In 1986 the dance component of ADME joined with Theatre West Virginia for management purposes and became the Theatre West Virginia Dance Company.  The company toured on the Mid-Atlantic Arts Consortium Roster during this period.  The TWVDC represented the state performing in thirteen states and in Espirito Santo, Brazil.  TWVDC was selected by the West Virginia Department of Culture and History and the National Endowment for the Arts to participate in the project, Arts in the Classroom.  WVDC was a year round functioning dance company until the summer of 1991.

 

From 1991 to 1996 several different groups of dancers created works and performed in special projects under the name of the West Virginia Dance Company.  The projects included the Pearl S. Buck Project (1991), the West Virginia Dance Festival, and a performance at President's Park in Washington, D.C. (1993).

 

Fall of 1996 brought the full touring company back once again.  The company became its own 501C3 entity and has since been known as the West Virginia Dance Company.  WVDC successfully accomplished a twenty-eight performance school tour and a week residency at Lees-McRae College in Banner Elk, NC.  The company continued a full schedule completing two eight week residencies in the Kanawha County Schools as well as touring throughout southern WV schools.  During the touring season of WVDC an average of 40,000 students in WV schools were exposed to the art of dance a year.

 

In the spring of 2001, WVDC once again stepped down from a full time touring company and returned to a project based one.  Pseudochomai, Family of Miguel Capella, and The Glass Menagerie, a few of the dance pieces presented by the company from 2001-2004, were performed at the WV Dance Festival, Greenbrier Valley Theatre, Snowshoe Institute, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and WV Wesleyan University.  The Glass Menagerie was a collaboration with GVT with funding provided by the WV Department of Culture and History and the National Endowment for the Arts.  Richard H. Ressmeyer, Director of the Arts in WV, voted this production to be the Best Arts Event in WV in 2002.

 

In winter 2005 WVDC once again became a full time touring dance company.  After completing a successful school tour in the spring of 2005, WVDC is back on the road traveling throughout the state performing thier new childrens show My Many Colored Days, based on Dr. Suess' book of the same name.  A highlight for the company was on April 4, 2005, when Toneta Akers-Toler, Founder and co-Artistic Director, was honored with the WV Governor's Award for Artistic Excellence.  The company performed Sketches of Fall, a piece she choreographed in 1991 based on a writing by Pearl S. Buck.

 

The focus of the company will remain in educating the students of WV, through performances, lectures, and classes.  As well as school touring, the company will continue to work on larger projects.  This upcoming season, the company will be presented by the Tug Valley Arts Council, Arts Link, Bridgeport Arts Council, WV Wesleyan University, and the Beckley Area Concert Association.