Campus Closeup: Chris Houston

Assistant professor Chris Houston, who choreographed a piece that will be featured at NMU's North Coast Dance Festival June 25-26, arrived on campus last year with a wealth of professional experience and insight gleaned from a career that took him to some of the most prestigious global performance venues. Born in Scotland and trained in London, he appeared in original West End productions of Miss Saigon and Cats, and was among only 50 dancers selected to join Celine Dion's first Las Vegas residency and her subsequent world tour. Afterward, the former acrobat embarked on a long relationship with Cirque du Soleil.

While in Vegas, Houston started as a performer in the Cirque du Soleil production of Viva Elvis and played the title role of the Trickster in Kooza. He became an artistic director for the company for multiple world tours and later served as company manager for the organization's resident production in Mexico, near Playa Del Carmen.

Along his career journey, Houston built an impressive portfolio. Beyond his work for Cirque du Soleil, he was assistant choreographer and artistic coordinator for the relaunch of the Crazy Horse Paris Brand in Las Vegas, and has choreographed for JAR Productions and on the BBC. His performances have also been featured on major television programs and international broadcasts, increasing his exposure far beyond the theater world.

Despite his extensive performance credentials, Houston's passion increasingly shifted toward education and leadership.

"During the pandemic, I decided to go back to school to pursue my doctorate in dance education," he said. "One of my colleagues at Columbia University was Jill Grundstrom, who heads the dance program at Northern. We started in the same cohort, and also worked on a project together through Columbia's Arnhold Institute for Dance Education Research. I'm having the best time in Marquette, and with the students. They are so talented and love what they do. I feel at home here, and I'm just thrilled to be here."

Houston also holds a bachelor's degree in performing arts from Saint Mary's College of California and an MBA with a specialization in leadership and innovation from Edinburgh Napier University. He has taught at leading performing arts institutions in the United Kingdom, including the Arts Educational School, Italia Conti College of the Performing Arts and London Studio Centre. In the United States, he has served on the faculties of Marymount Manhattan College and Broadway Dance Center.

The piece Houston choreographed and premiered for a CO/LAB Company production in January will be performed again at the North Coast Dance Festival. Titled "INIT: LOOP" (code for "initialize loop"), it was inspired by the '80s influence on much of the current pop music he had been hearing on students' playlists. He choreographed the piece to "Blue Monday" by the UK band New Order, which the Scotland native calls a "quintessential" '80s track.

"It came out in 1983," he added. "I did some research and discovered that year was also when the home computer market exploded. Fast forward from that, and we've become such a digitalized society with these smaller devices giving us so much power in our hands. I decided to sail this new wave of appreciation for the '80s a bit and create a dance with a digital commercialization theme that highlights as many of the students' strengths as possible."

Houston grew up in Paisley, Scotland, where the famous teardrop clothing pattern by the same name originated. His family still resides there. After the North Coast Dance Festival, he said he plans to travel back to his home country over the summer for the first time since the pandemic.

When he returns to campus for the fall semester, Houston will continue mentoring students who aspire to use their dance skills and knowledge to open doors to rewarding professional opportunities, just as he did.