“A true original, … one of the most individualistic of modern dance voices today.” Jennifer Dunning, The New York Times
Chris Elam, Founding Artistic Director of Misnomer.org, is a critically-acclaimed choreographer and arts technology entrepreneur.
Heralded as “a true original” (The New York Times), whose “clarity of vision delights the soul” (The Village Voice), Elam’s choreography for Misnomer has toured to over 350 theaters in fourteen countries, and has been expressed through numerous of artistic collaborations, including projects with Bjork, Sundance, Apple and the Danish Dance Theatre.
Elam graduated from Brown University magna cum laude, received his MFA in dance from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts and serves on the Advisory Board for Americans For The Arts’ National Arts Marketing Committee.
A passionate advocate for the effective use of technology for audience engagement in the arts, Elam initiated the development of the GoSeeDo arts booking program, which has provided opportunities for over 20,000 artists. Elam is a frequent speaker on the subject at many of the country’s foremost arts, business and technology conferences, including Fortune Magazine’s Brainstorm: TECH, the Carnegie Mellon’s’ Technology in the Arts conference and TEDx. On behalf of this work, Elam has successfully secure and stewarded competitive grant awards from top foundations, including The Rockefeller Foundation, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and The Doris Duke Foundation.
In addition to his own choreography, Elam’s dance successes include securing contracts and producing dance, theatre and music events for over 500 major companies, including the NBA, Disney, MTV, Google, Bain Capital, Samsung, Sears, IBM, Symantec, Grand Hyatt, USPS, Monster, Unilever, Nasco, Philips, Campbell’s, Brookfield Homes, Baxter, L’Oreal, Micron, Planet Fitness, KPMG, SC Johnson, RCA, Bulgari, Coldwell Banker, Securitas, Wells Fargo, Lufthansa, A&E Networks, Pandora, Project Runway, Lifetime Network, Clarins, Pepsi and over 10% of the Fortune 500.
In 1999 Elam spent 7 months with a Topeng dance master in Indonesia, training and performing in temple ceremonies. In 2001 he brought Misnomer to perform and teach in the Amazon of Brazil. In 2002 he spent 6 months on faculty in Turkey. In 2004 he spent 3 months in Havana choreographing on DanzAbierta, a national dance company of Cuba, presented at the National Theater and televised in 40 countries. In 2005 Elam performed in Ireland on a European Cultural City Commission, which led to a commission in Holland in 2006 for with the interactive technology group Blue Noise Dept. Elam hasn’t stopped choreographing for more than a 6-month period in 17 years. He graduated in public policy, focused on federal involvement in the arts, and computer science.
“Wonderfully strange and unpredictable choreography.” Brian Seibert, The New Yorker
“Christopher Elam’s Misnomer Dance Theater hit town with a force I haven’t seen since the early days of Mark Morris.” Elizabeth Zimmer, The Village Voice
