Priscilla Crommelin Ball, Executive Artistic Director
Kyana Goodyear, School Director
Priscilla Crommelin-McMullan, Youth Company Director
Meet our Artistic Staff and Faculty
ADMINISTRATION
Priscilla Crommelin Ball, Founder/Executive Artistic Director
Kyana Goodyear, Executive School Director
Priscilla Crommelin-McMullan, Artistic Advisor/Youth Company Director/Marketing Director
Faith Ladnier, Bookkeeper
Abbie Roach, Receptionist
Laura Bonner, Costume Mistress
Priscilla Crommelin Ball
Founder & Executive Artistic Director
From a young age, Priscilla Crommelin Ball was given the opportunity to study dance in many of the finest ballet schools in the United States and Europe, most notably, the North Carolina School of the Arts, The Arts Educational School in Tring Park, England, Mary Day's in Washington D.C., Rosella Hightower's in Cannes, France. She began her professional career as a member of the Harkness Ballet of New York under the directorship of Brian MacDonald, Larry Rhodes, and Ben Harkarvy, respectively. Ms. Ball continued her career with Ballets Felix Blaska based in Grenoble, France. She was subsequently Principal Dancer of Maryland Ballet in Baltimore, Maryland, and Birmingham Ballet in Birmingham, Alabama and Ballets Classiques de Paris in Paris, France. During her prolific international performing career Priscilla danced the leading roles in many classical ballets most notably- "Giselle", "Les Sylphides", "Sleeping "Beauty", "The Nutcracker", "Spring Waters". She worked with many renowned choreographers, often under their personal tutelage,including: Alvin Ailey ("Feast of Ashes"), William Dollar ("Le Combat", Norman Walker ("Night Song"), Brian MacDonald (Time Out of Mind"),(Firebird"), Ben Harkarvy ("Madrigalesco") Todd Bollender ("Souvenirs"), Rudi Van Danzig ("Monument for a Dead Boy"), Elena Tchernichova ("Romeo and Juliet'), William Dollar's "Eaters of Darkness", Felix Blaska, Vicente Nebrada, Ben Stevenson, Ana Ricarda, John Taras, Vladimir Dokoudovsky, Gilbert Canova. Her favorite role was "Clorinda" in William Dollar's ("Le Combat"). During the "Paris Years" she was the principal teacher at L'Academie International de la Danse, later founding her own school in Paris, L'Academie de Danse du Stade Francais-Paris. After returning to Alabama in 1992, she taught in the Montgomery Ballet School at Huntingdon College. The Montgomery Ballet unanimously voted her School Director, Company Ballet Mistress, Associate Artistic Director (1995) Artistic Director (1996-2007) and Executive Director (2008-2012). Ms. Ball is thrilled to begin a new chapter in her career surrounded by so many fine friends, talented artists, and young rising stars and their families of the New, Alabama River Region Ballet School and Youth Company!
Kyana Goodyear
Executive School Director & Ballet Teacher
Kyana Goodyear was named the School Director of the Alabama River Region Ballet in June 2013. Kyana, an Atlanta native, began her formal training with Bernadette Campbell of the Buford School of Ballet in Buford, GA. She was later accepted into the pre-professional division of the prestigious Atlanta Ballet, where she trained under various world class artists and teachers. Kyana began her professional career with the North Atlanta Dance Theater, under the direction of Michael Garrison, and later moved to Montgomery, AL to continue her career with the Montgomery Ballet. Kyana spent seven seasons as a member of the Montgomery Ballet Professional Company, where she achieved the level of Principal Dancer. She performed many principal roles including Princess Aurora in Sleeping Beauty, Odile in Swan Lake, Medora in Le Corsaire, Myrtha in Giselle, and the Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker. She has also performed the lead in La Vivandiere, and danced various roles in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Romeo and Juliet, Don Quixote, and Carmen. The role of “Artemis”, in Alpheos et Arethusa, was created for Kyana by international choreographer, Adria Ferrali. Kyana has performed in the Pietrasanta di Danza International Festival in Pietrasanta, Italy, and as a guest performer and teacher in many dance institutions throughout the United States. Kyana, a regionally renowned and highly experienced teacher, has served as the School Director of the Montgomery Ballet, and has more than seventeen years’ experience teaching all levels of Classical Ballet, Tap, and Jazz. Kyana was recently featured in RSVP magazines “the LIST”, which distinguishes her as one of the River Region’s “young leaders”.
