Christopher House
Artistic Advisor to Professional Training Program
Artistic Director of Toronto Dance Theatre
Christopher House is one of Canada’s most respected dance artists. Born and raised in St. John’s, Newfoundland, he joined Toronto Dance Theatre as a dancer in 1979, was named Resident Choreographer in 1981, and became Artistic Director in 1994.
He has contributed over 60 works to the TDT repertoire since 1980. He has also created works for Lisbon’s Ballet Gulbenkian, Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, and the National Ballet of Canada, among others, and has directed two collaborations with The Hidden Cameras. His most recent works include Dis/(sol/ve)r (2009), Pteros Tactics (2010) and the ‘annotated remount’ Nest Redux (2010), all for TDT. His choreography has been presented in major centres around the world including New York, London, Paris, Berlin, Mexico City, Tokyo, Beijing, and New Delhi.
As a performer, House has created roles in works by Sarah Chase, Peter Chin, David Earle, James Kudelka, Mark Morris, and Peter Randazzo. With Les Grand Ballets Canadiens, he performed the title role in Michel Fokine’s Petrouchka and the role of the Angel in Kudelka’s In Paradisum. Most recently he has been performing his solo adaptation of At Once by choreographer Deborah Hay.
Artistic Advisor of the Professional Training Program at The School of Toronto Dance Theatre, House has taught technique, improvisation, repertoire, and creative process at the School, and at such institutions as Jacob’s Pillow, the Juilliard School, and Rotterdamse Dansacademie, as well as Ryerson, Simon Fraser, and York Universities.
House has received many awards for his work, including three Dora Mavor Moore Awards for Outstanding New Choreography. He received the Muriel Sherrin Award for International Achievement in Dance in October 2009, and was made an honorary doctor of letters by Memorial University in 2010.
He is an Associate Dance Artist of Canada’s National Arts Centre.