Christopher “Mad Dog” Thomas is an extremely motivated dancer, activist, and youth mentor. Born and raised in Chicago Altgeld Gardens project homes, he was inspired to dance at age 5 by artists like Michael Jackson and New Edition. Throughout his youth career, Mad Dog danced with local groups K-Phi 9, House Arrest II, and Second II None. He later joined King Charles’ footwork battle clique, Creation in 2005. In 2007 Mad Dog became a member of the FootworKINGz for their appearance on Ellen’s Really Big Show in Las Vegas. Mad Dog was also the official spokesperson for FWK during their appearance on “America’s Got Talent.” In 2009, Christopher joined Kuumba Lynx (KL)  in 2005 and KL has mentored and influenced Christopher’s teaching methods. Mad Dog has become one of the organization's most sought after Arts & Restorative Justice Facilitators, and he has received several awards for his arts and activism work in the community and with Chicago youth. He is the recipient of a 2020 Chicago Dancemaker Award, 2022 American For The Arts Johnson Award, and a 2023 IMAN Roster Artist Award. Mad Dog’s social liberation approach to artistic creation explores the idea of codifying his style of Chicago Footwork while developing new choreographies that tell the stories of how bodies react to certain traumas, including his own. At Altgeld, Mad Dog and his family were exposed to pollutants that caused them to have respiratory problems. Imagine trying to dance at 160 beats per min when you have asthma.