Yvette Gabrielle Birs Crandall, Central Michigan University Orchesis Dance Theatre Collection, 1928-2023, and undated

Summary

Creator:

Crandall, Yvette Gabrielle Birs, 1939-2023.

Abstract:

This is the official collection of Central Michigan University’s Orchesis Dance Troupe, and also documents the CMU career of its found, Yvette Birs Crandall, and her impact on Orchesis and its students, performances, practices, workshops, and social events, mainly 1967-2010, with a few materials postdating that through 2023.

Extent:

10 cubic ft. (in 12 boxes, 3 Oversized Folders, 2 Oversized Volumes)

Language:

English

Authors:

Collection processed and finding aid created by Marian Matyn

Background

Scope and Content:

This is the official collection of Central Michigan University’s Orchesis Dance Troupe, and also documents the CMU career of its found, Yvette Birs Crandall, and her impact on Orchesis and its students, performances, practices, workshops, and social events, mainly 1967-2010, with a few materials postdating that through 2023. The collection also includes a small amount of material documenting earlier CMU dance instructors, including Grace Ryan, country dancing classes, and performances, formal dances, possibly Sadie Hawkins dances, as well as social dances at CMU, 1928-1967, in photographs and a scrapbook, which Crandall likely inherited from prior CMU instructors. Yvette’s Wisconsin and CMU University papers and research materials, related to movement and dance, and photographs of and clippings about her (see Box 1) and her published reviews on music, dance, and theatre in the Midland Daily News, 1991-1992 (see Box 5) complete the collection. A list of performances was compiled by Archivist Marian Matyn from documentation in the collection and is found in Orchesis, Programs, 1969-1979 (in Box 2).

Nearly complete, the collection provides excellent documentation of Orchesis and how crucial Crandall was to its success and vitality. All aspects or Orchesis are documented in this collection including advertising, auditions, welcoming or “initiations” of new members, graduating senior events, performances, choreographer’s workshops, social events, travels, competitions, training, backstage preparations, classes, costume and makeup design, choreography, , and participation in CMU events such as country dancing and doing dance movements after a float in Homecoming parades and dancing in Madrigals. Orchesis also performed at various local institutions, such as Mid-Michigan Community College. In 1969 Orchesis performed Peter and the Wolf, for which they received hand printed thank you notes and hand drawn art from elementary school children at Longview Elementary School in Midland, Michigan. Because the children’s materials was very acidic, they were photocopied. In the early 2000s Orchesis performed with Dance Umbrella dancers. Dance Umbrella is an international modern dance festival.

The collection also provides important evidence of how one woman successfully built and expanded a nationally recognized modern dance company from scratch composed mainly of female students. When compared to the CMU Athletics collection, it is clear that she did not have the resources nor the support accorded the more traditional recognized athletic programs which merited CMU published programs and posters, so Crandall and her daughter, Rebecca Crandall Folt, designed and made Orchesis posters and programs themselves by hand. The lack of official CMU photographs in the collection is also interesting and unusual among CMU collections. Crandall paid private photographers for the professional, non-CMU photographs.

The collection is organized by size, format. and then alphabetically and chronologically within each series. Photographs are further organized by those with and without negative numbers. The paper-based and photographic series (Boxes 1-5 which are all .5 cubic foot boxes) are: Biographical Materials, Orchesis materials, Photographs that are not specific to Orchesis, and Crandall’s published reviews. There are two oversized scrapbooks document dance at CMU, 1928-1967, and CMU Orchesis, 1968-1971. The three oversized folders include CMU Orchesis posters (Folder 1-2) and oversized Orchesis professional photographs, both black and white and color, undated. Additionally, photographs are further organized within folders by those with a negative number or date/time stamp and then those without. Overall the collection is in very good condition except for the acidic contents of the scrapbooks and a few posters with tape stains or have hole punctures. Most of collection, as donated, was original material, but some were photocopies. Formats in the collection include paper, original art, photographic materials, including two DVDs, and scrapbooks

Recordings:

In March 2024, Orchesis recordings were donated (see Boxes 6-12, which are all cubic foot boxes). The recordings are organized chronologically and document Orchesis concert performances, workshop performances, Madrigal dinner concerts, “Puttin’ On The Ritz” events, Swing Club, and dancing in Homecoming parades, and liturgical dances. The recording formats include Ampex, Karex, Memorex, and Sony five- and seven- inch helical video tapes, VHS videotapes, CDs, DVDs. And Sony Mini Discs. Warren Crandall recorded most of the recordings, but there are some recordings created and presumably copyrighted by Kabobel’s Kamera and Heitman Video Services, that Yvette paid for, and one that is a gift copy from a Channel 9 and 10 News segment. None of the recordings were created or copyrighted by CMU.

