Phillip Otto Artistic Director
Rachel Butler School Director
Deborah Bailey
Vicki Butler
Dawn Crouch
Cathy Curry
Meg Hall
Olga Montanus
Debbie Weisberg
Susan Kelly
Niki Drake Hunkapillar
Susan Fisher Nesbitt
Melissa B. Barnett
Kagen Morring
Phillip Otto
Mr. Otto has most recently served as New Haven Ballet’s artistic director. Born in New York, Mr. Otto has trained at the School of American Ballet, American Ballet Theatre School, and the Joffrey School, among others. As a child Mr. Otto was a member of the Metropolitan Opera’s children’s chorus and danced with New York City Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, London’s Royal Ballet, the Stuttgart Ballet and the Bolshoi Ballet.
As an adult Mr. Otto danced principal and soloists roles with Milwaukee Ballet, Pennsylvania Ballet and Pacific Northwest Ballet. After retiring as a featured soloist from Pacific Northwest Ballet in 1996, Mr. Otto was the first company member ever to be asked to join the faculty of Pacific Northwest Ballet School and went on to direct Pacific Northwest Ballet’s student company as well as the companies outreach and educational programs for which he was nominated for the State of Washington’s Golden Apple award for excellence in education.
Mr. Otto has worked and trained with such distinguished artists as George Balanchine, Peter Martins, Jerome Robins, Kent Stowell, Francia Russell, Bojan Spasoff, Robert Weiss and Lynn Taylor- Corbett, Violette Verdi, Richard Thomas, Alexandra Danilova, Lar Lubavitch, Andre Eglevsky and Ted Kivitt, among others.
Mr. Otto’s dancing credits include principle roles in (George Balanchine’s)“Who Care’s”, The Four Temperaments, Western Symphony, Concerto Borocco, La Valse, Symphony in C, Nutcracker, Prodical Son, Midsummer’s Night’s Dream, (Cranko’s) Romeo and Juliet, (Limons) Moor’s Pavane, (Forsythe’s) Love Songs, (Lynn Taylor- Corbett’s) Brahms Sonata’s, Code Of Silence, The Quilt, Tunes Great Galloping Gottschalk and Final Draft among others. In addition, Mr. Otto serves as permanent guest faculty for the Rock School for Dance Education in Philadelphia and has taught master classes for Vassar College, Yale University, the Kennedy Center and the Edinburgh Festival among other schools and companies throughout the United States and Scotland
Rachel Butler
Ms. Butler has most recently served as Ballet Mistress for New Haven Ballet. Ms. Butler trained with Pacific Northwest Ballet, Pennsylvania Ballet and the Atlantic Contemporary Ballet Academy. As a professional Dancer Ms. Butler danced Soloist and Principle roles with Pacific Northwest Ballet, the Pennsylvania Ballet and has been sought after as a guest artist throughout the United States. Ms. Butler has trained and worked with Bruce Wells, Violette Verdy, Richard Tanner, Robert Weiss, Kent Stowell, Francia Russell, Patricia Neary, Bart Cook, Lynn Taylor-Corbett, Suzanne Farrell, Bojan Spasoff and Stephanie Wolf, among others.
As A ballet mistress Ms. Butler has set Ballet’s for New Haven Ballet, and served as assistant ballet mistress of children’s roles for Kent Stowell’s and Maurice Sendacks world renowned production of The Nutcracker. Ms. Butlers dancing credits include (George Balanchine’s) Four Temperaments, Ballet Imperial, Divertimento #15, Midsummer Night’s Dream, Symphony in C, Who Cares, Stars and Stripes, and Western Symphony. (Kent Stowell’s) Firebird, Nutcracker, Swan Lake. (Jerome Robins) Fanfare and ballet’s choreographed by William Forsythe, Peter Martins and Paul Taylor among others. Ms. Butler’s teaching credits include Pacific Northwest Ballet, The Rock School for Dance Education, Mid-Atlantic Ballet and Albany Dance Institute. Ms. Butler has also traveled the world dancing and teaching in China, Turkey, Australia, London and Scotland and has performed for The Kennedy Center and New York’s City Center.
