Christopher House | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | May 30, 1955 |
| Occupation | choreographer, performer |
| Nationality | Canadian |
| Notable works | Glass Houses, Early Departures, Vena Cava, Nest, Martingales |
Christopher House (born May 30, 1955) is a Canadian choreographer, performer and educator. [1] For many years he was the artistic director of Toronto Dance Theatre.
House was born in St.John's, Newfoundland. He moved to Ottawa at the age of 19 where he completed a Bachelor's degree in Political Science at the University of Ottawa. House began his dance training in 1975 with the acclaimed dance educator Elizabeth Langley. [2] House later earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in dance from York University in Toronto.
House joined the Toronto Dance Theatre (TDT) in 1979. In 1981, he was appointed that company's choreographer-in-residence. [2] He remained in that post until 1994 when he was hired as the artistic director at the TDT, a position he held until 2020. [3] House is credited with reshaping the company's image to unprecedented international acclaim with new approaches to choreographic creation and cross-disciplinary collaboration. Since 2006 House has been influenced by his close collaboration with American post-modern dance pioneer Deborah Hay on works such as News and I'll Crane for You. He has also choreographed works for Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, Ballet BC, and the National Ballet of Canada, among many others. [4] In 1989, New York Times dance critic Anna Kisselgoff called House "a fresh voice in modern dance." [5]
In 2007, a documentary of House's life and works, Ahead of the Curve, was co-produced by Rock Island Productions and Rink Rat Productions. [2] He was also profiled in Moze Mossanen's 1987 documentary film Dance for Modern Times , alongside David Earle, James Kudelka, Ginette Laurin and Danny Grossman. [6] In 2019, House was the subject of an episode of the CBC television art series In the Making. The show focused on Marienbad, a full-length work he created and performed with writer Jordan Tannahill. [7]
In 2017, House was appointed to the Order of Canada. [8]
Christopher House left his longtime position at Toronto Dance Theatre in 2020. His final program as artistic director was House Mix [9] , a series of remounted works from House’s choreographic oeuvre that toured 14 cities across Canada and to Medellin and Bogota before making its final performances in Toronto.
In 2022, House debuted New Tricks [10] , a solo work that he performs. The work has toured nationally and is being remounted by Citadel Live in Toronto in 2025.
Christopher House has taught technique, repertoire and creative process at The School of Toronto Dance Theatre, Juilliard School, Rotterdam Dansacademie, Jacob's Pillow, Ryerson University (now Toronto Metropolitan University), Simon Fraser University and Canada's National Ballet School and the Banff Centre for the Arts. [11] He taught Creative Practice for Contemporary Dance Online at the Banff Centre in 2020 and 2021, and Composition at the Dance Arts Institute in 2022-24.
Alvin Ailey Jr. was an American dancer, director, choreographer, and activist who founded the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (AAADT). He created AAADT and its affiliated Alvin Ailey American Dance Center as havens for nurturing Black artists and expressing the universality of the African-American experience through dance.
Jerome Robbins was an American dancer, choreographer, film director, theatre director and producer who worked in classical ballet, on stage, film, and television.
The Royal Winnipeg Ballet is Canada's oldest ballet company and the longest continuously operating ballet company in North America.
Brian Ronald Macdonald was a Canadian dancer, choreographer and director of opera, theatre and musical theatre.
Glen Tetley was an American ballet and modern dancer as well as a choreographer who mixed ballet and modern dance to create a new way of looking at dance, and is best known for his piece Pierrot Lunaire.
Rudi van Dantzig was a Dutch choreographer, company director, and writer. He was a pivotal figure in the rise to world renown of Dutch ballet in the latter half of the twentieth century.
Christopher Peter Wheeldon is an English international choreographer of contemporary ballet.
Moses Pendleton is a choreographer, dancer and the artistic director of MOMIX. MOMIX is a dance company that he formed in 1981 as an offshoot of the Pilobolus, which he had co-founded while a senior at Dartmouth College in 1971. He remained a full-time member with the company until 1980. He choreographs dance sculptures that bring together acrobatics, gymnastics, mime, props, and film.
Crystal Pite is a Canadian choreographer and dancer. She began her professional dance career in 1988 at Ballet BC, and in 1996 she joined Ballett Frankfurt under the tutelage of William Forsythe. After leaving Ballett Frankfurt she became the resident choreographer of Montreal company Les Ballets Jazz de Montreal from 2001 to 2004. She then returned to Vancouver where she focused on choreographing while continuing to dance in her own pieces until 2010. In 2002 she formed her own company called Kidd Pivot, which produced her original works Uncollected Work (2003), Double Story (2004), Lost Action (2006), Dark Matters (2009), The You Show (2010), The Tempest Replica (2011), Betroffenheit (2015), and Revisor (2019) to date. Throughout her career she has been commissioned by many international dance companies to create new pieces, including The Second Person (2007) for Netherlands Dans Theater and Emergence (2009) for the National Ballet of Canada, the latter of which was awarded four Dora Mavor Moore Awards.
