Lester Horton

I just finished researching Lester Horton. He was a dancer and a choreographer who developed a very interesting technique called the Horton Technique. Its purpose was to strengthen and stretch the dancers and to prepare them for all other dance forms. Lester Horton taught many influential dancers/choreographers including Alvin Ailey. Without Lester Horton's contributions to the world of Modern Dance, Alvin Ailey and his company would not have been what they were (are).

Going to an Alvin Ailey Performance

On December twelth, I went to an Alvin Ailey performance and took a Horton class at the Ailey Headquarters. This was a great afternoon because I got to first experience the Horton technique within my body and then I got to watch a performance when the Horton technique is rampantly used. I personally noticed that the Horton technique includes a lot of laterals and flat backs. That was the major difference that I noticed between The Horton technique and the O'Donnell technique (the technique that I study at my dance school).
This was a great segway into researching Alvin Ailey and the Horton technique so I will be researching them next.

Mary Wigman

Now I am researching Mary Wigman. She was a German dancer and choreographer who was born in the late eighteen-hundreds. Her style of dance was revolutionary because it was free and natural. It went against the structure of balletic dance which was very popular during that time. She started a school in Germany but during World War Two, Nazi's shut it down. She started up again after the war ended. After she died, Hanya Holm, one of her students, came to America and educated many eventually influential dancers/choreographers.

This is related to the big picture because Mary Wigman was one of the first modern dancers/choreographers in Germany and the rest of the world. Her movements went against the balletic movements which were structured and contained in a very specific way. Mary Wigman used dramatic gesture and her dance reflected nature and instinct. She influenced many American dancers/choreographers in addition and one of her dancers, Hanya Holm, eventually moved to America and had a much bigger impact on American dance than Mary did herself.

This is a clip of Mary Wigman dancing in her famous "Witch Dance" :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tp-Z07Yc5oQ