Education
Master of Fine Arts, Dance Performance (Terminal Degree)
Florida State University
Catherine Horta-Hayden
Chairperson & Professor
Areas of Expertise
Ballet Pedagogy
Pointe Technique
Human-Centered and Embodied Leadership
Biography
Catherine Horta-Hayden is Chair and Professor in Towson University’s Department of
Dance. Professor Horta-Hayden received her Master of Fine Arts from Florida State
University. She is a Functional Awareness® Movement Educator and teaches all levels
of ballet technique, pointe, classical partnering, and ballet repertory. She also
served as the Artistic Director of the Towson University Dance Company from 2000-2007,
coordinating residencies by renowned International Artists. Professor Horta-Hayden
served as Assistant Provost for Academic Affairs at Towson University from 2007-2010.
In this capacity, she was responsible for the administration of academic program proposals
and new program development through internal review, University System of Maryland
(USM), and Maryland Higher Education Commission (MHEC) approval, and ensured compliance
with accreditation and regulatory requirements. She created and maintained Towson
University’s first academic resources website and centralized repository of articulation
agreements and supervised partnerships with community colleges and external entities.
Additionally, she represented the Division of Academic Affairs in institutional initiatives
and oversaw all aspects of Towson University off campus programing and articulation
agreements with Community Colleges, including academic delivery models, faculty support,
student services, marketing, and fee structures. Professor Horta-Hayden organized
and chaired Towson University’s first Off-Campus Coordinating Committee, charged with
creating a model for the delivery of TU off-campus programs, and served as the central
repository for all Memoranda of Understanding and contracts related to off-campus
instruction with Regional Higher Education Centers, school systems, government, and
private entities.
She led the development of Towson University’s first satellite campus, Towson University
Northeast (TUNE), in partnership with Harford Community College (HCC), which has provided
students in Harford and Cecil Counties the opportunity to obtain four-year college
degrees from Towson University in Harford County. In addition, she led the efforts
to create and implement a university-wide General Education Assessment plan and served
as the Academic Affairs liaison to the division of Student Affairs, representing the
Provost Office on committees associated with student success, retention, and graduation.
She led and coordinated all aspects of Towson University’s eight annual Commencement
ceremonies and, together with the Associate Provost, assisted in the supervision of
the Academic Advising and the Academic Achievement Departments. Through her outreach
efforts and commitment to the Hispanic Community, she was instrumental in creating
and strengthening partnerships with the Hispanic College Fund and played a significant
role in bringing the 2008 Maryland Hispanic Youth Symposium to Towson University.
Professor Horta-Hayden currently serves as the National Association of Schools of
Dance (NASD) Chair of the Commission on Accreditation and as a member of the Board
of Directors. She also serves as an NASD Visiting Evaluator, conducting onsite reviews
of member and potential member institutions across the country, and has served as
a Member on the NASD Committee on Ethics. She is the Past-President of the International
Council of Researchers in Pedagogical Studies (CORPS) de Ballet Inc. This is a professional
non-profit Corporation dedicated to the development, exploration, and advancement
of ballet in higher education and to the service and promotion of the art of ballet.
As President of CORPS de Ballet International, she designed and coordinated a historic
conference in Sarasota, Florida, “Traditions in Classical Training: Strengthening Communities”. Faculty from the Cuban National Ballet School and the Cuban National Ballet came
together to uncover and share the distinctive characteristics of the Cuban Ballet
curriculum and pedagogy through master classes and panel discussions. This conference
featured Maestra Ramona de Saa, Founder and Former Director of the Cuban National
Ballet School, and Miguel Cabrera, Historian of the Cuban National Ballet. Statewide,
she has served on the Maryland State Arts in Communities Advisory Council, Maryland
State Arts Council Local Host Committee for the 2006 National Performing Arts Exchange
Conference, and the Maryland State Arts Council Local Host Committee for the 2007
National Assembly of State Art Agencies.
She has engaged in extensive performing and has been invited to create and restage
numerous works and teach master classes throughout the country. In 2004, she was invited
to research the pedagogy of the National Ballet School of Cuba and taught at the Lizt
Alfonso Cuban Dance Company while in Havana, Cuba. She served as co-director and choreographer
for the project “Love Through Time,” which was an interdisciplinary and intercultural project performed in Germany and
the United States. This project brought students from Germany, Cuba, and the U.S.A
to create a concert through a cappella choral music, percussion, and dance. This concert
was performed in Oldenburg and Berlin, Germany, as well as in the United States. In
addition, she authored the project “Cuban Dance: Enhancing the Cultural Fabric of Baltimore”, which brought 600 Baltimore County middle school youth and teachers to Towson University
to expose them to Afro-Cuban history, culture, music, and dance. Her most recent research,
“Integrating rotator discs into ballet classwork: collaboration of ballet professor,
somatic expert, and medical team”, was invited for presentation at the 2014 International Association for Dance Medicine
and Science 24th Annual Meeting in Basel, Switzerland; the 2015 Performing Arts Medicine
Association Conference in Tampa, Florida; and for poster presentation at the 2015
World Confederation for Physical Therapy Congress in Singapore. It was also published
in the ScienceDirect Journal of Physiotherapy, Volume 101, Supplement 1, May 2015.
Her research, “Honoring Ballet’s Pedagogical History Through 21st Century Innovation: Integrating
Rotator Discs into Traditional Ballet Class,” was also accepted for presentation at the 20th Annual CORPS de Ballet International
Conference in Florence, Italy, July 2018. Professor Horta-Hayden was invited by NASD
to present on "Effective Planning Initiatives: The Role and Value of Strategic Thinking" at their 2023 Annual Meeting Session and "The NASD Handbook: An In-Depth Look at the Standards and Their Application" at their 2024 Annual Meeting Session. Together with Dr. Susan Kirchner, Faculty Emeritus
and former Chairperson of the Department of Dance, she also co-authored the chapter,
“Sharing Grace in Action- Advancing a Healthy and Thriving Dance Unit” for the book, Stories We Dance/Stories We Tell – Charting Pathways in US Higher Education, published by McFarland Press in 2025. Most recently, she was invited by Special Secretary
Maria Martinez from the Governor’s Office of Small, Minority & Women Business Affairs
to speak at the 2025 Women’s Small Business Event on leadership and wellness to women
business leaders across Maryland.
Professor Horta-Hayden was appointed by the former Baltimore County Executive, James
Smith, as a Commissioner on the Baltimore County Commission for Women and served from
2006 to 2008. She also served on the Board of Trustees for WYPR 88.1, Maryland’s NPR
news station, and was invited by the former University System of Maryland Chancellor
William “Brit” Kirwan to serve on the Towson University Presidential Search and Screening
Committee in 2011. In 2025, she received the Maryland Dance Education Association's
Postsecondary Dance Educator of the Year Award, the Towson University Faculty Award
for Public Service, and a Maryland Governor's Citation for outstanding service to
the citizens of Maryland.