the allegro team

You’re crazy about dance; we’re crazy about dance. And we’re here to help.

We’re more than a dancewear retailer; we are a “by dancers, for dancers” company that finds significance in dance community involvement. We build relationships with teachers, studio owners, students, parents and professional dance companies to support all aspects of Chicagoland’s culture and arts community.

Allegro employees attend area performances, promote local arts events and serve as resources for customers with dance-related inquiries. We are professional dancers, teachers, directors, and choreographers. We currently take class, attend auditions and wear the apparel that hangs in our shop. Collectively we have backgrounds in ballet, pointe, modern, jazz, tap, gymnastics, theater, yoga, Pilates and more.

Read about Victoria, Melanie, Gelyn, Megan, Lyz, Rhyme, Rachel, Olivia, Emma, Claire, Keerati

Victoria Lyman◊

Owner

Victoria Lyman grew up studying ballet right down the street from the boutique at the Evanston School of Ballet with Miss Kerry, Laura Wade, and Debbie Kristofek. She attended The Joffrey Ballet summer intensives while in high school, spent two summers at the American Dance Festival in college, and also attended the Laban Center in London and the Vienna International Dance Festival in Austria. Victoria spent 3 years as a dance major at the University of Iowa, performing in works by Alan Sener, Lar Lubovitch, and Nicholas Leichter, among others. Victoria finished up her undergraduate career at DePaul University, graduating with highest honor with a B.A. in Psychology. While continuing to dance in Chicago, she began working at “Before the Ballet” in Evanston in 2003, and acquired the business from the previous owner in 2007, changing it to Allegro soon after. She is thrilled to share her passion for dance at Allegro and is grateful for her talented team, loyal customers, loving family, and supportive boyfriend. Victoria is on the alumni board of the Coleman Entrepreneurship Center, is a board member of the Evanston Dance Ensemble and has been a featured speaker at several Entrepreneurial events, such as the Self-Employment in the Arts Conference, the Extreme Entrepreneurship Tour, and the the Collegiate Entrepreneurs Organization Conference.

Melanie Palmer Berg◊

Director of Sales and Marketing

Melanie Palmer Berg began her dance career at age 3, receiving her training from schools near Mobile, AL and Dayton, OH. She studied everything from ballet and pointe to jazz, tap and lyrical (in those early years, even tumbling and baton!), and experienced both the competition dance circuit as well as pre-professional concert dance curriculum. In 2002 she graduated with honors from Ohio University with a B.F.A. in Modern Dance Performance & Choreography and a Minor in Psychology. After a summer’s worth of saving her pennies she made the big move to Chicago, taking the leap with not much more than a venturesome spirit and her devotion to dance! For 9 years she has worked in Chicago as a performer, choreographer, director and teacher, most recently serving as Associate Artistic Director for Nicole Gifford Dance and working as a Principal Artist for Core Project Chicago. Her latest choreographic work was selected to perform in the Harvest Chicago Contemporary Dance Festival. Beyond the Chicago dance scene, she’s had the honor of teaching and performing at the Southeast Conference of the American College Dance Festival at Middle Tennessee State University, as well as performing at the Tempe Center for the Arts in Tempe, AZ and at Western Illinois University. She is currently Allegro’s Director of Sales & Marketing, and is absolutely thrilled to be working for a company in which she can further her love & exploration of dance!

Gelyn Watkins◊

Director of Operations

Gelyn Watkins discovered the power of movement at the Joseph Holmes Chicago Dance Theater where she began her professional training at the age of 13. She went on to further her training as a scholarship recipient at  the Chicago Multicultural Dance Center (formerly Bryant Ballet), Joel Hall Dance Center and Deeply Rooted Dance Theater. Gelyn trained in classical ballet, jazz, Graham, Horton, Limon and Dunham techniques. Since then she has gone on to study with some of Chicago’s most prominent teachers/choreographers: Gary Abbot, Kevin Iega Jeff, Elana Anderson, Emily Stein, Homer Bryant, Joel Hall and Zineb Chraibi. Gelyn is a former ensemble member with Deeply Rooted Dance Theater II and is currently  a teaching artist with Luna Negra Dance Theater. She holds a Bachelor’s of Business Administration (and a minor in Anthropology) from Loyola University Chicago and is a huge proponent of Arts-Integrated education. She recently completed an arts-integration contract with ARTS Berwyn, a joint initiative of Chicago Teaching Center, Berywn School District 100 and Harvard’s Project Zero, where she used movement as a teaching tool to help bring the concepts of math, science, and literature to life. Additionally, you can also find Gelyn moonlighting as a modern teacher at the Hyde Park School of Dance where she is a permanent teaching sub. Gelyn’s role at Allegro has been the perfect blend of her artistic, educational and professional background. Before joining the Allegro team in 2008, Gelyn transitioned out of a career in investment management. She would ultimately love to help uncover new funding sources for arts-based organizations, and currently enjoys serving the larger dance community in her role at Allegro. Gelyn is looking forward to expanding Allegro’s reach to a community near you!