Deborah Bailey
Mrs. Bailey is a native of Maitland, Florida, she studied at The School of Performing Arts under Patty Watson Walsh, Ellie Potts Barrett, Ari Bloustien, George Kolher, Phyllis Watson and Russell Sultzbach. She also studied under Barbara Wiggins and Kip Watson of Southern Ballet Theatre, now the Orlando Ballet. Deborah started dancing for Walt Disney World at the age of 10 in their Christmas Spectacular, and became a cast member at the age of 15. She danced for the opening of EPCOT Center, was a Can-Can dancer for the French Pavilion, and worked as a swing performer for many shows. She attended Brenau Women’s College earning a minor in Dance Theatre. While at Brenau she danced with the Gainesville Ballet Company and the Atlanta Ballet. Choreography awards include Honorable Mention; Five Points Choreography Competition of Atlanta, Best of Show; Florida Thespian State Competition, Best Choreography; Performing Dance Teachers Association; Best Choreography Dance Educators of America. Since moving to Alabama She has taught with area studios including The Dance Factory, Athens; Performing Dance Arts, Huntsville; and Dancers, Inc, Decatur. Deborah also served as the Interium Artistic Director for Hunstville Ballet Company in 2007- 2008. She currently serves as an instructor for Huntsville Ballet School.
Vicki Butler
Ms. Butler began her ballet training with Imogene Wheeler in the Cecchetti method. She received a scholarship to Harkness House in New York where she studied with David Howard and Maria Veigh. She toured Italy as soloist with the Alabama Ballet and was Director of Dance for the American Youth Asso. in Germany. She has been teaching in Huntsville since 1975. With the Huntsville Ballet Co., Vicki has danced the principal role in The Nutcracker, La Sylphide, Coppelia, Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty. She won the classical division of the Panoply choreography competition (1988), modern division (1991), and contemporary division (1996). She has also choreographed several Fantasy playhouse productions. Her professional enhancement studies include: American Dance Festival at Duke University: Somatics, Stepping into History, and several dance professional workshops; Doris Humphrey Intensives in Oak Park, Illinois where she learned and performed Water Study; Skinner Release at Florida Dance Festival in Miami; World Dance Alliance in Philadelphia; Ballet Magnificat - teachers training; Glenwood Springs Dance Festival in Colorado, a three week intensive of ballet, modern and yoga under the direction of Doug Varone; AFFA Mat Science Workshop at the Huntsville Wellness Center; and The Little People's Creative Dance Workshop in Greenville, North Carolina. From 2006-2008, Vicki was the Interim School Director of Community Ballet School.
Dawn Crouch
Mrs. Crouch returned to Huntsville in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. She is a former staff member and worked at Community Ballet School from 1989-1995 under Loyd Tygett. A native of New Orleans, she received her early training from Lelia Haller, danced with the Houston Ballet, and has taught at University of Houston and other ballet schools in Louisiana and Illinois. Mrs. Crouch is grateful for the sincere welcome Community Ballet Association has extended to her and her family.
Cathy Curry
Ms. Curry began her dance training in Huntsville and became a member of Huntsville Ballet Company at age 12, where she performed many principal roles. After being awarded a full scholarship, Cathy received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance from Florida State University where she had the opportunity to study and perform with renowned faculty such as Suzanne Farrell, Buglisi/Foreman, Doug Varone, and Jowole Zollar, the director of Urban Bush Women. During this time, Cathy was also a member of the Dance Repertory Theatre, a performing company dedicated to community outreach. Since college, Cathy has continued her dance education, including participating in NYU’s Summer Dance Program and summers at the American Dance Festival’s Professionals Workshop. She has recently received her Pilates certification from Balanced Body University. Cathy is also a certified K-12 teacher and was Director of Dance at the Academy for Academics and Arts, the arts magnet school in Huntsville.
Meg Hall
Mrs. Hall started her ballet training at Community Ballet School at the age of 7. She studied with Dorothy Snider, Loyd Tygett, Judith Pointer and Alison Swenson and attended master classes with various other distinguished teachers such as Mira Popovich. She also studied for a time in San Francisco with Mr. Delmar and Mr. Gipson at the San Francisco Ballet School. Mrs. Hall was a performing member of Huntsville Ballet Company from 1976-1985 and has taught for several dance schools in this area. She is currently working as an instructor with the Huntsville Gymnastics Center.
Olga Montanus
Mrs. Montanus, a Russian native, attended the Performing Arts School in Svobodnyi, the College of National Art Creativity in Blagoveshchensk, and received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Saint Petersburg University of Arts in Saint Petersburg, Russia. She received a Vaganova Syllabus Degree from the Ministry of Cultural Affairs. She has been a principal dancer with the Philharmonic Society Dance Company and danced featured roles in The Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty, La Esmerelda, and Blue Bird. She has studied and taught ballet, pointe, traditional folk dance, modern dance and Historico-genre dance. She has also taught at the E&S Arts English School in Suwon, Korea.
