Modern/Contemporary I (150-0-20)

Topic

Beginning Horton Technique

Instructors

Joe Harrison Bowie

Meeting Info

Wirtz Center Ballroom: Mon, Wed 12:00PM - 1:20PM

Overview of class

Through the lens of pioneering Modern Dance Master Lester Horton, our Beginning Horton Technique classes will explore deeply embodied connection to breath, musicality, rhythm, and intent through the stories we tell as we move. The Horton technique is a modern dance method that emphasizes strength, flexibility, body alignment, and expressive movement. Through the foundational Horton principles—lateral strength, flatbacks, fortification studies, and clarity of line—we'll focus on warming up to build core strength, improve our dynamic alignment, and enhance our somatic awareness to guide us toward full-bodied, anatomically informed, and expansive dancing. To foster our artistic autonomy and agency, we'll progress to more extended movement sequences that combine prompts—qualitative, dynamic, gestural, corporeal, and musical—to deeply explore more complex dancing. As we work through the quarter, we'll aim to sharpen our critical thinking, develop problem-solving skills, and deepen our overall understanding of dancing together. This Beginning Horton Technique class serves as a pathway to cultivating an active, engaged, embodied, anatomically informed, and creative dance practice.

Registration Requirements

Pre-reg: Dance maj/min + MT Cert | Open to all undergraduates during regular registration

Class Materials (Required)

Comfortable yet supportive clothes to move in; notebook for journaling; $1-25

Enrollment Requirements

Enrollment Requirements: This class is restricted to Dance majors/minors & Music Theatre Certificate students during pre-registration, after which time enrollment will be open to everyone who has taken the prerequisites (when pre-reqs are applicable) or have placed in the level