The female-founded company was started by Shirley Ririe and Joan Woodbury in 1964, with a mission that every person deserves to dance.
The next year Joan Woodbury met Ririe, who was her teaching counterpart at Brigham Young University. The two started working together on choreography and created the company Choreodancers, for university students. Jena Woodbury said the two founders were so successful because they were teachers, dancers and choreographers who played on each other's strengths to make a well-rounded performance company and a robust dance education and outreach department.
Joan Woodbury said through the company she has been able to give back by passing on the gift of dance. "People everywhere — children, adults, any human being who has a lifeblood of movement and enjoys participating in an activity that is so beautiful — has been affected by what Shirley and I and the rest of the dance crew have done in this state," Joan Woodbury said.
Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company members perform a piece called Tensile Involvement that was choreographed by Alwin Nikolais in 1955. The company has performed the piece several times and will again perform it for the 60th anniversary. The founders have been slowly phasing out of their involvement in the company, but they still attend events and shows. And Joan Woodbury has been "a steadfast member" on the board of directors for the last 10 years, Charon said.
The founders' legacy lies in their belief that dance is crucial for a developing child as they learn creativity, cooperation, trust, relationship building and more, Charon said.