A friend recently sent me a positing of the
Teacher and choreographer Milton Myers teaching a Horton Class. Milton is head of the contemporary dance
programme at Jacobs Pillow and also is one of the lead teachers at the Ailey
School where I trained. He also was the
former director of the Joyce Trisler Company and it was through his encouragement at the time nurtured my curiosity to try out for the company and learn the
repertoire whilst still studying. It was one of a number of formative
experiences. The experience of learning repertory with the company only served
to add to my portfolio of experiences and also explore my movement language to
try out something that was different, exhilarating and of course
challenging! The vocabulary and language of the form was quite different to that of the school (after all the school was a training house for emerging dancers) but in a company environment I could understand the Horton principles which went beyond the technique itself through its engagement with space, environment, and other influences that had movement be it a piece of art or sculpture, music and other soundscapes. I was hungry for it back
then. As a teacher he is really inspiring and when in class, you could feel him breathing with you when he taught the many combinations, and fortification studies of this style. I felt a nurturing, growing feeling/sensation and when he spoke to make corrections/comments/feedback my whole body listened. The feeling was incredible and still is as I watched when he taught.
Looking at the postings brought back so
many memories when I was a scholarship student at the Ailey School (the longing
and yearning to perform but importantly find out who I was as a person and
dancer – for me whilst the experience was life changing it acted as a road map
and tool to explore other things which helps me to define myself as a performer
and why it is/ was I wanted to move.
This posting also reminded me of my earlier AOLs in the first unit of
the MA programme and it was amazing to see the distance travelled from A)
training at the school as a young dancer and pedagogy of experience and B) how
this experience formed a number of matrixes for me on my journey in dance and
the wider performing arts. It also
reaffirmed my love and desire to contribute back to the sector who saw in me potential and gave me opportunities to move. I suppose I never
really stood still, just changed directions and routes.
Reflecting back on the video and of my past
tapped into something quite deep and emotional and even now that I don’t
perform still feel a hunger. My love for
the Horton Technique and my desire to use it as a tool to transgress in
teaching is a way I hope to continue to
shape my practice. There are
different perspectives and opinions to teaching this style of moving and the
challenge for me is to be open to the views and experiences of young people when teaching - for it is they that I am most in touch with from a teaching context –
their term of reference and engagement is so different to mine, particularly
when this style is not widely taught and unfamiliar to their lived
experiences. However, this is where
exploring this subject is exciting form me to journey on a different paradigm
shift as far as pedagogy is concerned.
If interested check out the link - this is how it was for me back then but whilst it is not to everyone’s taste engaging in a modern codified technique. It was a tool and framework for me in which to emerge and transgress as a person, artist, teacher. It was and still is a language I love to speak freely with my body.
http://www.impulstanz.com/videogallery/aid1210/
Milton Myers
http://dancemedia.com/v/2139
Horton Pedagogy workshop at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Centre, New york
Have a lovely weekend!
