Lester Horton Dance Theater collection
Contributors: Horton, Lester, 1906-1953; Horton (Lester) Collection (Library of Congress)
Published: 1926
Language: eng
Number of pages: 11508
Subjects: Stage-setting and scenery; Costume design; Choreography; Modern dance; Dance companies; Dance
Description: Correspondence, writings, music, publicity and production materials, programs, teaching materials, business papers, scrapbooks, news clippings, publications, costume and set designs, photographs, drawings, and sound recordings documenting the workings of the Lester Horton Dance Theater and the personal and professional life of choreographer, dancer, and teacher Lester Horton.

Individuals represented include Alvin Ailey, William Bowne, Merce Cunningham, Carmen De Lavallade, Frank Eng, Lelia Goldoni, Judith Hamilton, Michio Itō, Bella Lewitzky, Margaret Lloyd, Don Martin, Joyce Trisler, James Truitte, and Larry Warren.
Notes: Open to research.

Lester Horton Dance Theater Collection, Music Division, Library of Congress.

Certain restrictions to use or copying of materials may apply.

Access Advisory: Not all materials in this collection may be readily accessible; please request accessibility information well in advance of your visit http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/perform.contact

Purchase; 1995.

Acquisition; Larry Warren; 1996.

transferred to Library of Congress Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division.

Lester Horton and several partners founded the Dance Theater, a modern dance company, in Hollywood, Calif., in 1946.  Throughout Horton's career, he combined dance and drama into a total theatrical experience.  He was intimately involved in creating all aspects of a production: the costumes, sets, lighting, and music as well as the scenarios and choreography.  His fascination with ethnic dance, human sensuality, and cultural history was expressed in a prodigious body of work with themes ranging from the classics to melodrama, social concerns to farce.  Horton's "choreodramas" were built on a movement technique that is still taught and used in dance schools and companies.  The Dance Theater closed its doors in 1960.

Finding aid available in the Library of Congress Performing Arts Reading Room and at http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/eadmus.mu005003