Debbie Weisberg
Mrs. Weisberg grew up in New York and trained with the American Ballet Theatre School, American Ballet Center (Joffrey), Melissa Hayden Ballet Center, Steps, and North Shore School of Ballet. Debbie performed with the North Shore Ballet Company in many lead roles including Cinderella, The Toy Princess, and Hansel and Gretel. She later received both her B.F. A. and M.F.A. in Ballet, Performance, Choreography and Pedagogy from Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas. While in Texas, she danced with Ballet Concerto and TCU Ballet Company and served as adjunct ballet faculty at the TCU Department of Ballet and Modern Dance and several local ballet schools. She also was on the Dance Department faculty at the Interlochen Arts Camp in Interlochen, Michigan, for six summers. Her performance credits include leading roles in The Sleeping Beauty, The Nutcracker, Giselle, Chopin Etudes, Caracol, Le Corsaire and The Secret Garden. After moving to California in 1988, she joined the California Dance Theatre Festival Ballet and Francisco Martinez Dance Theatre. She also was on the faculty and choreographed for California Dance Theatre for 12 years, where a number of her students have gone on and pursued professional dance careers throughout the country. Debbie moved to Huntsville with her family in 2001, and joined the Huntsville Ballet School faculty in 2006. Debbie has recently choreographed for the Huntsville Ballet Company, Huntsville City Schools, and Early Childhood Music. She has also performed with Huntsville Ballet Company in Phillip Otto’s The Nutcracker and Romeo and Juliet. Debbie wants to continue to share her love and passion for dance with our students here at HBS and HBC.
Susan Kelly
Mrs. Kelly, her husband and two children, Katie and Joe, relocated to the Huntsville area from Las Cruces, New Mexico in 2008. Susan has studied on scholarship at The North Carolina School of the Arts in addition to other prestigious schools including: the School of American Ballet, the Joffrey Ballet, Houston Ballet Academy and Nikolais/Louis Dance Lab. Most recently she completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Dance from New Mexico State University (NMSU). Susan’s professional performing experiences include being a principal dancer for companies in the greater Houston metropolitan area including: The Clear Lake Metropolitan Ballet, Joan Karff’s A New Dance Group, and Texas Dance Theater under the direction of Keith Cross. She has also appeared as a guest artist for various performances in New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, Florida and California. Susan has taught for an array of studios for the past fifteen years. Prior to relocating, she worked with the Las Cruces Chamber Ballet, choreographed for New Mexico State University’s Contemporary Dance Theater as well as taught ballet and jazz as an adjunct faculty member at NMSU. During her time in Huntsville, Susan has appeared as a guest artist with the Huntsville Ballet Company in a wide variety of roles ranging from classical ballet to contemporary jazz and modern. Under the direction of Mr. Otto, she has been featured in HBC’s The Nutcracker in the role of Arabian Queen and the first annual Discover Dance production in the role of The Dying Swan. Susan was recognized for her performance ability in 2008 with a Wings Award for Best Female Dancer in a Short Piece for her original work entitled delicate balance. The choreography for delicate balance was also a finalist in the 2009 Panoply Choreography Competition. Most recently, Susan has choreographed for dancers from Huntsville Ballet Company for the Ars Nova production of Mozart’s opera The Magic Flute. Susan feels extremely fortunate to have found a home that allows her to continue to perform and pursue her life long love while continuing to grow and explore new facets of the art she respects so deeply.
Niki Drake Hunkapillar
Ms. Hunkapillar began her dance training at Community Ballet School at the age of twelve. During her high school years, Niki competed in various regional dance competitions and won numerous awards. Upon graduating from high school, she received a scholarship to study dance at the University of Southern Mississippi from which she earned a fine arts degree in dance. The director of the Huntsville City Schools’ Dance Magnet since 1993, Niki also has served as an instructor for Community Ballet School since 1995. She was an instructor for the Universal Dance Association from 1993-1995 and has also served on the teaching staffs of River City Performing Arts in Decatur and The Dance Company in Madison. A former member of Huntsville Ballet Company, Niki has performed in numerous company productions. Among the roles she has danced are the Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker, the Diva in Shindig, and Black Magic Woman in Colors in Motion. She received Wings Award nominations for each of these performances. For her performance as the Lilac Fairy in the 2000 production of Sleeping Beauty, Niki was honored with a Wings Award. Her performance as the Sugar Plum Fairy in the 2002 production of The Nutcracker also earned her a Wings Award. Additionally, Niki has worked as choreographer for the Community Chorus productions of The Wizard of Oz and Annie. She received Wings Award nominations for both works. During the past summer, she choreographed the Community Chorus production of The King and I. In 2005, Niki's jazz piece “Closure” was among the finalists in the Panoply Choreography Competition.