Megan Walsh◊

Senior Sales Associate, Inventory Manager

Megan Walsh began working at Allegro Dance Boutique in 2007. Megan, now a professional dancer, started her training when she was 3 years old at Dance Center Evanston (DCE). During her time there, she studied ballet, jazz, modern, Cecchetti, and pointe, and also joined the Evanston Dance Ensemble when she was in 7th grade. Megan attended high school at Loyola Academy and in addition to being a member of the Loyola Dance Company, she began to train with Mike Gosney, the artistic director of Elements Contemporary Ballet, and a teacher at DCE. Under his guidance, she became more serious about her ballet career, and became an apprentice with Elements in her junior year of high school, when she also began working at Allegro Dance Boutique after school. When she graduated from high school in 2009, not only did Megan become a full company member of Elements, but her job at Allegro became much more than an after school job. Now, she is the Senior Sales Associate at the store. Megan loves that she is able to pass her passion and knowledge of dance on to her customers at Allegro. She is excited to be a part of a growing business, while furthering her career as a dancer.

• Favorite dancewear manufacturer?
• Sansha, Bloch/Mirella
• Must have item for dance classes?
• Bloch warm-up bootie
• What’s in your dance bag?
• tennis ball, the stick, leg warmers, pointe shoes (multiple pairs), booties, foot mist, snacks, water bottle
• Favorite style of dance?
• Contemporary ballet, pointe work
• Recommendation for product?
• PrimaSoft extension ribbon
• Do you have any performance/backstage rituals/superstitions?
• Doing the same warm-up/getting ready routine before every performance, giving myself a lot of time on stage to practice right before the show starts
• Favorite Dancer/Choreographer of all time?
• Sylvie Guillem, Alina Cojacaru
• Interest outside of dance?
• Reading, video games, my dog!

Megan Rhyme◊

Sales Associate

Megan Rhyme is a dancer and choreographer based in Chicago, who has worked seasonally at Allegro since August 2009. In 2006 she graduated from Northwestern University with a degree in dance,where she studied with renowned Chicago teachers such as Molly Shanahan, Billy Siegenfeld, and Laura Wade. She has performed with Chicago artists such as Nicole Gifford, Janet Schmid, 3 card molly, Wannapa Pimtong-Eubanks, Jessica Hannah, and Jonathan Meyer, and her choreography has been produced by The Chicago Fringe Festival, The Field Chicago and Links Hall. She is delighted to be working at Allegro!

• Favorite dancewear manufacturer?
• I love Bloch’s Mirella leotards
• Must have item for dance classes?
• Dancewear camisole shirts!
• What’s in your dance bag?
• Camisole shirts, leotards, jazz pants, shorts, knee pads, all sorts of shoes of course (ballet, tap, jazz sneakers, ballroom shoes), thick socks!, journal, water bottle, plenty of snacks
• Favorite style of dance?
• Modern
• Recommendation for product?
• Motionwear’s jazz pants are great for dance class and also for bumming around the house!
• Do you have any performance/backstage rituals/superstitions?
• I often like to do a Butoh exercise that I learned from some of my friends who do Butoh in Chicago. It’s great for warming up and helping me to focus.
• Favorite Dancer/Choreographer of all time?
• One of my favorite local dancer/choreographers is Molly Shanahan/Mad Shak. I also love Alwin Nikolais, Lauri Stallings, and Bill T. Jones!
• Interest outside of dance?
• Reading, cooking, sci-fi shows, hanging out with my family and friends

