Snowball Effect (1997) - a dance film for the Arts Council/BBC2 Dance for the Camera series 4, created in collaboration with director, Brett Turnbull. The Company was also featured in a documentary series on youth culture for Scottish Television in Spring 1994 and featured in the BAFTA nominated Dance TV - a series of dance education programmes broadcast on BBC2 in March 1998.

After just three years of existence and a number of small project grants, the Company was invited to become a Fixed Term client of the Arts Council of England. In 1996 a Capital Lottery Award enabled the Company to purchase the latest digital film-making and editing equipment. This sophisticated new technology enabled Murphy to expand the scope of the film elements in his artistic work, exploiting strands of narrative, subtext, character and choreography within the directing, shooting and editing process. The award of a National Lottery Arts for Everyone grant in early 1999 marked a significant point in the Company's history. It enabled the Company to move forward once again in the pursuit of Murphy's artistic vision with the introduction of live music in the production Without Trace. It also gave the Company the opportunity to achieve a long standing ambition and establish its own Education Team. Further grants over the years from the Arts Council Touring Department under the Venue Partnership Scheme and the New Audiences Fund allowed the Company to devise and implement imaginative audience development projects with its regional circuit of venues.

Over its ten year history a broad range of organisations commissioned V-TOL productions and supported its education programme including: The Place Theatre, East Midlands Arts, Phoenix Arts Centre, Eastern Touring Agency, Suffolk Dance, Eastern Arts Board, Daniel Katz Ltd., Southern Arts, Northern Arts, Danceweb, Swindon Dance, Southill Park Arts Centre, The Corn Exchange in Newbury, Northern Stage, Esmee Fairburn Charitable Trust, The Paul Hamlyn Foundation, The Pilgrim Trust, Lloyds TSB Foundation and The Nationwide Foundation.

After a decade of pioneering artistic, education and film work and being recognised as a significant contributor to the development of contemporary dance in the UK, Murphy decided to focus his creative energies on his film directing career, and the Company closed in summer 2001. A high altitude flight came in to land.