Archives West Finding Aid

Orchesis (from the Greek, "to dance") was founded at Washington State College in 1923. Leota Scott, then a senior at WSU and a temporary dance instructor, had joined national Orchesis the year before while she was in Wisconsin studying under Margaret H. Doubler. The group began when she returned to WSU. At first, Orchesis was little more than an informal gathering of female dance students interested in learning and practicing the concepts of modern interpretive dance. It became more structured as time went on; members were admitted by vote during dance try-out competitions. By the end of the 1920s, the group regularly elected officers and performed for the public.

Orchesis usually held at least two formal recitals a year, one every fall and spring. Additionally, the group was regularly featured on Mom's Weekend each spring, danced for community group and public school programs, and performed as part of the Northwest Physical Education Association Annual Convention. During the 1930s, the group worked closely with Garfield High School students in performing musicals under the direction of Eva Jurgensohn. In the 1940s and 1950s, Orchesis collaborated with WSU drama. and music groups to choreograph and perform Song of Norway, Dark of the Moon, Little Prince, and many other productions. The group also sponsored campus appearances by professional dancers and dance companies including Charles Weidman, Emily Frankel, Harriet Ann Gray, Gertrude Lippencott and the Charles Fagan Dance Company. In 1957, the Junior Orchesis organization was established. Orchesis was inactive during that year and it is possible that Jr. Orchesis was created because dancers that year did not fully qualify for the local or national standards for Orchesis membership.

Dance has been part of the WSU Department of Physical Education curriculum since 1919. The first Orchesis members took P.E. dance courses and sometimes taught them, as had been the case with WSU Orchesis founder, Leota Scott. Orchesis faculty advisors have without exception been women associated with physical education. Orchesis had many such advisors for the period 1923-1946, usually temporary instructors with an interest and a background in modern dance. This changed in 1946 when Alice Gates came to WSU and began a twenty-three year career as an associate professor of physical education, dance instructor and advisor to Orchesis.

Ms. Gates was educated at Wellesley College and at Columbia University, receiving her M.A. in 1940. She studied with the top dance professionals of the day, including Martha Graham and Evelyn Davis. Before coming to WSU she taught dance at Hood College in Maryland, Rockford College in Illinois, and Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania. Ms Gates was devoted to Orchesis and worked with unceasing determination to bring new ideas and opportunities to the group and to expose many people to Orchesis. Her efforts were enhanced when, in 1960, Toni Weaver came to WSU, joined Orchesis, assisted Alice Gates and gradually took on many of the advisory responsibilities. In 1965 she became a Physical Education instructor in addition to her responsibilities as a choreographer.

Alice Gates' involvement with Orchesis diminished when health problems forced her to take leave in 1967-68. She retired in 1972 and died in the spring of 1973. That year Orchesis established the Alice Gates Award for excellence and achievement in dance.

Alice Gates and Wilhelmina O. Sarai-Clark (Toni Weaver) each devoted more than twenty years of their lives to dance at WSU. Wilhelmina Sarai-Clark came to WSU as an instructor in 1965, though she had been a choreographer and performer with Orchesis since 1960. Before coming to WSU, Ms. Sarai-Clark had been an associate professor of physical education at Florida A and M; University in Tallahassee. She obtained her B.A. in Physical Education at Howard University, an M.A. at New York University and a Ph.D. in Dance, Anthropology, and Theatre at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. In the early 1950s, she danced with the Charles Weidman Dance Company.

Under her supervision, members took a more active role in choreographing Orchesis performances. She encouraged community interaction with Orchesis and forged a strong link between Orchesis and the St. James Episcopal Church. Orchesis choreographed many performances for the church, most often liturgical dances and holiday celebrations.

Many members of Orchesis went on to pursue careers in dance. Dick Lee, one of the male dancers that entered Orchesis in the 1940s, obtained dance scholarships to Bennington College in the 1950s. Other dancers joined professional dance groups such as Jacob's Pillow and the Metropolitan Opera Ballet Company. Another Orchesis member, Gwen Barker, danced in New York for several years before joining the Ballet Russe in the mid-1950s.