Loyce Houlton (13 June 1925 – 14 March 1995) was an American dancer, choreographer, dance pedagogue, and arts administrator centered for most of her adult life in Minneapolis.
Houlton was born Loyce Johnson in Proctor, Minnesota, near Duluth, to Norwegian immigrants and immersed herself in music and dance as a child.
She raised four children with her husband: Andrew, Joel, Laif, and Lise, who succeeded her mother as artistic director of the Minnesota Dance Theatre after her death in 1995.
Among the best-known are Earthsong and Tactus (1969), Wingborne (1971), The Killing of Suzie Creamcheese (1971), Dream Trilogy (1972), Song of the Earth (1977), Horseplay (1977), Carmina Burana (1978), The Haunted Landscape (1985), and The Rite of Spring (1985).
The period 1980-1985 was distinguished by a number of collaborations with noted video and film artists, for example the documentary Loyce with Peter Markle and Swan Lake Minnesota with Kenneth Robins, Scott Killian, and Kim Sherman.
Ted Kivitt was hired to direct the new company, and Victoria Pulkkinen and Francia Russel were brought in to teach the Pacific Northwest Ballet syllabus to the instructors of Minnesota Dance Theater.
She presented a holiday show during Christmas 1989, with excerpts from her Nutcracker Fantasy, Les Patineurs, and other works at the Horst Institute in Minneapolis.
It is recognized as a symbiosis of the formal classical ballet discipline and a freer use of the torso, head, and arms, which are more characteristic of what is generally referred to as modern dance.