Faculty

Valley Dance Theatre Faculty

Betsy Hausburg - Artistic Director and Instructor

Betsy co-founded the Valley Dance Theatre in 1980 and continues to serve as Artistic Director and Choreographer. She received her BA cum laude in Dance from Butler University where she was Dean of Students for a two year teacher training program. She performed professionally with Syracuse Ballet Theatre and the Hartford Ballet. Betsy has been teaching throughout the East Bay for many years, and has lent her choreography skills to many school musicals and opera companies. Betsy also is a gifted professional costumer and seamstress, and has designed and/or built most of the wonderful costumes seen in VDT performances.

Join the School of the Valley Dance Theatre!

The School of the Valley Dance Theatre supports dance in the Tri-Valley with studio classes for ages 2.5 to adult, taught by experienced instructors.

The students at the School are invited to to audition for the Company's mainstage productions. Our students also perform in an annual Showcase for families and friends rather than recitals or competitions.

Check out our schedule below and register by calling 925.243.0925, emailing office@valleydancetheatre.com, or register online.

Madison Burgess Adkins - Assistant Director and Instructor

Madison began her career with the Valley Dance Theatre as a student. Her first roles were as a mouse and a rosebud. Through the years she progressed up the ranks of the company to perform soloist works such as Snow Queen, Sugar Plum Fairy, and Black Swan. Madison holds a degree in history from San Diego State University. On breaks from school, Madison would come back and reprise some of her roles in Nutcracker and teach at the studio. While in college, she took classes with the San Diego Ballet and Malashock Dance. Madison then went on to earn a Masters degree in Modern European History at San Jose State University all the while teaching for the Valley Dance Theatre's Children Division. In the summer of 2013, Madison was accepted to partake is a summer intensive program with Joffery in San Francisco. Madison is currently the Assistant Director.

Virgil Angulo - Instructor

Virgil began his dance career in high school performing in many concerts with small ballet companies and Modesto Civic Ballet and Dorothy Percival’s San Joaquin Ballet. He was an original member of Bravo Dance Company in Modesto. During his years as a professional dancer he worked with many modern dance and ballet companies and performed in cabaret and musicals productions. His first professional job was with Oakland Ballet at age 19. He later moved to New York City and worked with Eglevsky Ballet and Ballet Trockadero de Monte Carlo. While living in New York, he continued to study many forms of dance including tap, jazz, modern and ballet with many of the accomplished teachers at Steps on Broadway. Virgil began teaching dance classes when he was 16 for the Tracy Parks and Recreation Center when there were no other dance classes in town. Years later, after concluding his professional dance career in New York, Virgil returned to northern California and has been teaching children and adults, beginners through professional levels for the past 16 years.

Kristin Ellis - Instructor

Kristin has been teaching dance for over 30 years. She studied dance at Ballet West and the Boston School of Ballet. She began her career in Los Gatos, California where she trained with Paul E. Curtis, Jr. and Shawn Stuart at the San Jose Dance Theater. She was soon promoted to Paul's assistant. Kristin has taken classes in early childhood education and child development and has worked in preschools throughout the Bay Area. She loves teaching children of all ages, however, preschoolers hold a special place in her heart. Kristen and her husband have two grown children and when she is not teaching, you can find her camping and travelling with her husband and 2 dogs.

Genoa Sperske - Instructor

Genoa earned BA degrees in Dance and Drama from University of California, Irvine in 2003 where she performed in undergraduate, graduate and faculty choreographed dance shows and was involved in the musical theatre department. She choreographed for Bare Bones Dance Theatre, a student-produced dance show. Genoa received UCI honors and scholarships for her work teaching dance and music in Orange County elementary schools and hospitals through the ArtsBridge America program. She received a grant to conduct research on dance instructors in New York City, and used the opportunity to study with some of the best teachers in dance. Genoa believes in the nurturing power of movement and loves to discover and explore dance along with her students.