Horst, Louis 1884-1964

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HORST, Louis 1884-1964

PERSONAL: Born January 12, 1884, in Kansas City, MO; died January 23, 1964, in New York, NY; son of Conrad Horst (a musician) and Carolina Nickell; married Betty Cunningham (a dancer), November 29, 1909 (later separated; never divorced).

CAREER: Composer, piano accompanist, teacher, dance critic, and publisher. Denishawn Dance Company, accompanist and music director, 1915-25; Martha Graham Company, music director, 1926-48; Helen Tamiris, music director, 1927-30; Doris Humphrey and Charles Weidman, music director, 1927-32; Dance Observer magazine, founder and editor, 1934-64. Teaching experience included work at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of Theatre, 1928-64; Sarah Lawrence College, 1932-40; Bennington Summer School of Dance, 1935-45; American Dance Festival, 1948-63; and Juilliard School of Music, 1958-63. Also accompanist for theater companies and silent films in California, 1902-15.

AWARDS, HONORS: Capezio Award, 1955; honorary doctorate, Wayne State University, 1963; Creative Award, American Academy of Physical Education, 1964.

WRITINGS:

Pre-Classic Dance Forms, 1937, reprinted, [Princeton, NJ], 1987.

(With Carroll Russell) Modern Dance Forms in Relation to Other Modern Arts, [San Francisco, CA], 1961.

SIDELIGHTS: After being introduced to dance as a piano accompanist, Louis Horst was active during the formative years of modern dance as a music director, composer, teacher, and writer. He is credited with being one of the first composers to work closely with choreographers in the creative process. The son of German immigrants, Horst began playing piano for vaudeville shows and silent films when he was a teenager. He worked for ten years as music director of the Denishawn Dance Company in California, during which time he met dancer Martha Graham. Horst followed Graham to New York City in 1925, where they became collaborators and lovers. Graham would later say that her pioneering work with the Martha Graham Company would not have been possible without Horst's supportive, calming influence. Their most famous work together was Primitive Mysteries, which was inspired by ancient Native American rituals.

Because modern dance was largely ignored by mainstream dance publications at the time, Horst founded Dance Observer, a non-profit monthly that relied on talented but unpaid writers. By the late 1950s, he was known as an eccentric critic. This reputation was reinforced by his review of the Paul Taylor dance solo Private Domain, which consisted of a single page that was blank except for his initials "L. H."

Horst also worked extensively as a teacher, giving workshops and classes in dance composition. He focused on an understanding of pre-classical musical forms such as the minuet and discouraged improvisation. He wanted students to create recognizable themes and to treat the music as a frame for the dance. Working at several institutions, his students included choreographers, dancers, musicians, and actors. Horst wrote two books, Pre-Classic Dance Forms and, with co-author Carroll Russell, Modern Dance Forms in Relation to Other Modern Arts. He sought to show the theoretical differences between modern dance and ballet by defining a distinct understanding of movement rather than an emphasis on steps.

In 1992 Janet M. Soares, a former assistant to Horst who now teaches dance at Barnard College, published a comprehensive account of his life and career. Her biography Louis Horst: Musician in a Dancer's World is based in part on Horst's diaries. According to a writer for Kirkus Reviews, the book is particularly revealing about Horst's relationship with Graham. The critic recommended it as "a carefully chronicled, well-documented account of his life and work."