Besides the Recordings, other major Orchesis series include Photographs, Programs, and Posters, which merit further description to assist researchers.

Photographs:

Photographs, 1940s-2010, 2023, in the collection are from multiple photographers, both professional who hold copyright, and amateurs. CMU copyright of photographs taken by CMU Photographer Robert Barclay are few and found interfiled with other photographs dated 1981, 1993-1998 and 2000-2006. Bryan P. Wallace, a professional photographer, took all the photographs which are stamped with his name and copyright information, 1986-1987, including all the galley proofs and related negatives. Other photographer’s names are occasionally found on photographs, while others are unidentified. Most of the professional photographs are black and white until the 2000s. Amateur photographs taken by those in the company and probably also by Yvette document individuals, groups, travel, social events, performances. There is one photograph of the liturgical dance troupe in 1973 in Muskegon with a priest. There are also photographs of a country dance troupe in costume dancing during a CMU Homecoming parade, 1989. Part or all of the company traveled to various trips to cities including Washington, D.C. and Milwaukee, Mid-Michigan College, and Western Michigan University, to perform and participate in regional or national dance events. The company also had summer picnics, a welcoming event, referred to as the initiation, for new members, and a graduation recognition event after the show of the academic year with a cake where each graduating senior receive an award, hug, and the applause of peers. Within folders photographs are sorted by those with a negative number or date/time stamp and those without. Those with additional identification, especially amateur photographs, with a specific event and/or a year date, are in separate folders. Some people, dates, and events are identified in photographs by labels or writing on the back of photographs. If the labels were loose or detached, the Archivist wrote the information in pencil on a piece of acid-free paper and included that in the photograph sleeve, and withdrew the original label or note.

Programs:

CMU Orchesis programs, 1969-2010, are nearly a complete and include mostly Orchesis events: Choreographers Workshop Performance, all concerts, “Puttin’ on the Ritz” events, CMU Madrigal dinners, and Choreographers Workshop Performances, dance competitions, events outside of CMU that she choreographed or advised, and a Church program, featuring CMU liturgical dancers, December 3, 1978. The programs vary in size, format, and materials, and some were photocopies when donated. Those listed as ‘Program’ are only the list of dances and performers. During the 1970s many of the early programs and posters were hand drawn or written in penmanship. Both programs and posters featured photographs from the past. Sometimes there are matching illustrations for programs and posters.

Most of the programs were dated, some with dates written on them by Crandall, when donated. Depending on the information in the program, Archivist Marian Matyn looked up names and information online in digitized CMLife, and reviewed perpetual calendars to try to determine the year for undated programs, and matched materials to posters or other information in the collection. To assist with the process the Archivist generated a list of performance dates from the programs which she added to the collection. Many Orchesis performances were not listed in CMLife. Overall the programs are in excellent to very good condition.

Posters:

Posters, 1970-2010 in the collection are mainly Orchesis posters for Auditions, Choreographer’s Workshop, Dance Concerts, and “Puttin on the Ritz” events and are almost a complete run. There is also one Orchesis Fall 2008, Dancers Photographic collage poster, 2008, which Yvette crafted. The posters vary widely in size from 8.5x11 inches to 30x20 inches, in shape, colors, and format including paper, cardboard, and plastic. During the 1970s many of the early programs and posters were hand drawn or written in penmanship. Some posters listed are actually the original drawings and composite information with parts taped and glued to paper or cardboard from which posters or printed copies were made. Crandall appears to have created many of these posters by hand. Both programs and posters featured photographs from the past. Sometimes there are matching illustrations for programs and posters. Posters are housed in two Oversized folders. Oversized Folder 1 contains all concert performance posters in chronological order and the collage photographs poster. Oversized Folder 2 includes Oversized art, and all remaining poster series grouped alphabetically by series, then chronologically within each series.

Many posters lacked a year date as published. Depending on the information on the poster, Archivist Marian Matyn compared the information to the programs, and then followed the process she used to determine program year dates. (See that process above.) She wrote years on the posters in pencil. If there is more than one year during Yvette’s CMU career that the poster could date from, the year is in square brackets with a question mark.

A few posters have tape attached, while others have tape or hole damage from being pinned, and one, CMU Faculty Dance Recital, (taped, tape stains and term schedule in pen and marker on revere), September 21-22, 1972, has the term schedule written in pen and marker on the back. Overall the posters are in excellent condition. Most of the photographs donated were originals with some being photocopies.

Also included are posters of events in which CMU dancers participated. These posters include dance festivals, for the now American College Dance Association, 1979-1980, and the Great Lakes Regional Dance Festival, 1991 and 1999, and CMU Madrigal Dinner Concert posters, 1986, 1988-1994. The Madrigals occurred annually at CMU, 1977-1992.