Susan Fisher Nesbitt
Ms. Fisher started dancing at the age of 3 in Sheffield, Alabama under the directon of Marion Gossett. She earned her Bachelor's of Arts Degree in Dance from UAB in Birmingham Alabama. While attending college and dancing with the UAB Ballet under the direction of Stevan Grebal, she taught for " The Kathy Draper School of Dance," the "Birmingham Children's Dance Foundation" and the "UAB Special Studies Program" Upon graduation from UAB in 1984, she taught for "Perfoming Dance Arts" in Huntsville, Alabama with Rita Liedags Compton. Ms. Fisher is also certified to teach by "Dance Educators of America" and holds the position of Chair Representative for DEA's South/Eastern Region, traveling on weekends to work as a judge, teacher, or coordinator with "DEA" competions and workshops. Recently Ms. Fisher had the opportunity to work as a judge for Thunderstruck Competition based in Las Vegasas well as the newly-formed Danzamericas Convention/Competition held in Costa Rica where she had the pleasure of teaching students of all ages from Costa Rica, Honduras and Peru.
Melissa B. Barnett
Mrs. Barnett began her dance training at the age of 4 in her hometown of Douglasville, Ga. She received her training in ballet, pointe, jazz, tap, and lyrical from some of the best studios and instructors in the Atlanta area. In 1994 she entered Birmingham-Southern College asa dance major where she studied with Mira Popovich, Ruth Henry, John Summer, and George Lysensko. While at B-SC she performed roles in Les Sykphinde, Con Amore, and many orginal works by the faculty and students. As well as performing, she also taught ballet for a variety of studios in Birmingham. She served as Student Coordinator for the Spring Dance Performance at Birmingham-Southern College in 1997-98. In 1998 she was awarded the Nina Kirsanova Award for Academic and Creative Excellence in Dance. That same year she graduated from B-SC with a Bachelor of Art in Dance Pedagogy. After graduating from B-SC she returned to her hometown where she served as BalletDirector for Stacy's Dance Centre and The Dance Factory. She served as the Associate Artistic Director of Pointe Station, Inc. from 2001 to mid 2003 and was co-choreographer of Alabama Jubilee a full length ballet celebrating musical artist from Alabama. In 2003 she was nominated for a Wings award along with her co-choreographer for Alabama Jubilee. Melissa has also choreographed for the Ovation Arts production of The Chorus Linebackers. For the past six years Melissa has been the owner and director of Huntsville Dance Academy. Melissa is married to Paul Barnett, an Assistant District Attorney for Madison County. They have two sons, Evan and Parker.
Kagen Morring
Mr. Morring began dancing at the age of 14. His interest and love for dance was actually piqued accidentally. Kagen was very involved in karate. He began to want to be able to do the back flips and the high jumping kicks. His mother convinced him to take a tumble class at his sister’s dance studio. He did not want to dance, but after 8 months of tumbling he broke his arm. He ended up in a Jazz class to watch, but the teacher said no spectators. So he ended up dancing and has been ever since. At age 16 he auditioned and was accepted into the “New York City Dance Alliance”. After spending two summers dancing in New York, he knew Broadway was in his goal. At the age of 18 Kagen was awarded the Regional award for his hip-hop solo and was invited to train and perform in Las Vegas where he won the National title for his solo. Kagen has been awarded many scholarships and awards over his short career including, Best Entertainer of the Year, Best up and coming new talent, Best duo, Boundless Future award and many scholarships to train all over the United States. His training has included the Barbara Thompson school of Dance, Jacksonville, Florida: New York City Dance Alliance, New York City; Joel Rumner, North Carolina; Lexington Ballet Company, Lexington Kentucky; Las Vegas, University of Nevada; Huntsville Ballet Company and The Rock School of Dance, Philadelphia. Kagen encourages his students to be “well rounded” dancers. “Learn all you can from the discipline of ballet, to the rhythms of tap, the grace of lyrical and the fun of hip-hop. Every teacher and every style has something to offer if you are willing to learn and work hard.
