Instructors

Keren Gibb Hilliard

Keren Gibb Hilliard began her dance training in Mobile as a child and continued to study during her college days in Montgomery, performing with local dance companies and theater groups in both cities. She taught dance classes at Huntingdon College while a student there and completed her degree at UAH in Huntsville. She held various positions with Community Ballet in her 40 plus years with them, including dancer, teacher, choreographer, ballet mistress, school director and both associate and interim director of Huntsville Ballet Company. She has twice won the ballet division of the Panoply Choreography Competition and became certified to teach the Zena Romett Floor Barre Technique in 2002. Her community service includes serving on the Arts Council Board, Community Ballet’s Board, and setting choreography for Community Chorus, Fantasy Playhouse, Ars Nova and Bob Jones High School presentations.

David Herriott

David Herriott received his early intensive training at the Harkness Ballet School under David Howard. He danced professionally with Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet and North Carolina Dance Theatre, touring internationally with both companies. During that time he worked with such noted choreographers as Agnes de Mille, John Neumeier, Norbert Vesak, and Elliot Feld and performed with internationally renowned dancers Mikhail Baryshnikov, Gelsey Kirkland, Galina & Valerie Panov, and Evelyn Hart.

Mr. Herriott taught dance at Santa Monica College in California before moving to Huntsville, Alabama where over 12 years he held the positions of General Manager, Associate Director and Artistic Director of Community Ballet Association and Huntsville Ballet Company. Under his direction the company became a performing member of SERBA. He served on grant panels and long range planning for the Alabama State Council on the Arts, served on the Executive Board of the Alabama Dance Council and on the planning committee of the Alabama Dance Summit, as well as serving as chair of The Arts Council Assembly and along with Mary Halverstadt, developed a dance video for the Arts Council’s Art in a Box education program.

Since June of 2004, Mr. Herriott has been coordinator of the ballet program at Columbus State University Continuing Education Division located in Columbus, Georgia and Executive and Artistic Director of The Columbus Ballet.

Paula Osmer

Paula Osmer began dancing as a small child at Community Ballet School under the direction of Lloyd Tygett, Keren Gibb, and David Herriott where she joined the Huntsville Ballet Company. She also participated in the dance magnet program at Lee High School. After high school Paula continued her studies at The University of Alabama where she obtained a BA in Dance and, upon graduation, began her professional career in the Washington, DC metro area. Her dancing credits include: Bosmadance, City Dance Ensemble Early Arts, Bowen-McCauley Dance, Crossroads Dance Company, and several independent projects with various choreographers. She also taught ballet, jazz, and modern classes at several schools including, City Dance Center, Crossroads Academy of Dance, and Metropolitan Fine Arts Center, as well as for Headfirst camps and DARE Dance. Paula has been teaching for Alabama Youth Ballet since 2012 and became the outreach director for The Dance Connection in 2013. She has enjoyed getting to know all of her students and looks forward to watching them grow as dancers in the years to come.

Rebekah Frank

Rebekah Frank is a Huntsville native who started her dance education at age 8 with her first jazz class and steadily branched out into other disciplines of dance. As her dance training progressed, she mainly studied ballet, tap, jazz, pointe and lyrical with Melissa Barnett. She also took master classes and attended conventions to stay updated with recent trends in the dance community. She has taken classes from Joe Tremaine, Keri LaGrand, Gregg Russell, Judy Rice and Barry Youngblood and other reknowned teachers, all of whom challenged and inspired her. In 2005, Rebekah became a teaching assistant for Ms. Barnett and eventually started teaching her own classes. She has been teaching ballet, tap, jazz and preschool classes to the Huntsville area for the last 9 years. She continues to take classes of her own and attend workshops and master classes to hone her skills. Rebekah is excited to be a part of the Alabama Youth Ballet family and looks forward to spending many years with AYB.

Kerri Noelle-Humphrey

Kerri-Noelle Joined the AYB staff in 2012. Born in Brooklyn, New York, Kerri-Noelle considers herself a native of Huntsville, where she began her dance training a the age of four. As a student she studied ballet, jazz, tap, acrobatics, and modern dance. She received a B.S. degree in Mathematics from Howard University. While in college, she also studied dance at the Howard University School of Fine Arts, was a member of the Howard University (HU) Dance Ensemble, the HU Dancing Bisonettes and a HU cheerleader. During her senior year, she was selected to perform as a company member of the Dance Institute of Washington. Kerri-Noelle also has a M.B.A. from Barry University. She has taught early childhood development classes, led a liturgical dance ministry, directed a Gymboree Learning Center, and she also teaches at North Alabama Dance Center.

Laura Giffin

Laura Giffin began her dance training at the age of three with North Alabama Dance Center. At the age of eight she moved to Community Ballet and then to Alabama Youth Ballet/Alabama Youth Ballet Theatre to dance under the direction of Keren Gibb-Hilliard and David Herriott. As a Senior Company member with Alabama Youth Ballet Theatre she has danced the principal roles of Snow Queen, Lilac Fairy, Sugar Plum Fairy and Snow White. In 2014 she was awarded the honor of being Alabama Youth Ballet Theatre’s Dancer of the Year. She is a Magna Cum Laude graduate of Northwest Florida State College where she earned a degree in Theatre with a concentration in Dance. While in college, she was a scholarship team member of the Raider Rhythms Dance Team under that direction of Joe Taylor. She also performed with the showline for the Soundsations Show Choir that toured both locally and internationally under the direction of Joe Taylor and Kelly Murdock. She also served as Dance Captain and Assistant Choreographer for the Northwest Florida State College production of Legally Blonde, Jr. In 2016 she was awarded the honor of excellence in dance performance. After graduation, she was accepted into The Disney College Program in Walt Disney World, Lake Buena Vista, Florida, where she accepted a role in entertainment as a Character Performer. Laura is currently an assistant director for Alabama Youth Ballet Theatre’s Liturgical Dance Company and The Dance Connection.

Cynthia Quintela

Cynthia Quintela holds a BFA from the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa and an MFA from Alabama and Alabama A& M University in Huntsville. She studied dance with such luminaries as Alvin Ailey in New York City and Gus Giordano in Chicago.
She is currently a visual and performing artist teaching art at Huntsville High School and jazz at Alabama Youth Ballet. She also coaches the HHS dance team.

Cynthia is well known for her choreography for various organizations and events in the Huntsville area and won numerous awards in the Panoply Choreography Competition. She has also been the recipient of Wings awards, Huntsville’s equivalent of the Tony, for her choreography.