Tim Murphy’s professional career began in Ice Follies, where he performed the role of the big yellow chicken in the Old MacDonalds Farm number. His second job was as an ensemble skater and featured soloist with the John Curry Skating Company. While with the Curry Company, he performed on some of the world’s great stages, including The Kennedy Center Opera House, The Metropolitan Opera House, and The Royal Albert Hall and skated to the work of some of the finest dance choreographers, among them Twyla Tharp, Eliot Feld, Lar Lubovitch and Laura Dean. Mr Murphy’s choreographic career began in 1988 with the debut of Machines for the premiere performance of The Next Ice Age, followed by a commissioned dance by Maryland Public Television. The Stroke of Midnight, an ensemble dance featuring John Curry, was the finale of the nationally televised Happy New Year USA. Murphy holds the distinction of being the only skating choreographer ever to choreograph for Mr. Curry.
In 1994 Mr Murphy was hired by Dorothy Hamill to choreograph Cinderella, Frozen In Time. Cinderella is a full-length skating ballet to an original orchestral score by Michael Conway Baker and has been seen by more than seven million people on six major tours. It also aired as a television special on CBS. In 1995 he co-choreographed Hansel and Gretel with Nathan Birch. From 1991 onward, Murphy has been Dorothy Hamill’s only choreographer, creating more than fifty dances for her various tours and television appearances. His dances have been presented at The Kennedy Center at both the Opera House and the Eisenhower. These dances include Bright Blue Skating, April, and The Steely Dances. His work has appeared live with Quincy Jones and his orchestra as well as at The American Dance Festival and The Columbia Festival of the Arts, where he presented Turn, an ensemble dance set to Sibelius’s entire Fifth symphony.
For the last ten years Mr Murphy has directed and choreographed The Next Ice Age at The Carousel Hotel in Ocean City, MD. These summer shows have become very popular and are performed every night for ten weeks.
