[1] On the Boards began its existence renting the upstairs theater space at Washington Hall from the Sons of Haiti.
Du Bois and Martin Luther King Jr. and performances by the likes of Count Basie and Mahalia Jackson.
In this space, OtB presented such visiting performers as Eiko and Koma, Ping Chong, Meredith Monk, and Spaulding Gray, as well as early work by local choreographers including Mark Morris and Pat Graney, both of whom went on to gain national and international acclaim.
[5] Besides the artists mentioned above, other national and international performers and acts who have appeared at OtB include Bill T. Jones, The Wooster Group, dumb type, Needcompany, Sankai Juku, and Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker, as well as such Seattle-area performers and acts as 33 Fainting Spells, Sarah Rudinoff, Maureen Whiting Company, Seattle Chamber Players, Allen Johnson, locust, "Awesome",[1] and Washington Ensemble Theater.
[6] In 2010, On the Boards launched a video streaming service, OntheBoards.tv for high-quality recordings of contemporary performance works.