When Grace Weirich choreographs a dance, the movements tell a story that words can’t. They reflect years of persistence, injury, and a renewed love for dance.  

Celebrating its 90th year, Penn State’s longest-running dance company, Orchesis, continues to thrive under the leadership of Weirich, its current president. Now in her fourth year dancing for Orchesis, Weirich has found that dancing for the team reminds her that growth often happens through vulnerability.

“Orchesis has allowed me to grow so much as a person. This team has seen me in my highs and lows, and they have held me together,” Weirich said. “I would not be the person I am today without this group.”

Orchesis is a student-run dance company founded in 1935 that showcases various styles of dance. The team is made up of 30 girls, and they compete in showcases put on by Penn State, including the Homecoming Talent Show and THON Showcase.  

The team holds annual tryouts in September and aims to bring together a group of girls who each bring their own dance style.  

“Being able to come together and all express different emotions in a unique way through dance is just so beautiful to watch,” Weirich said.  

Weirich began dancing at the age of five, and what started as a childhood activity soon became her entire world. By middle school, she was dancing nearly 30 hours a week, balancing schoolwork with nightly practices. However, Weirich never saw dance as work. For her, it was where she found clarity when everything else felt loud.  

“Sometimes emotions just can’t be explained, and dance allows my body to explain those emotions,” Weirich said. “Being able to dance freely is like having a weight lifted off your shoulders.”  

In high school, her commitment to dance intensified after she joined the high school dance team. As Weirich began her first season with the team, she started struggling with foot pain. She competed the whole season, eventually getting surgery at the end of her freshman year and taking the summer to recover.  

However, once she returned, Weirich immediately realized something wasn’t right. After going to the doctor, she learned she was facing complications from her surgery, which caused more pain throughout her foot and leg. She chose to dance through it, but ended up needing a second surgery.  

“Emotionally, I was so drained because I wanted to do something that I loved, but I was always in pain,” Weirich said. “It was exhausting and heartbreaking in a sense because I lost a lot of love for dance in those few years.”  

By her senior year, Weirich was burnt out and decided to step back from her studio and focus on high school dance. It wasn’t until she joined Orchesis that she regained her love for the sport.  

“Joining Orchesis made me fall back in love with dance. Orchesis gave me a way to express my emotions freely. At studios, you are always doing rehearsals, and it is the same thing over and over again, which can be really tiring,” Weirich said. “I think having the freedom and being around such an amazing group of girls really allowed me to get my spark back.”  

After reconnecting with dance, Weirich began to see how movement and emotion intertwine. That realization ultimately pushed her to change her academic path.  

“I think dance has made me look deeper into emotions and why we feel the things we do. I really wanted to study the deeper root of emotions, situations, and experiences and how they shape a person,” Weirich said. “I went into kinesiology because I wanted to be in a helping field. So, I followed what society said was a helping field, which was being some type of doctor. It wasn’t until later that I realized therapists are really the doctors of your mind. Once I put all of that together, I knew I wanted to become a therapist.”   

As the president of Orchesis, Weirich has learned to redefine what dance and success mean. She has found it important as a leader to teach the younger girls that you become a successful dancer when you release the need to compare.  

“Every person dances so differently, and that is what makes the sport so great. You need to remove yourself from comparison because it will ruin how you view dance and how you dance as a person,” Weirich said. “Once you let go of trying to be that cookie-cutter dancer, it really opens up a whole new way of dancing.”   

Now in her senior year at Penn State and final year with Orchesis, Weirich finds herself cherishing every moment she gets to be in the studio and on stage. Though this chapter may be closing, she knows dance will always be what she turns to when words fall short.  

“I don’t want to give up dance after graduating. That is a hard reality for me. I think I speak for a lot of dancers when I say we need to dance to express emotions without words,” Weirich said. “I will always continue to dance because I just don’t think I can give it up.”