Materials in the Lester Horton Dance Theater Collection span from 1918 to 1996, but the bulk of these items were created between 1940 and 1959, at the height of the company's activities. Formed from the earlier Horton Dance Group in 1946, the Dance Theater served as a training center and venue hosting a resident company performing works choreographed primarily by Lester Horton. After Horton's death in 1953, the company performed works by members such as Alvin Ailey, Yvonne de Lavallade, Don Martin, and James Truitte. The Dance Theater closed permanently in 1960, but the training technique that Horton developed continued to be taught by dancers who had trained under him.

The records, bank statements, contracts, financial documents, press releases, and internal communications in the Business Papers outline the everyday activities of a mid-twentieth century modern dance company. Several folders of bills and receipts give a sense of the company's routine expenditures. Clippings and scrapbooks chart Horton's early career as it evolved into the formation of the Dance Theater. Architectural drawings, leases, and permits document changes to the Dance Theater's permanent space on Melrose Avenue.

The Production Files contain photographs, programs, written scenarios, and costume and set renderings related to Horton's work and that of the Dance Theater. The majority of the material relates to choreographic works put on by the Dance Theater, including pieces created after Horton's death. However, works created by Horton independent of the Dance Theater are also found here. Also present are several typed scenarios for works that may never have received full production. This series is divided into two subseries, Individual Works and Programs.

Materials related to the Dance Theater School, Horton's training technique, and student performances are found in the Education Files. The series has course descriptions, photographs of student classes and performance, and administrative information on staffing, schedules, and fees.

Letters and drafts of letters are arranged in the Correspondence. The majority of the material is written by or to Frank Eng, the Dance Theater's business manager beginning in 1950 and its director after Horton's death. For the most part, correspondence is focused on the Dance Theater's activities, but the series also contains personal letters from Horton and Eng. This series is divided into two subseries that distinguish communications with individuals from those with organizations.

Horton's general writings and notes about dance are included in Professional Papers. Also found in this series are several folders of writings by Eng, an unpublished interview with founding company member Bella Lewitzky, a copy of Larry Warren's published biography of Horton, and documentation on Horton's death and burial.

Formal portraits and snapshots of Horton, Eng, and Dance Theater performers and staff are found in Photographs. While the images primarily focus on specific individuals, photographs from the opening night of Choreo '50 reveal the Dance Theater's audience and the festivities of a premiere night.

Music consists of pieces either composed for Horton and the Dance Theater company or collected by them. The series contains manuscript scores for several dance works created by Horton, including The Beloved , Brown County, Indiana , Dedications in Our Time , Prado de Pena (a retelling of Yerma by Spanish playwright Gabriel Garcia Lorca), Totem Incantation , and Warsaw Ghetto . Also included are several scores for different versions of Salome .