Included with the posters is one oversized original art piece. There is also a folder in Box 2 of a few original hand drawn Orchesis art. The oversized image does not appear in posters nor programs. It is similar to a hand drawn image on the front page of the 1968-1971 scrapbook.

Researchers Note:

Researchers may also be interested in other collections documenting Grace Ryan and Rev. John Goodrow in the Clarke. The CMU Posters collection contains one early Orchesis poster and some Madrigal posters found in Crandall’s Orchesis collection.

Processing Notes:

Approximately 5 cubic feet of paper and audio-visual materials were withdrawn during processing. This includes duplicates, undated and/or unidentified, or very dark or damaged photographs, acidic materials, empty envelopes. If there were larger and smaller versions of the same poster, the smaller version was retained in the collection and the larger version was withdrawn. Acidic materials, except for the pages and contents of the scrapbooks, were photocopied, and the copies were added to the collection while the originals were withdrawn. .75 cubic feet of nationally recorded and distributed LP dance records were withdrawn. Family photographs were returned to the donor. Three cubic feet of recordings were withdrawn during processing, including duplicates, rehearsals, personal recordings of television dance programs and music CDs, non-CMU produced dance instructor videotapes, and unidentifiable, inaccessible, and very dark recordings.

Biographical / Historical:

Biography:

Yvette Gabrielle Birs Crandall was born in the airport at Key West, Florida, on May 20, 1939, the daughter of Louis Benjamin and Rosalina (Sawyer) Birs. As a young girl she developed a love of horses and rode horses. Later in her married family her family boarded and rode horses. After spending the early part of her life in Key West, the family moved to Miami where she participated in theatre and graduated from Miami Senior High in 1958. Yvette was stunningly beautiful by her mid-teens, resembling a movie starlet. She received initial training at the Miami Art Institute in Miami, Florida.

Yvette earned her B.S. ((1962) and M.S. degrees in Dance from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. While in Wisconsin she participated in junior Orchesis workshops and senior Orchesis performances, 1959-1960. In Greek theatre Orchesis referred to the place on stage where dancers performed (Yvette Crandall cited in CMLife April 23, 1982, p. 6.). In 1960 she was featured on the Pan American Orange Bowl parade float. Her father worked for Pan Am. In December 1960 she participated in a Madison beauty contest. In 1961 she was nominated by the Madison Theatre Guild for one of six acting awards.

From 1962 to 1964 she was the Movement and Dance Specialist for the University of Wisconsin Extension Division. She taught dance at Central Michigan University (CMU) and choreographed for the Theatre Department from 1964 to 1965. She then returned to Wisconsin to continue her performance and choreographic career, and to teach Elementary Physical Education for the Madison Public Schools. Yvette met her future husband, Warren l. Crandall (1926-2006) , at the Madison Theatre Guild production of Carousel where she played Louise and he played Billy Bigelow. They married on November 4, 1966. She opened her arms to his six children who became her own, filling their lives with joy of the arts, farm life, and unconditional love.

In 1967 Yvette was hired by CMU to teach dance and movement. During her tenure, Yvette founded the first dance company, Orchesis Dance Theatre, and designed the first dance minor curriculum. When Yvette was in Orchesis celebrated its 25th anniversary in 1993, its 30th in 1998, its 35th in 2003, and its 40th in 2009 with special performances. Her dancers, who referred to her as “Mrs. C.” became her extended family.

Besides Orchesis, she organized, directed, and choreograph liturgical dances, the Yvette Birs Crandall Dancer who performed at the “Puttin’ on the Ritz” events, the Renaissance Dancers who performed at the CMU Madrigal Dinner events, and the Country (Ethnic) Dancers or performed at various events, including in at least one CMU Homecoming parade.

The collection documents that not only was she teaching dance, choreographing almost every dance, but she also designed costumes and character stage makeup, wrote and drew illustrations, while collecting the history of Orchesis and dance at CMU. On the back of one poster, CMU Faculty Dance Recital, (taped, tape stains and term schedule in pen and marker on revere), September 21-22, 1972, there is the matching term schedule written in pen and marker on the back. She worked 8-5 Monday through Friday without a lunch break. She had three morning office hours. All the rest was spent teaching five classes (23 hours), 10 hours of student practice, and 15 hours of Orchesis.

