Lester Horton

Lester Horton (23 January 1906 – 2 November 1953) was an American dancer, choreographer, and teacher.

Lester Iradell Horton was born in Indianapolis, Indiana on January 23, 1906. His parents were Iradell and Pollyanna Horton.

His interest in dance was stimulated by his fascination with American Indian culture after watching tribal dances in a Wild West show. He studied the Iroquois and Red River Indians, and Penobscot and Ojibwa tribes.

He studied ballet for two years with a local teacher in Indianapolis, Theo Hewes. At that time he also took classes at the Herron Art Institute and worked with the Indianapolis Little Theater.

Seeing a performance of the Denishawn company had a great impact on him.

Horton arrived in California in 1929 to perform The Song of Hiawatha, a dance-pageant by Clara Bates based on Longfellow's poem, at the Argus Bowl, a natural amphitheater in Eagle Rock.

He took a job with the sculptress Kathleen Stubergh, with whom he remained close for his lifetime. They produced wax figures and Horton painted faces on the window mannequins.

He chose to work in California instead of New York City, which was considered the center of modern dance at the time.

In 1931, Horton created his first solo concert choreography, Kootenai War Dance. That same year he was invited to perform this dance along with a new choreography Voodoo Ceremonial at the Los Angeles Olympics. His success garnered an invitation to perform at the Paramount Theatre on the same bill as Judy Garland and the Garland sisters for a two-week run. In 1932, Lester Horton formed his own dance company called the Lester Horton Dancers.That company evolved into what was briefly known as the Lester Horton California Ballets (1934) and then the Horton Dance Group (1934). The Horton Dance Group, billed in its film appearances as the Lester Horton Dancers, lasted until early 1944. Later, Horton attempted to develop a company on the East Coast for dancer Sonia Shaw, but Shaw's husband stopped underwriting the venture and the company collapsed before it could give any public performances. After a brief hiatus, Horton formed the Dance Theater of Los Angeles with his longtime leading dancer, Bella Lewitzky; their partnership ended when Lewitzky left in 1950. Horton's final company continued until 1960 under the direction of Frank Eng.

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