Virtual Gallery & Commemorative Book
Phoenix Dance Theatre
Phoenix Dance Theatre, based in Yorkshire, England, has launched a ground-breaking interactive Virtual Gallery allowing dance fans from across the globe to discover and engage with the company’s repertoire and to learn about its history and development over four decades.
Containing more than 250 artefacts, the virtual gallery can be accessed from Phoenix Dance Theatre’s website via computers, tablet devices or phones. Once ‘inside’ visitors can flick through programmes and publications scattered around the rooms, see 360-degree views of some of the costumes displayed on mannequins and dancers, zoom in on posters and photographs to see more detail, and identify significant props that were created for some of the dance pieces. Visitors can pick up virtual headphones to listen to previous artistic directors and key people through the ages sharing some of their memories and can watch AI-enhanced video clips from early years in the company’s development through to the present day. Accompanying captions add greater context to the items on display.
The state-of-the-art Virtual Gallery has been designed and created and by award-winning, Yorkshire based, One to One Development Trust. The Phoenix Virtual Gallery is an imaginative and immersive online space to explore the company’s rich history, made possible by funding from The National Lottery Heritage Fund. The gallery is divided into four rooms and offers an innovative and interactive way of showcasing the growth, development and artistry of the first four decades of Phoenix. Each room, accessed via the ‘foyer’, features some of the iconic memorabilia of that period. Albeit virtual, this gallery is firmly grounded in Phoenix’s hometown of Leeds with views of the city’s skyline visible from the gallery windows.
Phoenix Dance Theatre is the longest running contemporary dance company based outside of London and it celebrated its milestone 40th anniversary year from November 2021.
As Dane Hurst explains: “My vision as the incoming artistic director in Phoenix’s 40th anniversary year was to commission a series of works to honour and celebrate the incredible work of all the artists and leaders who have contributed to the company’s illustrious history. The aim was to make the rich and colourful archive of photographs and works available to the public in a more accessible and creatively informative way.”
The Phoenix Virtual Gallery can be viewed at phoenixdancetheatre.co.uk/
