Article

Christopher Maxwell House

Published Online May 3, 2011

Last Edited March 4, 2015

While continuing to perform, he has created a repertoire of works in a modern-dance style that is distinctly his own.
House, Christopher
Artistic director of Toronto Dance Theatre (photo by Cylla von Tiedemann/courtesy Toronto Dance Theatre).

Christopher Maxwell House

Christopher Maxwell House, dancer, choreographer (born at St John's, NL 30 May 1955). Christopher House has been resident choreographer of the TORONTO DANCE THEATRE (TDT) since 1981 and artistic director since 1994. He has helped reshape the company's image, win it unprecedented international acclaim and secure its future development. House turned to dance after beginning a degree in political science at the University of Ottawa. He graduated from York University with a BFA in dance and joined the Toronto Dance Theatre in 1979.

While continuing to perform, he has created a repertoire of works in a modern-dance style that is distinctly his own. His mostly non-narrative choreography is distinguished by a firm sense of structure, by its speed and fluency of movement - particularly with groups of dancers - and by the imaginative use of a diverse range of music, both classical and contemporary. Much of his later work has been enriched by subtle dramatic situations and allusions that provide his choreography with a deeper emotional subtext.

Christopher House's first full-length work Nest (2000) became the first in a triptych along with Severe Clear (2000) and Persephone's Lunch (2001). Beginning in 2006, he participated 3 times in the Solo Performance Commissioning Project with iconic American choreographer Deborah Hay. He has since danced his adaptation of her work and invited Hay to set choreography on TDT. Hay's choreographic methodology informs some of House's dances.

His work has helped broaden the company's image, extend the range of its dancers and make it accessible to a bigger audience. He has also choreographed for such other companies as Les GRANDS BALLETS CANADIENS and the NATIONAL BALLET OF CANADA. His choreographic honours include the CHALMERS Award (1983), Clifford E. Lee Award (1986), DORA AWARDS (1986, 2007), and the Muriel Sherrin Award for International Achievement in Dance (2009). Christopher House received an honorary doctorate from Memorial University in 2010.