The Wisconsin Dance Council (WDC), founded in 1966, is an organization devoted to promoting the appreciation of dance as an art form in the state of Wisconsin. The founding members of the organization met for the first time in April of 1966 and went on to adopt its bylaws and elect its founding officers and board of directors in June of the same year at the Conference on International Understanding through Dance at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. The founding officers included: Virginia Weiler as President, John Wilson as Vice President, Elizabeth Brown as Secretary, and Janet Starks as Treasurer. The WDC was incorporated as a non-profit organization in 1968. In 1974, the organization added the position of Executive Secretary, which was initially held by Karen Cowan. Since Cowan was a professor with the University of Wisconsin's Department of Continuing Education in the Arts (now the Department of Liberal Studies and the Arts, part of the Continuing Studies Division at UW-Madison), WDC was able to obtain its official office address at the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Lowell Hall. The WDC often collaborated closely with the Department of Continuing Education in the Arts, working together to publish a statewide dance directory that, in addition to chronicling the changing membership of the WDC, also provided a complete listing of dance instructors and performing groups in the state. The first of these directories was published in 1968.
The WDC organized its activities by committee throughout the organization's history, adopting and dissolving different committees according to the activities to be accomplished. Long-standing committees included: the Nominations Committee, which was responsible for nominating new officers and board members for the council; the Membership Committee, which kept track of the evolving membership of the organization and coordinated efforts to attract new members to the WDC; and the Education Committee, which spearheaded the council's efforts to promote the teaching of dance in Wisconsin's schools. Other committees present at various points throughout the organization's history include an Awards Committee, a Workshop Committee, a Conference Committee, a Scholarship Committee, and a Newsletter Committee.
The promotion of the teaching of dance in schools was (and is) one of the dance council's strongest commitments. In 1972, the Department of Public Instruction accepted the criteria for dance certification submitted by the WDC Education Committee. The WDC Education Committee continued to work closely with the Department of Public Instruction, eventually helping them to produce curriculum guides for K-12 dance students. The WDC Education Committee also worked with the Wisconsin Association for Health, Physical Education, and Recreation (WAHPER) to encourage the addition of a dance division to the organization. In 1981, WAHPER changed its name to the Wisconsin Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (WAHPERD) to reflect the addition of the promotion of dance to its mission.
The WDC also conducted and published surveys assessing the quality of dance education in Wisconsin. The first survey, conducted in 1968, examined dance education in private elementary and high schools, public and private colleges and universities, and in private studios across the state. The WDC continued to conduct periodic education surveys throughout the 1970s, '80s, and '90s.
From the organization's inception, workshops have been an important part of the WDC's commitment to dance education, and the WDC held its first “get acquainted” workshop in 1966. The workshops have continued to be an integral part of the organization, and the WDC has hosted workshops on topics ranging from liturgical dance to Elizabethan dance to modern dance. In 1977, the WDC consolidated its workshops into a single annual event, the Wisconsin Dance Council Annual Conference, a weekend-long event that featured master classes, workshops, performances, and discussions of scholarly research concerning dance. The first annual conference was held in Green Bay, and the WDC went on to host annual conventions in cities across the state of Wisconsin, although after 1982 the conferences were held primarily in Madison, where the WDC was based.
In 1984 the WDC introduced its awards program, designed to recognize major contributors to dance in Wisconsin. Their first award went to Louise Kloepper, a former chair of the University of Wisconsin-Madison's dance program. In later years, the WDC began distributing multiple awards each year in categories like “lifetime achievement” and “career achievement” in addition to several “distinction” awards and awards for being a “friend of dance.” These awards ceremonies were often held in conjunction with the annual conferences, but in 1995 they became separate entities when the annual conference format was abandoned due to poor attendance and individual workshops again became the norm for the organization.
The WDC's annual statewide membership meetings began on May 27, 1967. Like the awards ceremonies, these annual meetings were often held in conjunction with the annual conferences. In addition, the WDC board met approximately four times per year to discuss the ongoing business of the council.
The WDC began producing a newsletter in the 1960s, which it converted into Dance Dimensions, a magazine published four times annually, beginning in 1974. Dance Dimensions was published until 1981, and the WDC returned to its original newsletter format in 1992. The newsletters and the magazines served to inform WDC members and the general public of dance events taking place throughout the state and the nation as well as activities planned by the WDC.
As a non-profit organization, the WDC received funding through grants from such organizations as the Wisconsin Arts Board, the Wisconsin Arts Foundation and Council, and the National Endowment for the Arts. The Wisconsin Dance Council also cooperated with other dance councils in Wisconsin (the Milwaukee Modern Dance Council and the Madison Dance Council). Both of these organizations contributed to the WDC Scholarship Fund awarded to students of dance in Wisconsin. After the Madison Dance Council disbanded in 1994, all of the funds remaining after their dissolution were transferred to the WDC Scholarship Fund.
