Chris Elam

Founder, Technologist, and Choreographer in New York

"A true original, Mr. Elam is one of the most individualistic of dance voices today."

- Jennifer Dunning, THE NEW YORK TIMES

“Mr. Elam’s skill and clarity of vision delight the soul.”

- Deborah Jowitt, THE VILLAGE VOICE

Chris Elam, Founder of Misnomer.org, GoSeeDo.org, BookAFlashMob.com and SwiftfootProductions.com, is a critically-acclaimed choreographer and arts technology entrepreneur.

Chris 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.

A passionate advocate for the effective use of technology for audience engagement in the arts, Elam initiated the development of the GoSeeDo arts booking platform, which has provided jobs for over 20,000 artists, and 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.

Elam graduated from Brown University magna cum laude, and received his MFA in dance from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts.

"Elam's dances burst with distinctiveness... Mr. Elam is well on his way to establishing himself as an important voice in dance."

- John Rockwell, THE NEW YORK TIMES

“Poignant, wonderfully strange and unpredictable choreography.”

- Brian Seibert, THE NEW YORKER

"Choreographer Chris Elam of Misnomer Dance company is at the forefront of thinking creatively."

- Ben Cameron, Former Program Director, DORIS DUKE CHARITABLE FOUNDATION

  • Work
    • Misnomer.org
  • Education
    • Brown University