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Priscilla Crommelin-McMullan
Artistic Advisor, Youth Company Director , Marketing Director & Ballet Teacher
Adria Ferrali
Director of Modern Dance
Adria Ferrali, International Coordinator and Director Modern Dance Department, is a native of Florence, Italy. She has spent eight years in New York City dancing and specializing in the Martha Graham Technique and gained an Advance Degree in Modern Dance. During her professional career, she was a member of the Martha Graham Dance Company, the Martha Graham Ensemble, and the Pearl Lang Dance Theatre. She toured the USA performing leading roles of the Graham repertoire notably, “Red Girl” in “Diversion of Angels”, “Mary” in “El Penitente” and the Lead dancer in “Acts of Light”. Recently she received permission from the Martha Graham Dance Company to dance the leading role in a revival of “Sketches from Chronicle” and “Primitive Mysteries”. Adria has worked in Amsterdam at the Dutch National Ballet as an assistant to Yuriko and a demonstrator of the Martha Graham Technique. In 2003 she was awarded the Nijinsky Prize as Best Dancer and Choreographer at the Kiev National Opera House in Ukraine. She was Guest Teacher and Choreographer at the Royal Danish Ballet in Copenhagen, Denmark for seven years and also at the School of La Scala Theater in Milan, Italy. She was invited as a member of the examining Board of La Scala in the year 2004. She has also worked as guest teacher at the “University College of Dance” in Stockholm, Sweden, at the Copenhagen Contemporary Dance School, and at Boston Conservatory in the USA as Regisseur. In 2012 she was a jury member at the “VII International Contest for Choreographers and Ballet Masters” in Novosibirsk, Russia and guest choreographer and jury member at the Kemerovo State University of Siberia. She was Chair in Contemporary Dance and Choreography at the Ballet Academy of Gӧteborg in Sweden from ’99 to 2005. She has extensively taught Master Classes and international workshops in Berlin, Cologne, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Ravenna, Cremona, Milan, Florence, and Rome. She was invited as Guest Choreographer and Teacher at Montgomery Ballet by Executive Director, Priscilla Crommelin Ball, in 2011 and again in 2012. She was Artistic Director and founder of the “Pietrasanta In Danza International Dance Festival 2010” in Italy. Adria’s choreographies were staged at the Royal Danish Theater in Copenhagen, at the Opera House of the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, at the National Opera House in Kiev, and at the Atlanta Theater, the Thalia Theatre and the Stora Teater in Gӧteborg, Sweden, at the Drama Theater of Kemerovo in Russia, at the Davis Theater, the Performing Arts Center of Montgomery, AL, USA, and also in Italy at the Festival La Versiliana, at Villa Strozzi in Florence, at the Teatro Dante Alighieri in Ravenna, at the Arena in Cremona, at the Teatro Greco in Rome, at the Teatro Comunale Pietrasanta, at the Pietrasanta in Concerto and at the Festival Estate Regina in Montecatini Terme.
