When Lester Horton founded his dance company in the 1930’s he was making history in two important ways. The first is that he was introducing the first modern dance company to the West Coast. Up until this time, modern dance was mostly pioneered on the East Coast in New York City. By creating his dance company in Los Angeles, Horton brought a space to learn and practice his modern technique to an area where this had not yet been possible.
The second way Horton made history was by founding one of the first interracial dance companies in the United States. When creating his company, Horton did not pay attention to the color of their skin, but to their talent and ability to perform his technique. This was groundbreaking at a time when people of color were excluded from many white dance companies and allowed great dancers such as Alvin Ailey to become modern dance pioneers.
“What it came down to was that, for Lester, his art was much more important than the color of a dancer’s skin.” –Alvin Ailey
Horton Hinge 