At Washington University in 1957, she began to build a dance program within the physical education department. By 1967, through her determination and efforts to educate the Washington University community, dance was incorporated into the Performing Arts Area, later to become the Performing Arts Department. Professor Mertz initiated a creative dance program for children, and developed the Washington University Dance Theatre, which performed on campus as well as at area high schools and colleges. This company is still active and enjoys tremendous popularity today.

Professor Mertz founded and was artistic director of St. Louis Dancers, a professional company comprised mainly of Washington University faculty and graduates. Annelise continued to perform during her years at the University and has choreographed more than 40 works. A leading luminary in the crusade to establish modern dance as an art form in St. Louis, she founded and became first president of Dance St. Louis. In 1983 she received the YWCA Leadership Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Arts for the City of St. Louis, and in 1998 received the Arts and Education Council Award for Excellence in the Arts.

Ms. Mertz, who became Professor Emerita in 1988, is still teaching at Washington University part-time, working on a book, The Body Can Speak, which is soon to be published by the University of Missouri Press, and serves on the St. Louis 2004 Cultural Committee. Annelise Mertz continues to be a fervent proponent of modern dance. She has educated legions of students who to this day attribute their successes, whether in the performing arts or in other areas, to her passionate and uncompromising approach to the arts.