Yvette’s family helped her with Orchesis. Her daughter, Julia Crandall, and son, Lucas Crandall, both danced with Orchesis. Lucas, who became a professional dancer and choreographer, choreographed for Orchesis. Yvette’s husband, Warren, brought his vast experience in musical theatre, both performing and behind the scenes production aspects of stage design, prop work, lighting, audio tuning, and cues, to Orchesis. He also recorded, labeled, and preserved all the Orchesis productions as well as some workshops, classes, and training for Yvette. Daughter Rebecca Crandall Foltz, who graduated from CMU with an Art degree, became a graphic designer. She helped design and create Orchesis logos, posters, and program artwork and placement, helping Yvette in many dance design aspects. Photographs of Yvette are on the following Orchesis Concert Posters: September 21-22, 1972 (she is on the left); November 15-16, 1973; December 10-11/1976 (she is fourth from the right); and the CMU Program of Events poster, November 1988.

Yvette also took higher level CMU Physical Education courses while teaching at CMU.

From 1991 through 1992 she published reviews on music, dance, and theatre in the Midland Daily News.

In her 42 years of dedicated service, she received twelve Regional and a National recognition award from the American College of Dance Association for choreography. She received at least two certificates of merit for outstanding artistic achievement for “Graphics” and “Voices” from the Great Lakes Regional Dance Festival. Her professional career included work as a professional actor, dancer and choreographer in concert and musical theater, including travel to stages in New York, London, Paris, Cuba, and the West Coast. She served on the Board of Directors for Transformations in 1978.

Yvette retired on August 15, 2010 and was granted emerita rank by the CMU Board of Trustees and a framed resolution (CMU Board of Trustee Minutes, April 15, 2010). From the CMU Orchesis Dance Theatre she received a plaque of appreciation which reads, “We dedicate this plaque to Yvette Crandall to recognize her love and dedication to the art of dance. Her talents have shaped many young dancers into beautiful performers. The entire Orchesis Dance Theare would like to thank and congratulate “Mrs. C” for all of her achievements over the past 40 years.

Since 2012 the dance company, which is still housed in the Department of Theatre and Dance, has been called the University Theatre Dance Company. So, the dance company still exists, but with a different title to more closely align with the department in which it is housed.

After she retired Yvette continued her art studies within the Mount Pleasant art community and exhibited her unique visualizations.

A genuinely kind and wonderful person, Yvette was a loved and respected member of St. John’s Episcopal Church, Mount Pleasant, and in 2015 was received into “The Order of the Daughters of the King.” She performed a liturgical dance there.

Yvette died on March 3, 2023 at the University of Michigan Hospital with her family by her side. She was survived by six children: Debbie Andres, Rebecca (Joe) Foltz, Warren Crandall, Julia Crandall (Jeff Graft), Andrea (Mark) Daisy, and Lucas Crandall, grandchildren, and great grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her husband, Warren L. Crandall, parents, and her Uncle Alfred. (This biographical information is from her obituary, a copy of which is in her Biographical Materials folder, the collection, and personal memories of Archivist Marian Matyn who was a friend of Yvette’s and conversations with her daughter, Julia. The change of Orchesis’ name in 2012 was confirmed in a January 4, 2024 email with Heather Trommer-Beardslee, Dance Program Coordinator, Depart. Of Theatre and Dance at CMU.)

Acquisition Information:

77754

Arrangement:

Arrangement is by size, format, and then alphabetically and chronologically within each series. Photographs are further organized by those with and without negative numbers.

Subjects

Click on terms below to find any related finding aids on this site.

Subjects:

Ballroom dancing.
Choreography.
Choreographers--Biography.
Clog dancing.
Dance for children.
Dance--Social aspects--Untied States--History--20th century.
Dance--Study and teaching.
Dance critics.
Dance festivals.
Dance posters.
Dance--Religious aspects.
Dance teachers--Biography.
Dance--United States.
Dancers.
Folk dancing.
Modern dance--United States--History.
Religious dance.
Scrapbooks.
Video recordings.
Square dancing.
Tap dancing.

Names:

American College Dance Association.
Central Michigan University. Orchesis Dance Theatre.
Central Michigan University--Faculty.
Central Michigan University--History.
Central Michigan University--Students.
Central Michigan University--Students--Social life and customs--20th century.
Dance Umbrella Contemporary Dance Festival.
Great Lakes Regional Dance Festival.
Lakeview Elementary School (Midland, Mich.).
University of Wisconsin--Madison--Alumni and alumnae.
Channel 9 and 10 News (Television station : Cadillac, Mich.)
Kabobel’s Kamera.
Heitman Video Services.
Crandall, Yvette Gabrielle Birs, 1939-2023.
Barclay, Robert.
Goodrow, John H., Rev, d. 1985.
Ryan, Grace Laura
Wallace, Bryan P., Photographers.

Places:

Mount Pleasant (Mich)--History.
Mount Pleasant (Mich)--Social life and customs.