Our History
Washington State: A Brief Dance History
Dance is integral to the social and spiritual life of Native Peoples, and dance education has a long, rich and diverse history in our state that far precedes the founding of our organization. Members of DEAW stand on the shoulders of generations of teachers in colleges, universities, private studios, and public and private elementary and secondary schools, and we express our gratitude for our dance education ancestors. Among those pioneering dance educators were Mary Ann Wells, a ballet dancer who established the dance department at Cornish College in 1916, and Mary Aid De Vries, who started teaching modern dance in the Department of Physical and Health Education at the University of Washington in 1921. Bonnie Bird brought modern dance to Cornish in 1937, and Syvilla Fort drew on her African-American heritage to create original dance collaborations with Merce Cunningham and John Cage at Cornish in 1940. De Vries remained at UW through 1963 and became a national authority on dance education. She was succeeded there by Ruthanna Boris, Joan Skinner and Eve Green. Freddie Marie Braxton was the first African American public school dance teacher in Seattle, where she joined the faculty of John Marshall Junior High School in 1953. Dorothy and Nelle Fisher, of Edmonds, are among many dedicated ballet teachers who created and directed pre-professional regional ballet companies throughout the state.
Thank you to Bill Evans for gathering this history.
DEAW History
Anne Green Gilbert founded DEAW in 1990. Our First Annual Day of Dance was held on October 27, 1990. 75 people were in attendance. Since then, DEAW has been an integral part of promoting and upholding dance education standards across Washington State. We have hosted annual professional development conferences, released a quarterly newsletter, honored our Dance Educator of the Year, and built a community of dance educators united around our vision that dance is for every body.
DEAW Timeline
1980s: WAHPERD (Washington Alliance for Health, Physical
Education, Recreation & Dance) aligned with
AAHPERD (American Alliance etc.)
1988-9: Dance Education Committee of the Northwest
Dance Coalition formed.
1989: First ArtsTime Conference.
1990: DEAW Founded by Anne Green Gilbert. Original logo
by Nicole Little (4th grader in Vancouver). First
Annual Day of Dance: October 27. 75 people attended.
1991: Washington State Arts Education Cooperative Accord
to endorse the Washington State Arts Education Plan
on November 9. It was written by DEAW, Washington
Alliance for Arts Education, Washington Alliance for
Theater Education, Washington Arts Education
Association, Washington Music Educator Association,
and Very Special Arts Washington.
1992: DEAW sent representatives to the Education
Standards Project with OSPI. On February 22, we
joined Arts Education Advocacy Coalition as a forming
member organization to present a unified voice for
arts advocacy at the state level. On June 13, a request
from the coalition was presented to the Governor’s
Council on Education Reform.
1993: First Educator of the Year (DEAW/ AAPHERD honor award):
Weita Miller.
1993-1994: Declared “A Year Dedicated to Arts Education” by governor
Mike Lowry (March-March).
1994: Arts Certification Summit, June 19th.
1995: Washington State Arts Commission Conference, April 19-21.
1996: Arts Advocacy Day, February 15.
1998: Developed a Dance Program Prototype for schools.
2001: DEAW got our first website!
Washington approves first Dance Endorsement in teacher
certification.
2002: Board Approves National Affiliation with NDEO.
2003: Officially became a State Affiliate of NDEO.
2004: State works on a bill for alternative certification routes for arts
specialists.
Arts become a high school graduation requirement in Washington
for the incoming freshman class.
2004-2008: DEAW Members help OSPI pilot new assessments for K-12
dance.
2007: Fall Conference includes student Festival Performance.
West-E Dance test developed for certification.
Grade Level Expectations for Dance begin drafting process at
OSPI.
2010: Our newsletter went digital!
2018: Regional Ambassador Program begins.
2019: First Dance Educators in Performance concert in Seattle.
2020: Our annual conference went virtual with “Reimagining Dance
Education” during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Past Educators of the Year
2022 Samantha Weissbach
2021 Maygan Wurzer
2020 Etienne Cakpo
2019 Krissa Englebright
2018 Shannon Barnes
2017 Sheyla Mattos
2016 Marie Chong
2015 Terry Goetz
2013 Susan Haines
2012 Tim Lynch
DEAW Honor Awardees
2003 Mary Fogarty
1999 Alan Peitsch
1998 Cheryl Willis
1997 Jan Abramovitz
1996 Debbie Gilbert & Joanne Petroff
1995 Jesse Jaramillo
1994 Carol McKinney
1993 Weita Miller
Are we missing something?
Since DEAW’s board changes every couple of years, it’s possible that we are missing information! If you have more information about our history please share it with us by emailing deawboard@gmail.com.