What is Horton technique?
Horton’s dance technique, which is now commonly known as Horton Technique, has no style, per se. The technique emphasizes a whole body, anatomical approach to dance that includes flexibility, strength, coordination and body and spatial awareness to enable unrestricted, dramatic freedom of expression.
Which dance company specializes in the Horton technique?
Horton Technique (the technique of the Alvin Ailey Dance Company and many others, is a universal technique, and is an important foundation for anyone interested in contemporary dance, from Hip Hop to Jazz and Theater Dance.
What are the 4 types of movement the Horton technique is based upon?
For instance, Horton uses flat backs and lateral stretches, tilt lines and lunges, all movements that could be found in a jazz warm-up. Horton technique also incorporates lyrical, circular movements focusing on stretching in opposite directions.
Who codified Horton technique?
Lester Horton
One of the first choreographers to have a racially integrated dance company, Lester Horton (1906–1953) developed a series of movement exercises that have now been codified as the Horton technique.
How many preludes are in Horton technique?
Forsythe starts her classes standing, with a sequence of roll-downs, flat-backs and a mix of Horton’s 17 fortifications that focus on strength-building and six preludes to help develop students’ artistry. Her students also practice the lateral T, a key element of the Horton technique.
What does Horton technique focus on?
The fortification studies in Horton Technique focus on strengthening, fortifying, and stretching through a series of movements that attend to different parts of the body. Altogether, there are 17 Fortifications within the Horton Technique.
Who created the Horton technique?
choreographer Lester Horton
In the 1920s, ’30s and ’40s, dancer/choreographer Lester Horton developed a dance technique based on Native American dances, anatomical studies and other movement influences.
What are the exercises in Horton classes called?
This class is based on the fundamentals of the Horton technique: flat backs, primitive squat, descent and ascent, lateral stretches, release swings, leg swings, deep lunges, T positions, coccyx balance and stag position.
What are the benefits of Horton technique?
What benefits do dancers derive from studying Horton? It makes very strong dancers. It’s like physical therapy in its approach to creating a balanced body. Horton developed exercises to increase mobility and strengthen the muscles around the body’s major joints: the hips, the shoulders, the knees, and the ankles.
How many Horton fortifications are there?
17 Fortifications
The fortification studies in Horton Technique focus on strengthening, fortifying, and stretching through a series of movements that attend to different parts of the body. Altogether, there are 17 Fortifications within the Horton Technique.
What are the six movement categories of the Horton technique?
The Horton technique is a codified syllabus that is separated into movement categories comprised of detailed exercises called Studies, which include Projections, Locomotions, Preludes, Rhythms, Improvisations, and Fortifications.
Why is the Horton technique important?
The technique produces an overall effect of fierceness, something many working choreographers desire. HISTORY Born in 1906 in Indiana, Lester Horton studied Native American dance, researched world dance styles, was inspired by occasional Denishawn concerts, and was a keen observer of the natural world.
What do you need to know about Horton technique?
The technique is dynamic and dramatic, develops both strength and flexibility, and works with an energy that is constantly in motion. The primary focus of many beginner-level Horton studies is creating length in the spine and hamstrings. There is also an emphasis throughout all levels on developing musicality and performance qualities.
What kind of dance did Lester Horton do?
Horton Technique. In the 1920s, ’30s and ’40s, dancer/choreographer Lester Horton developed a dance technique based on Native American dances, anatomical studies and other movement influences.
Who is the chair of the Horton Dance Department?
Dancers coming to their first Horton class can prepare by drawing on their experience with jazz dance. “Many jazz teachers incorporate some of Horton’s ideas in their warm-ups,” says Ana Marie Forsythe, chair of The Ailey School’s Horton Department.
How did John Horton die and what did he do?
Horton died of a heart attack in 1953 before completely documenting and cementing his ideas, and so the way that Horton technique is presented can differ from one teacher to the next. One constant is that the technique is designed to correct and improve dancers’ physical limitations so that they might pursue any form of dance.