“I truly believe that if you’re breathing, you’re dancing,” she said. “You are never still. Your heart is beating. You’re breathing.”

Bringing the dance studies minor to the university in 1998, Huckabee applied this philosophy across all classes for 28 years as chair of the Integrative Arts major and coordinator of the dance studies minor, teaching students that dance can be a form of self-expression rather than a stage presence.

As she anticipates her retirement at the end of this month, she hopes for the dance minor’s flourishing while celebrating her life’s work, continuing as artistic director of Allied Motion Dance Co. and eventually becoming a professor emeritus.

“So being able to keep dance in my life, I’m honored, grateful, and I’m not done,” she said.

Dance artist and educator KT Huckabee dances at the Penn State Altoona studio Wednesday morning, reflecting on her time as chair/coordinator of the integrative arts major and dance minor. Mirror photo by Colette Costlow

It was a nun who first inspired Huckabee to begin dancing while attending Our Lady of Victory Catholic School during the 1970s in State College.

Sister Natalie was formerly a Broadway dancer, so she annually held a spring solo and incorporated class participation.

Coming from a family of 11 children, Huckabee said she didn’t have enough money to regularly enroll in dance classes. However, she auditioned against students with previous dance experience and secured the solo part.

She remembered wearing a purple costume on the stage while performing the soft ballet or lyrical performance to Simon and Garfunkel’s song, “Bridge Over Troubled Water.”

“That was it,” she said. “I never looked back.”

Following her first solo performance, she enrolled in a tap class taught by an acquaintance of Sister Natalie’s before taking classes at the Central Pennsylvania Dance Workshop.

While attending State College High School, she also enrolled in dance classes taught at University Park and secured a few college credits before moving to Point Park University in the fall of 1980.

As a dance major in the early 1980s, she said Point Park University’s program promoted a negative attitude toward body image, making Huckabee feel that she couldn’t be considered a dancer without looking a certain way.

This attitude caused her to rethink her career path for a short time before ultimately overcoming that mindset and enrolling in Eastern Carolina University instead.

“Why am I going to give them the power to tell me what dance is? And if I fit or don’t fit,” she asked rhetorically.

At Eastern Carolina, she met instructor Patti Weeks, who helped her rediscover her love of dance when taking modern dance classes.

“She is the one I will attribute to helping me find again the joy that I found when I first started dancing, that expression,” she said.

She forged a path as a modern dancer, which is an artist who explores all types of dance with an emphasis on taking classes that speak to someone’s unique style.

Huckabee realized that her love of dancing doesn’t lie in professional performance but rather in teaching and choreography. With those goals in mind, she applied to the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and received a Master’s of Fine Arts degree in 1987.

She taught at various universities across the East Coast throughout the early 1990s before returning to State College in 1995 and teaching dance alongside the former instructor she had taken lessons from in high school.

Meanwhile, she attended the Laban-Bartenieff Institute of Movement Studies in New York City for a weekend once a month for two years, attaining her certification as a Laban Movement Analyst.

In 1997, PSU Altoona became a four-year college and began an integrative arts major, but they only offered theatre and music classes, she said. Aware of the transition, Huckabee called the university and asked about including dance classes as well.

“And they said, ‘Oh, we never thought about it. Sure, sure. Come on down,'” she said tongue-in-cheek.

Developing dance

As a new faculty member at PSU Altoona, Huckabee developed all of her classes, some influenced by courses at University Park and others influenced by the Laban-Bartenieff method that would count toward a dance minor.

She encouraged students to explore their own creativity when it came to choreography, as she often entered the classroom without a pre-planned routine but asked her students to improvise and see what movements were created on the spot.

She said students with all levels of previous dance experience came together to construct a creative routine in classes.

“It’s always looking for that enhancement, but the authenticity of the group of dancers I’m working with,” she said.

Caitlin Osborne auditioned for Allied Motion Dance Co. in 2003 while living in State College. That audition turned into a longstanding friendship with Huckabee.

“I was in my early 30s when I started dancing, and I had a lot of dance training, but I felt at that time that I needed more development as a dancer, and she took me to the next level,” Osborne said.

Osborne continued to work with Huckabee as the company’s grant writer and the educational coordinator and joined the PSU Altoona staff in 2005 redesigning the dance program. She is also credited with founding the student program, the Ivyside Dance Co.

While Osborne no longer lives in Pennsylvania, she remains friends with Huckabee and supports the Allied Motion Dance Co.

“She always wants to put other people in positions where others can develop and grow, and she’s amazing that way,” Osborne said.

Likewise, Ana Lazendorfer, who came to the university in the early 2000s with previous dance experience, was quickly involved with Huckabee’s classes and the Ivyside Dance Ensemble.

Calling Huckabee her mentor, Lazendorfer said she learned how to trust herself as a dancer after graduating and working as a principal dancer in

Huckabee’s business, Allied Motion Dance Co.

“I think she really helped me personally understand that better instead of trying to please the masses or meet other expectations,” Lazendorfer said.

Stage exit

Looking back on 28 years, Huckabee expressed her gratitude for teaching dance at PSU Altoona.

One of her favorite performances includes her final recital by the Ivyside Dance Ensemble, named “Amor Fati (Love of Fate),” which explored the relationship between humans and mythological creatures.

“I’m very appreciative that I was able to create this dance minor and work with all of the students that I have throughout the years,” she said.

Her influence also kept dance in the conversation at the university and local level.

“KT is a tireless advocate for artists and the arts at Penn State and in the community,” said Erin Murphy, professor of English at Penn State Altoona and the 2026-27 University Laureate.

“She brings creativity, empathy and an exemplary work ethic to everything she does, whether choreographing a dance or leading the college’s performing arts program. I will miss her but am so very grateful for the legacy she has left behind.”

The dance minor will continue at PSU Altoona after Huckabee’s departure and she hopes the program will flourish and live beyond its initial development.

“This is a great program, and it’s small enough. People get lots of personal attention, and we develop some really strong personal connections with our students,” she said.

As a former student, Osborne reflected on Huckabee’s talent and wished for her to continue her love of dance expression into her future endeavors.

“I hope she continues to create choreography, and it’s that ability to nurture dancers that’s her real gift,” Osborne said.

Mirror Staff Writer Colette Costlow is at 814-946-7414.

The Huckabee file

Name: KT Huckabee

Age: 63

Education: Our Lady of Victory, State College High School (1980), bachelor’s degree at Eastern Carolina University (1983) and master of fine arts degree at University of North Carolina at Greensboro (1987)

Certification: Laban Movement Analyst from the Laban-Bartenieff Institute of Movement Studies

Family: Daughter, Sarafina Milburn (James McLean); grandson, Zeke McLean, 7

Pets: Cats, Aslan and Maestro; dog, Simba