Simone Orlando is a Canadian ballet dancer and choreographer born in Vancouver, British Columbia. Orlando received her early dance training at the Carisbrooke School of Dance, the Vancouver Academy of Dance, and the Goh Ballet Academy. She completed her training at the National Ballet School in Toronto and subsequently joined the National Ballet of Canada in 1989 under the direction of Reid Anderson where she danced a wide range of repertoire from the ballets of John Cranko and Kenneth MacMillan to those of George Balanchine and Glenn Tetley. In 1995, Robert Desrosiers invited her to join Desrosiers Dance Theatre, where she originated roles in several new productions and toured to Brazil and Aruba. In 1996, Orlando joined Ballet British Columbia under the direction of John Alleyne where she danced for twelve years as principal artist, joining the reorganised Ballet BC as Artist in Residence for 2009–10. She has performed in theatres and festivals around the world including The Kennedy Centre, The Joyce Theatre, The Bayerische Staatsoper, The Hong Kong Cultural Centre, Cervantino Festival, Canada Dance Festival, and Ballet Expo Seoul. While dancing with Ballet BC, Orlando was prominently featured in new creations by John Alleyne, garnering accolades for her performances as Blanche Dubois in A Streetcar Named Desire, Puck in The Faerie Queen, Fate in Carmina Burana, and the Elder in The Rite of Spring. She has also created roles with James Kudelka, Crystal Pite, Dominique Dumais, Mikko Nissenen, and Jean Grand-Maitre and has been featured in the works of William Forsythe, Paul Taylor, Nicolo Fonte, Jiri Kylian, Martha Graham, and Twyla Tharp, among others. Orlando also taught and set repertoire on the dancers of Ballet BC and the pre-professionals in the Ballet BC Mentor Program.
Colin Connor is a Canadian–British dancer, choreographer, and educator, based in the United States. With over forty commissions that span the worlds of contemporary dance, ballet and flamenco. Works draws from a large range of influences – musical, literary, social, and scientific – all used to bring attention back to the communicative power of the human body. He frequently, collaborates with artists of other disciplines, including composers, artists, and designers. As a choreographer, teacher and dancer, Connor is currently influencing the next generation of contemporary dancers and dance makers. Dancers who have trained with Connor have gone on to Mark Morris Dance Group, Scapino Ballet, Hubbard Street Dance, The Limon Dance Company and others.
The Toronto Dance Theatre is a Canadian modern dance company based in Toronto, Ontario. Described by The Canadian Encyclopedia as "one of the foremost modern-dance companies in Canada", the company tours nationally and internationally and regularly performs at the Harbourfront Centre and Winchester Street Theatre in Toronto. The company currently consists of nine dancers and two dance interns in addition to other artistic staff. The ensemble has been led by Artistic Director Christopher House since 1994.
Peter Quanz is a Canadian choreographer based in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Ginette Laurin C.M. is a Canadian dancer, choreographer and artistic director. In 1984, she founded the dance group named O Vertigo, based in Montreal. O Vertigo is dedicated to creation in new dance and to broadcasting Ginette Laurin's works all over the world.
Norbert Vesak, one of Canada's leading choreographers in the 1970s, was a ballet dancer, choreographer, theatrical director, master teacher, dance columnist, lecturer, and opera ballet director, known for his unique, flamboyant style and his multimedia approach to classical and contemporary choreography. He is credited with helping to bring modern dance to Western Canada.
Jordan Tannahill is a Canadian author, playwright, filmmaker, and theatre director.
Daniel Grossman was a Canadian dancer, choreographer, and activist. He created the Danny Grossman Dance Company which produced his political dances.
Robert Guy Desrosiers is a Canadian dancer and choreographer. After a brief dance career, he founded the Desrosiers Dance Theatre and choreographed surreal and theatrical dances. After the company’s disbandment, he pursued a variety of artistic professions before returning as a freelance choreographer.
David Earle is a Canadian choreographer, dancer and artistic director. In 1968 Earle was co-founder and co-artistic director of Toronto Dance Theatre alongside Patricia Beatty and Peter Randazzo, where Earle choreographed new modern dance pieces. In 1996 Earle started his own company called Dancetheatre David Earle where he continues to choreograph new works, to teach, and to create with the next generation of modern dancers. David Earle has received many accolades; a member of the Order of Canada, a recipient of the Jean A. Chalmers Award for Distinction in Choreography, also an honorary doctorate degree from Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario.
Guillaume Côté is a Canadian ballet dancer, choreographer, composer and artistic director. He is a principal dancer and a Choreographic Associate at the National Ballet of Canada. In February 2024, he announced that the 2024/2025 season will be his last season before retirement. He has been the Artistic Director of the Festival des Arts de Saint-Sauveur since 2014 and is the Artistic Director of Côté Danse.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
