Jason’s nomination letter reads, “Jason is a unique and a beautifully creative artist. His level of artistry and creative research is advancing the boundaries of our artform. I have witnessed his courage, tenacity, and dedication to his education, teaching, creative and scholarly research during his first year of graduate school, all while being long-distance with his wife and son who are still in Chicago. He is a true artist that immerses himself in his creative work and is willing to make sacrifices to attain his goals. Jason handles himself with ease and a strong sense of professionalism and has proven to be an exceptional educator. Not only has Jason been a superior Teaching Assistant for our dance program, he also beautifully embodies the equal emphasis placed upon both artistry and scholarship that is so deeply fundamental to the mission of the College of Fine Arts. He has been outstanding … always ready to take on a new challenge and meeting each of these challenges head-on with skill, brilliance, grace, and even more importantly, with gratitude and generosity. We in the School of Dance have been honored to both work with, and learn from, Jason Hortin.”
Favorite memory? “The people. The work. The satisfaction of it all. Every day I am surrounded by inspiration, humanity, and art. Although my ankles may take longer to function properly in the morning, my soul is satiated being surrounded by what I love: art, dance, community. I, of course, have days where I would rather binge YouTube and Netflix, not create a new class, grade papers, or do another plié. But feeling the aches, seeing students’ progress, and reading their work sure beats having to be stuck in a career that is uninspiring. So no, I do not have a favorite memory – they are all constantly happening, every single day, when I am around those with a shared goal of exploring this crazy little thing called dance.”