Betty Allen

Biography

Betty Allen is a dedicated dance educator who serves as a lecturer in the Department of Dance and as a clinical instructor for the Early Childhood Education program within the College of Education. She currently teaches Introduction to Contemporary Dance (DANC 100), co-teaches Teaching Dance (DANC 350), and assists with the Repertory Company (DANC 232). Additionally, Betty directs the Creative Dance for Children (CDFC) program, which offers dance classes to children in the community aged 4-10. The CDFC program also functions as a laboratory for the Teaching Dance course, providing valuable practical teaching experience for dance majors at the University of Illinois.

Betty has led workshop sessions for the Illinois Dance Education Organization (ILDEO) conference at Elmhurst University in Illinois and the Children, Youth, and Performance conference in Toronto, Canada. She has participated in the Summer Dance Institute for Teachers (SDIT) at the Creative Dance Center in Seattle, Washington, under the guidance of Anne Green Gilbert, and is a passionate advocate for Gilbert’s work in Brain-Compatible Dance Education. In 2024, Betty hosted the Illinois Dance Education Organization Conference at the University of Illinois Department of Dance. Most recently, she attended the International Association of Creative Dance – Dance Congress at Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts.

Prior to her appointment at the University of Illinois, Betty spent over two decades as an elementary school dance and drama instructor and served as the elementary fine arts coordinator for Urbana School District #116. She has recently developed a new pathway for College of Education students to obtain a dance endorsement that can be added to their Illinois teaching certificate.