Lyz Krieger◊

Sales Associate

Lyz started dancing at age 3 and has been dancing ever since. Lyz grew up studying ballet at Chicago Ballet Arts with Patti Eylar, Calvin Kitten, Amy Rose, and Leslie Saunders. She continued her training at the Ruth Page School of Dance where she became a senior member of The Civic Ballet of Chicago, training with Larry Long, Delores Lipinski, Birute Baridicaite, and Greg Begley. Lyz has attended several summer ballet programs, including North Carolina School of the Arts, The School of American Ballet, Ellison Ballet, and The San Francisco Ballet School. Lyz graduated from New Trier High School in three years and spent her fourth year training with The San Francisco Ballet. Lyz has also performed with The Joffrey Ballet as part of their children’s cast of The Nutcracker and in Taming of the Shrew. She was also given the opportunity to dance in the American Ballet Theater’s Le Corsaire, and was asked to dance the role of the Sugar Plum Queen in Port Angeles Ballet Workshop’s The Nutcracker. Lyz currently attends Northeastern Illinois University, majoring in psychology and minoring in dance. She has recently performed at the American College Dance Festival and in the opera “The Secret Garden”. She currently teaches ballet for ice skaters, is a member of Reveries in Motion dance company, and is a company member with Elements Contemporary Ballet. Lyz joined the Allegro team in June 2011 and is thrilled to have found work that leverages her lifelong love of dance.

• Favorite dancewear manufacturer?
• Capezio
• Must have item for dance classes?
• Vitamin Water Zero squeezed flavor
• What’s in your dance bag?
• shoes, towel, hair ties, vitamin water
• Favorite style of dance?
• Contemporary ballet en pointe
• Recommendation for product?
• Capezio Juliet II canvas ballet shoes
• Do you have any performance/backstage rituals/superstitions?
• Quiet alone meditation – to get in the mood
• Favorite Dancer/Choreographer of all time?
• Jiri Kylian
• Interest outside of dance?
• Thrift shopping

Rachel Shelly◊

Sales Associate

Rachel Shelly began dancing at Dance Center Evanston at the age of five, where she studied modern, jazz and pointe, and is proud to have passed her Grade V cecchetti exam. She danced with the Evanston Dance Ensemble for two years and was also involved in the Young Choreographers Project. In the midst of her mid-high-school crisis she started tap and, to the embarrassment of herself, hip hop. She graduated from Evanston Township High School where she played the saxophone in marching band, pep band, jazz band and Symphonic band. She took a gap year between high school and college in order to dance with enidsmithdance, work at Allegro Dance Boutique and annoy her brother for just one more year. In August 2011, she began studying Physical Therapy and Nutrition at Ithaca College in New York, and continues to work at Allegro when she comes back home.

• Favorite dancewear manufacturer?
• Capezio
• Must have item for dance classes?
• A long sleeve shirt for warming up
• What’s in your dance bag?
• Water bottle, 3 pairs of pointe shoes: 1 pancaked, 1 dead pair for barre, 1 pair for center
• Favorite style of dance?
• Modern
• Recommendation for product?
• Fuzi ballet shoes
• Do you have any performance/backstage rituals/superstitions?
• I jump around to get out extra energy
• Favorite Dancer/Choreographer of all time?
• Fred Astaire
• Interest outside of dance?
• Photography, Cooking, Playing Guitar, Piano, or Bari Sax

Olivia Beckman◊

Apprentice

Olivia currently trains at the Dance Center Evanston with Vicki Barlow, Mike Gosney, Enid Smith, and Julie Cartier. Olivia has been a dancer with the Evanston Dance Ensemble for five years performing roles in FAB!, Alice in Wonderland, Cinematic!, and Body of Work. Olivia attends Evanston Township High School, where she participates in YAMO, a comedy sketch show, and Esande, a dance company. She is currently training to take her Grade 6 Cecchetti exam, studying with Bea Rashid. Olivia has been an Apprentice with Elements Contemporary Ballet for two years, and joined Allegro as an apprentice in the summer of 2011.

