"We like to think that she is dancing with the angels right now," says Carole Kunkle-Miller, longtime friend of North Side native Betty Hollingsworth, a dancer, pioneering dance therapist and professional clown who died of colon cancer on Sunday.

She was fond of calling her friend "bionic Betty" because Mrs. Hollingsworth, 75, just kept bouncing back from the disease she had for 23 years. Her spirit kept her laughing through intensive care and entertaining fellow residents in nursing homes over the years.

"Even when she was ill, Betty found time to take family and friends to doctor appointments and radiation appointments," she recalls. "Betty said she understood how they felt."

It all began with dance. Mrs. Hollingsworth had a master's degree in movement education from the University of Pittsburgh and studied at what is now the Laban/Bartenieff Institute of Movement Studies in New York and with dance greats like Merce Cunningham, Anna Halprin, Alwin Nikolais and Murray Louis.

Her expertise, coupled with a boundless joy for life that was contagious, was spread to thousands of children in the area. As a teacher at Duquesne University and what is now the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, she integrated music and art with movement. A pioneer in her field, she later directed the Imaginarium at the Carnegie Museum of Art.

Nephew Peter Karlovich remembers being one of her "experiments" when she was perfecting her teaching technique. Now a self-avowed techno-geek, he learned an appreciation and support for the arts that continues today.

He also developed "a sense of tolerance and compassion for those who live with challenges" through Mrs. Hollingsworth, who was a dance therapist with the Burger King Cancer Caring Center, the Association for Children With Learning Disabilities and Western Pennsylvania School for Blind Children, among many others.

A member of the executive board for the Pittsburgh Association for the Arts in Education and Therapy, Mrs. Hollingsworth produced several films on the integration of the arts in therapy.

In one of many inspiring stories, Mrs. Hollingsworth encouraged a young patient, who had not talked for years, to pick up a microphone and start singing to an Elvis Presley recording.

She often used her alter-ego, Squeegee the clown, to connect with children as she visited hospitals, taking baskets of candy, balloons or a crate of bananas with her. Up until two years ago, she could stand on her head and clap her feet, to the delight of countless children and adults.

Her zest for life led Mrs. Hollingsworth to take her nieces and nephews to Italy, France and New York City. She took her last trip to Tuscany in May despite medical concerns. Rather than relax by the pool, she went on tours of Florence and Sienna.

But it was dance that was her defining passion. Mrs. Hollingsworth told friends that she did her career backward, beginning with teaching and not performing until later.

Mrs. Hollingsworth is survived by her husband, Sam. The family suggests contributions to the cancer charity of choice.

Visitation will be 2 to 4 and 6 to 8 p.m. today at Beinhauer Mortuary, 2630 W. Liberty Ave., Beechview. Mass will be celebrated at St. Paul of the Cross Monastery on the South Side at 2 p.m. tomorrow.