Sarah Paterson
Ballet Teacher
Dancing since age three, Sarah tried different styles and quickly found her love of ballet. Sarah began dancing with the Alabama River Region Ballet at the age of six and continues her training through ARRB and its amazing faculty. Sarah has trained and performed with the Alabama River Region Ballet’s Youth Company for seven years. As a member of the Youth Company, Sarah has attended workshops at Troy University's "Day of Dance," workshops with the “Kyiv City Ballet,” trained with renowned guest artists such as Megan LeCrone, Joseph Gordon, and David Block, and has participated in special performances all while learning from incredible mentors like Priscilla Crommelin Ball, Priscilla Crommelin-McMullan, Kyana Goodyear, Curran Tellalian MacDonald, Stevan Grebel, Ivan Kozlov, Adria Ferrali, Dominique Angel, Tricia Bianco, and Philip Otto. Sarah has performed various roles in ARRB’s “The Nutcracker,” including the lead roles of "Clara" and “Sugar Plum” for multiple years. Sarah has performed other lead roles such as “Aurora” in “The Sleeping Beauty,” “Odette” in “Swan Lake,” “Queen Titania” in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” “Liberty Bell” in Alabama River Region Ballet’s “Stars and Stripes Forever,” and has been included in other performances such as Vivaldi's "Winter,” "Creek Indian Odyssey," "La Bayadere," "Giselle," "Les Sylphides,” and “Le Corsaire.” She has attended Summer Intensive programs with Alabama River Region Ballet, American Ballet Theater, Atlanta Ballet, Alabama Ballet, and Boston Ballet and competed in the Artistic Competition for Exceptional Students. Sarah was an assistant teacher with Alabama River Region Ballet for 5 years, assisting a variety of ages in Creative Movement, Beginning Ballet, Elementary Ballet, and Ballet 1-5 levels. She then moved from assistant to teacher and began teaching the Creative Movement and Ballet 1 Levels. She has also conducted “Polichinelle” rehearsals in River Region’s “The Nutcracker.” Sarah graduated as Valedictorian from Evangel Christian Academy and received a full-tuition scholarship to attend Auburn University at Montgomery. As well as being a full-time college student, she will be a full-time ballet teacher and will continue her training with ARRB. She plans to continue teaching ballet and become a professional ballet dancer. Sarah looks forward to continue to share her love of ballet through her dancing and teaching.
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Jaala Hall
Ballet/Jazz Teacher
Jaala Hall is originally from Eclectic, Alabama and currently pursuing a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in dance from Troy University. She trained under Kyana Goodyear-Neller, Kylee Montgomery and Adria Ferrali at the Alabama River Region Ballet where her focus was classical ballet and contemporary jazz. She was even invited by Adria Ferrali to the DAP Festival in Italy to perform works at Danza in Arts. Her energy and unique performance style landed her in the dance programs at Southern Union and Troy University. Gaining the opportunity to train under the direction of Sonja Fincher, James Boyd, Adrienne Hicks, Dominique Angel and Andrea Costa to name a few. Classical credits include roles such as Arabian, Spanish, Candy Cane, Lilac Fairy and Dulcinea in the classical ballets of The Nutcracker, Don Quixote and Sleeping Beauty. Other credits within contemporary and modern genres include performances in Greek Tragedy, Art in Motion, Awake, Creek Indian and the Grave Affair. Titles that Jaala has received during her career includes top talent winner at the National Beta Convention and 2nd runner up for Elmore County Distinguished Young Women winning the talent and self-expression categories. Jaala has also been a sought-out teacher as she has an enormous amount of experience teaching levels from creative movement to Ballet 2 and multiple levels in commercial and contemporary jazz along with music theater.
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Jordan Prough
Ballet, Jazz & Contemporary Modern Teacher
Jordan Prough initially began dancing in studios and in church at a young age. In 2011 she was accepted into the Alabama School of Fine Arts as a dance major, where she had the opportunity to train and perform extensively under Terri Weksler, Martha Faesi, David Keener and several prominent guest artists. While in high school, Jordan frequently attended the Alabama Dance Festival, as well as the American Dance Festival, The National High School Dance Festival, and The Regional High School Dance Festival. She graduated from the Alabama School of Fine Arts in 2016 and was accepted, on scholarship, into Troy University’s Dance program. While in college, Jordan traveled abroad to Pietrasanta, Italy where she trained and performed in works by Kevin Stea and The Richard Alston Dance Company at the DAP Festival. The summer of 2019, she traveled to Orlando, Florida to perform in two of her colleagues’ original works at the CDC Festival. Jordan has choreographed and premiered several original pieces during her time at Troy University, including “Cultivation,” which was also showcased at the 2020 Alabama Dance Festival. In May of this year, Jordan graduated Summa Cum Laude with a BFA in Dance from Troy University. She is currently teaching dance and launching her first season with Sanspointe Dance Company in Birmingham, AL.
