Founder and Artistic Director, Berkshire Pulse

Bettina holds a BFA in Dance, Cum Laude, from Temple University.

In Philadelphia, she performed professionally with Philadelphia’s Sybil Dance Company, Artistic Director Eva Gholson, and Dance Conduit, Artistic Director Ann Vachon, for the reconstruction of Doris Humphrey’s “Dawn in New York.”

In the Berkshires, Bettina performed with choreographer Dawn Lane, Artistic Director Community Access to the Arts, as an independent choreographer and as a member of choreographer/film maker Laurie McLeod’s Victory Girl Productions with whom she performed extensively throughout the Berkshires, New York, and abroad.

Bettina’s dance training began with her mother Christa Montano, a student of renowned dancers Mary Wigman, Herald Kreuzberg, Martha Graham, José Limón and Louis Horst. Her early training continued under the direction of Truda Kashman, Martha Graham technique with Debra Zall, with various teaching artists at the Murray Louis and Alwin Nicolais Dance Lab and later with Educators/Choreographers Eva Gholson, Ann Vachon, Hellmut Gottschild and Marilyn Middleton Sylla. Bettina’s passionate belief in accessible dance education led her to teaching and inspired the creation of The Flowering Child Performing Arts Program in 1995 — which ultimately evolved into Berkshire Pulse in 2005. Bettina has been teaching classes in modern dance for students of all ages and levels throughout her 30-year directorship of the organization.

Artistic Director Berkeley Ballet (present), Founding Artistic Director Post:ballet (2010-2025)

Robin Dekkers (they/them) is the Artistic Director of Berkeley Ballet, where they infuse their passion for collaboration into training and performance opportunities for dancers of all ages and levels of experience. Robin was also the founding Artistic Director of Post:ballet, a professional contemporary dance company based in the Bay Area from 2010-2025. With Berkeley Ballet and Post:ballet, Robin facilitated co-productions with organizations including Kronos Quartet, San Francisco Girls Chorus, Berkeley Symphony,  Berkeley Art Museum (BAMPFA), and Berkeley Public Library. Robin has also created original works for Atlanta Ballet, Grand Rapids Ballet, Kansas City Ballet, Smuin Ballet, and Diablo Ballet, as well as the dance departments at Stanford University, Southern Methodist University, University of Richmond, and San Jose State University. Named “25 To Watch” by DANCE Magazine, Robin has created dozens of works for the stage and screen, and their choreography has been featured at venues including Jacob’s Pillow, SF International Arts Festival, SF Dance Film Festival, 92nd Street Y (NYC), Stanford Live, Dance on Camera (NYC), Yale Schwarzman Center, Film at Lincoln Center, and SF Frameline Film Festival. Robin danced professionally with Ballet Arizona, ODC/Dance, Company C Contemporary Ballet, and Diablo Ballet, where they were nominated for an Isadora Duncan Award for “Outstanding Performance- Individual.” In 2021, Robin choreographed the season finale dance sequence for Starz Network's Blindspotting series in collaboration with Lil Buck, Jon Boogz, and the Post:ballet dancers. Robin is also Director of Choreography for Art Haus, a Playa performance group whose past productions include a reimagined Rite of Spring and Firebird as well as original works including Noble Beast, In C, and We, Human.

Freelance Dancer, Director

Evelyn Chen (she/her) is a freelance performer and director based in NYC. She graduated cum laude with a BFA from the SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Dance and minor in Arts Management and has been a practitioner of the Ilan Lev method since 2022. 

In 2015 she joined the cast of PunchDrunk’s critically acclaimed Off-Broadway immersive show, Sleep No More, performing through 2024. She has performed works by H.T. Chen & Dancers, Cardinal Movement Company, Bill T Jones, Lar Lubovitch, Doug Varone, RubberbandDanse, Kevin Wynn and more. She has been a collaborator on the Opera Cowgirls’ Carmen (Opera Cowgirls), Pig Iron Theater Company’s SUPERTERRANEAN, Psittacus Productions' Romeo and Juliet, LeeSaar’s Close Up and more. In 2021 she originated the role of Silas, in Hotel Wonderland, an immersive show in Amsterdam, NL. In 2025, she was a performer and Movement Captain for Metamorphoses, by Mary Zimmerman, directed by Isadora Wolfe-Poulson (Berkshire Theatre Group).

In 2018, she became a Rehearsal Director at Sleep No More, and in 2023, Resident Director. She has directed The Lost Garden, a McKittrick Hotel Halloween Ball, and produced Father Derek’s Decent Into Hell, directed by Sean Wiberg. From 2024-2025 she joined Emursive’s large scale immersive show, Life and Trust, as Resident Director.

Additional training includes Springboard Danse Montreal, Dance Education Lab Essentials with Ann Biddle and Jody Arnhold, Western Australian Academy of the Arts, Taipei National University of the Arts, Fiorello H. Laguardia High School, Center for Modern Dance Education and Arts Gate Center.