• Favorite dancewear manufacturer?
• Mirella. They make really nice classic leotards, but they can also mix it up too!
• Must have item for dance classes?
• Water bottle and a good pair of socks
• What’s in your dance bag?
• Ballet shoes, Pointe shoes, Jazz shoes, tennis ball, grade 6 cecchetti book, notebook and pen, chapstick, pair of black tights, random bobby pins, cotton headband, black wrap skirt, and a legwarmer.
• Favorite style of dance?
• Contemporary Ballet
• Recommendation for product?
• Body wrappers knit overall warm-up
• Do you have any performance/backstage rituals/superstitions?
• To breathe, and I always have a box of wheat thins with me backstage
• Favorite Dancer/Choreographer of all time?
• Valerie Robin, from the Joffrey. She’s tall, just like me!
• Interest outside of dance?
• Camping, Snowboarding and singing Christmas carols

Emma Cohen◊

Apprentice

Emma Cohen is a junior at Evanston Township High School. She has been dancing at Dance Center Evanston since she was three, and has been in their youth company, Evanston Dance Ensemble, since 2008. She is also an apprentice with Elements Contemporary Ballet, and has attended programs such as the Boston Ballet Summer Dance Program.

• Favorite dancewear manufacturer?
• Mirella
• Must have item for dance classes?
• I get cold really easily, so I always have to have at least one pair of warm-ups
• What’s in your dance bag?
• Soft slippers, two pairs of pointe shoes, toe pads, emergency pack (granola bar, a quarter, band-aids, nail clippers, scissors, etc.), Icy Hot, thera band, leg-warmers, wrap skirt, water bottle, muscle roller, and homework.
• Favorite style of dance?
• Ballet! (Both classical and contemporary.)
• Recommendation for product?
• I love the Prima Soft tights! I have found that they last longer than most of my other tights, and the feet don’t get runs even though they’re convertible. Also, the waistband is very soft, so it’s not at all distracting when I’m dancing.
• Do you have any performance/backstage rituals/superstitions?
• I like to go in the wings right before a show to hear the audience come in and get warmed up
• Favorite Dancer/Choreographer of all time?
• Sylvie Guillem—her legs are stunning!
• Interest outside of dance?
• I’m a voracious reader and also like to do community service for groups such as Amnesty International.

Claire Glavin◊

Apprentice

Claire Glavin studies ballet technique, pointe, Cecchetti, jazz and modern dance at Dance Center Evanston. She is a member of the Evanston Dance Ensemble and an apprentice dancer with Elements Contemporary Ballet. In the summer of 2011, Claire was accepted into the Magnus Midwest Dance Intensive in Michigan. Claire is a student at Evanston Township High School.

• Favorite dancewear manufacturer?
• Yumiko
• Must have item for dance classes?
• Warm up pants, a sweater and icy hot
• What’s in your dance bag?
• Pointe shoes and toe pads, flat shoes, a tennis ball, a thera-band, icy hot, lots of warm ups and Pointe shoes glue
• Favorite style of dance?
• Ballet!
• Recommendation for product?
• Our pinched Capezio leotards are flattering and beautiful
• Do you have any performance/backstage rituals/superstitions?
• I like to mark my choreography on stage right before the curtain opens
• Favorite Dancer/Choreographer of all time?
• I love the ballet Romeo and Juliet. I also love Twyla Tharp’s In the Upper Room
• Interest outside of dance?
• Art, ecology and piano

Keerati Jinakunwiphat◊

Apprentice

Keerati Jinakunwiphat attends Niles West High School and will be graduating in 2012. Keerati is also a proud member of the Evanston Dance Ensemble and trains at Dance Center Evanston. Along with many hours of dancing, Keerati is glad to have a job that is related to what she loves most!

• Favorite dancewear manufacturer?
• Mirella and Yumiko
• Must have item for dance classes?
• a water bottle and my pink rolly ball/tennis ball
• What’s in your dance bag?
• ballet/pointe/jazz shoes, toe pads, black socks, garbage bag shorts, a theraband, a small pink ball, deodorant, a waterbottle, phone, hair pins/clips, a brush, and legwarmers
• Favorite style of dance?
• anything that moves!
• Recommendation for product?
• knit/warm-up overalls
• Do you have any performance/backstage rituals/superstitions?
• breathing!
• Favorite Dancer/Choreographer of all time?
• Travis Wall
• Interest outside of dance?
• Spending time with my friends and family!