Born in Indiana in
1906, a child of sharecroppers, Lester Horton grew up fascinated with the
Native American way of life. He dove into this curiosity by going to museums as
a young child, and later on this passion would have an important influence in
his development as an artist. Horton's interest in dance was sparked when he
first saw Ted Shawn, as well as the Denishawn Company, perform. He began
studying various dance forms, including ballet and Native American dance, and attended the Herron School of Art in Indianapolis, went on to train under Adolf Bloom, a
former dancer for Vaslav Nijinsky, and finally danced with Michio
Ito. 
Upon breaking out on
his own, Horton played a key role in bringing modern dance to the west coast,
as he based himself in Los Angeles. The Lester Horton Dance Group was formed in
1932, and it became the first racially integrated dance company in the country.
Horton also focused on a holistic approach to the arts, calling his pieces
“choreodramas”, and having himself and his dancers design and create all of
their costumes and sets. Horton’s Dance
Theater was formed in 1946, and it served as an academy and also the home of
his company. The company disbanded in 1950, but the Dance Theater remained
until 1960 –seven years after Horton’s death.
As a choreographer,
Horton continued to draw upon his enchantment with Native American culture, and
also based much of his work on life in the Midwest. Some of his most famous
works include Le Sacre du Printemps, To José Clemente
Orozco, numerous versions of Salome, The Beloved, Flight from
Reality, Art Patrons, and Conquest. Horton also shared his talents with
Hollywood, choreographing for several films. Besides being a choreographer,
Horton was similar to artists such as Humphrey and Graham in that he
established his own technique for dance. He valued the natural movement and shape of the body, and “developed his
technique by studying anatomy and by formulating exercises to strengthen and
open up the body for performance in any style" (dancemagazine.com). Among his most notable students are Alvin Ailey, Bella Lewitzky, Joyce Trisler, James Truitte, Arthur Mitchell, and Carmen de Lavallade, who have proceeded to pass on the Horton technique to further generations.
Works Cited: danceheritage.org, dancemagazine.com, kennedy-center.org
That fact that he was born in Indiana inspired me because sometimes talent from here isn't really recognized. That fact that he could get his technique to be recognized by the world really influenced me.
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