Antoine is the Director of the DanceLife Center. Growing up in New York City, Antoine has had a love of dance and performance since before he can remember. Learning hip-hop as a child, Antoine continued his passion for dance into his adulthood, first as a cheerleader for EIU and then as a dance competitor. He started training with the Jacqueline Bennett Dance Center in 2001, and has expanded to more challenging and rewarding forms of dance, always craving to learn more, now including modern, ballroom, Latin and tap. He received a B.S. degree in Zoology, minoring in Chemistry, and a M.S. in Technology, with an emphasis on training and development and work performance improvement, both from Eastern Illinois University.

Antoine’s largest influences by far have come from ballet and hip-hop. For him, dancing is a way of life, a medium for expression and passion. Antoine has performed the character roles of the Eric in The Little Mermaid, Easter Bunny in The Easter Bunny That Overslept, Mufasa and the adult Simba in The Lion King. A Training & Development Specialist by day, Antoine served as the Cheer Coach for EIU, and the Performing Arts Director of Faithbuilders Ministries, Inc.

Allison began dancing at the age of 4 with the Jacqueline Bennett Dance Center, taking pre-ballet for 2 years, then continuing in ballet, tap and jazz. During high school, Allison lived at the dance center with tap, jazz, ballet and pointe work. She became a classroom helper at age 10 and then a teacher of tap and jazz at age 16. After high school graduation, Allison auditioned for a part in The Nutcracker with the Mid-Illinois Ballet Company (now known as the USA Ballet Company) and was asked to join the company in the winter of 2000. Allison toured, performed, and taught throughout the United States with ballet dancers from all over the world for 4½ years, performing ballets such as The Nutcracker and Giselle.

During Fall 2006, Allison declined another contract with the ballet company and completed an Associate of Arts degree at Lake Land Community College in 2007. While in school, she not only taught for the Jacqueline Bennett Dance Center but also choreographed for Charleston High School and Eastern Illinois University’s musical productions.

In Fall 2007, Allison moved to Bloomington/Normal to study dance at Illinois State University. She pursued many forms of dance, but became interested in Modern Dance due to the influence of her Professors. Allison graduated with a Dance Performance Degree in Spring 2010. After the last two successful summers of teaching Ballet for the Jacqueline Bennett Dance Center, she's back for the coming year with the new DanceLife Center. This year, Allison will be investigating various programs in pursuit of a Master's Degree in Dance Kinesiology.

Jan began dancing at the age of eight and has been dancing ever since! She danced with the Donnie Danielson dance company in Omaha for sixteen years – tap, jazz and ballet. At the University of Nebraska at Omaha, she majored in Elementary Education with a divisional in speech and theatre, but found time to take modern, ballroom, square, round and folk dance. She was president of the Moving Company, a college modern dance group and was chosen dancer of the year in 1970.

Through the years, Jan has taken workshops from Gus Giordano, Alvin Ailey, the University of Montana modern dance group and others. She, along with her husband, Russ, have studied ballroom dance extensively. In addition to her teaching and choreographing at the Dance Center, Jan continues to perform in ballet and tap, and most recently performed the character role of Shenzi in The Lion King. Jan studied under the originator of Aerobic Dancing, Jackie Sorenson, and became a Certified Aerobic Dance Instructor, teaching aerobic classes in both Texas and Illinois. Jan received her MS at Eastern Illinois University in 1986 and taught first and second grade in the Charleston School District until her retirement in 2005. She and her husband Russ reside in Charleston and are the parents of Allison, DanceLife faculty member, and Kyle, an employee at Disney World.

Maria graduated in 1985 with a BFA in Dance Performance for the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana.While in college, she performed in the Illinois Dance Theatre Company for four years and during the summer of 1984, she performed with the Sonny Cigarroa Dance Troupe for a benefit concert in Lafayette, Louisiana. While in college, she studied modern dance under various Resident Artists such as Douglas Nielson, Steve Koester, Beverly Blossom and Patricia Knowles. She performed and served as the choreographer in the April 2005 production of “Tales of Morpheus” at the Tarble Arts Center on the campus of Eastern Illinois University. This was a collaborative work of music composed and directed by EIU Music Professor Keith Wright, combined with video and dance. Maria and her husband, Tim, are the Dance Center’s invaluable assistants in our backstage area during rehearsals and concerts.

With thirteen years of teaching dance, Maria often performs character roles such as Drosselmeyer in The Nutcracker Ballet, Dr. Coppelius in the Ballet Coppelia and in the Spring of 2009, the role of Rafiki in The Lion King. Maria and her husband Tim reside in Charleston. Tim is self-employed as a licensed electrician and Maria is a full-time, thirteen year employee for Sarah Bush Lincoln Health Center. Maria also has her own business, creating custom pencil and pen and ink drawings – several of her works have been donated to charitable organizations, including our Dance Center Scholarship fundraisers.

Geri is the newest addition to the faculty. Thirteen years ago, Geri made her first climb up the Dance Center steps and entered the world of dance. Her passion for dance was fueled by the encouragement of Mrs. Jackie and Allison in ballet, and enhanced by some fun jazz and modern classes with Mrs. Natalie and Mrs. Maria, respectively. The Dance Center’s spring concert has always been the highlight of the year for Geri, who played the character role of Sarafina in The Lion King. She has also performed in the Nutcracker Ballet many times. Last spring, she had the opportunity to take part in an amazing master class given by the Koresh Dance Company of Philadelphia. In sixth grade, Geri began helping with pre-ballet program, and later became a teacher’s assistant. Geri was given the opportunity to step in and teach the pre-ballet classes when Mrs. Natalie went on maternity leave last year, and thoroughly enjoyed teaching the littlest dancers. She is excited to be able to continue to give to pre-ballet students a strong foundation for whatever they may do in life, and hopes for a very rewarding senior year. Geri lives in Charleston with her parents and younger brother, Frank. Besides dancing, she also loves to travel and spend time with friends.

With 14 years of teaching dance and yoga, Becky has an A.S.Degree from Lincoln Trail College in Robinson, Illinois, a B.A and a M.S Degree in Education from Eastern Illinois University. She studied Yoga for three years under former Dance Center faculty member, Pat Riker and five years under Dr. Suhrit Dey, Institute of Applied Science and Consciousness in Charleston. Her current Yoga training is under the direction of Jewel McDonald, who is a certified teacher of Integrated Yoga Therapy and the Kripalu Institute, and has also trained in Reconnection Therapy with Dr. Eric Pearl. She is an accomplished dancer, having studied modern, ballet and tap for nine years at the Jacqueline Bennett Dance Center, and for ten semester hours at Eastern Illinois University. Her additional teaching experience includes English at Westfield High School, substitute teaching in Charleston. She is currently the Librarian and Broadcasting instructor at Shelbyville High School. Becky has a Certification in Guidance Counseling through Eastern Illinois University and she is certified to teach K-12 in Language Arts, Counseling & Library. Her summer activities included gardening, traveling, exploring the outdoors and reading.