Choreographer Christopher House brings ‘House Mix’ back home
Tour celebrates 50 years of original Canadian choreography
Toronto Dance Theatre (TDT) is kicking off its coastto-coast national tour Saturday at the St. John’s Arts and Culture Centre, with a special homecoming for artistic director Christopher House.
House, who was named to the Order of Canada this summer for his choreography work, hails from St. John’s. He has served as artistic director for TDT since 1994.
The 90-minute program, “House Mix,” showcases House’s acclaimed contribution to Canadian dance with various works from his career, from the classic “Vena Cava” (1999) to the more contemporary “Martingales” (2016).
Not only does the program profile House’s work, it also celebrates TDT’S 50th anniversary.
“It is an honour and a pleasure to be returning to St. John’s with this retrospective program, both to show the ways in which our work has changed over the years and to showcase the range and depth of TDT’S amazing performers,” said House.
TDT is one of Canada’s leading dance companies. The tour will see many of its performers on the road. It’s a large production, requiring 19 people to put it off.
Neighbourhood Dance Works and the St. John’s Arts and Culture Centre (ACC) partnered to bring the program to St. John’s audiences.
ACC programming manager Erin Barnhardt says the show is special for a number of reasons.
“It’s our 50th anniversary as well, so in programming our 50th anniversary season, we felt that it was a great fit in that it’s also their 50th anniversary,” Barnhardt says.
She adds that St. John’s doesn’t see a lot of group work in terms of larger shows for contemporary dance.
“So we’re really excited to have that on the arts and culture centre stage for our audience … to bring a big group dance work to St. John’s that otherwise might not be on a national tour stop,” said Barnhardt.
Tickets for “House Mix” are on sale at the St. John’s Arts and Culture Centre box office.