Erin Waggoner
Ballet & Jazz Teacher
Erin Waggoner Dance Bio Erin started dancing at the age of four and enjoyed all forms of dance. Two years later at a visit to ARRB’s Fairy Tale Summer camp,, she discovered her love for ballet and informed her parents that this would be her new dance school. She has trained at Alabama River Region Ballet for 9 years and danced with ARRB Youth Company for 7 years. Erin has attended workshops with Troy University’s Day of Dance, Alabama Dance Festival, Lines Ballet, trained with renowned guest artists, and has participated in special performances, allowing her to learn from talented teachers and make lasting friendships. Erin has performed various roles in the Great Montgomery Nutcracker including Sugar Plum Fairy, Dew Drop, Clara, Lead Chinese Tea Dance, Candy Cane, Snow Corps, and Ballerina Doll. Other performances as part of the ARRB Youth Company include Stars and Stripes, Creek Indian Odyssey, Diamond Fairy and Aurora in Sleeping Beauty, and excerpts from La Bayadere, Giselle, Les Sylphides, and Swan Lake. She has also performed the Kitri variation from Don Quixote Act III as a guest artist at Bright Method Studios and placed in ACES (Artistic Competition for Exceptional Students). Erin has attended summer intensive training with Alabama River Region Ballet as well as Carolina Ballet, Brenau University, The Washington Ballet, Nashville Ballet, Alabama Ballet, and American Ballet Theater. She has taught at the Alabama River Region Ballet's Fairy Tale Summer Camp, Creative Movement Classes, Beginning Jazz, and Elementary Ballet. Erin is an active student at Saint James School and plans to attend college while pursuing her goal of being a professional dancer.
Sophia Link
Ballet Teacher
Sophia began her dance training at the age of two, and has trained at various studios across the world as a military child. With these studios, she has had the opportunity to perform roles such as “Doll,” “Spanish Soloist,” “Marzipan,” “Candy Cane Soloist,” “Snow Queen,” and “Dewdrop” in many productions of “The Nutcracker,” which she has been performing in every year since 2008. She also has appeared in productions and excerpts of “The Sleeping Beauty,” “Coppelia,” “La Bayadere,” “The Wizard of Oz,” “Cinderella,” “Giselle,” “Stars and Stripes,” and “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” In addition to ballet training, she has danced in many contemporary and student-choreographed productions, including originating pieces for IMPACT Dance Company. After joining Alabama River Region Ballet’s Youth Company three years ago, she has had the opportunity to dance at Troy University’s “Day of Dance” and compete in the Artistic Competition for Artistic Students (ACES). She has attended summer intensives with the Nashville Ballet and the Colorado Ballet. She has been a student-teacher for two years at previous studios and a year at ARRB, mainly in Pre-Ballet classes. She has also assisted in teaching for ARRB activities such as Fairytale Ballet Camp and dress rehearsals. Sophia currently attends Montgomery Academy and plans on attending college next fall, but wants to keep dance a part of her life!
Laura Bonner
Costume Mistress
Laura Bonner is an independent costume designer and seamstress from Prattville, AL. She has costumed ballets for Alabama River Region Ballet since it began in 2013. She has also done contract costume work for The Montgomery Ballet, Andalusia Ballet, Alabama Youth Ballet, Prattville’s Way Off Broadway Theater, as well as pageant costumes for DYW and Miss Alabama. She spent 2015-2020 as a Stitcher and Assistant to the Director of Costume Production at the Alabama Shakespeare Festival where she worked on many fabulous productions, such as “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” “The Tempest,” “The Sound of Music,” and “Cinderella.” In 2020, she had the opportunity to attend TutuSchool (North Carolina), in New Orleans, with Claudia Folts, and further her tutu making skills. While “All the World’s a Stage,” Laura’s costuming passion lies with the Ballet, and her favorite shows she has costumed include “The Nutcracker,” “The Sleeping Beauty,” and “Swan Lake.” Laura is married to her college sweetheart, Paul, and they have three darling children. She gives all praise and glory to God for the talent and opportunities He has given her, and she is grateful to work with the amazingly talented artistic staff at ARRB and the team of creative volunteers who expend so much time and energy and love in the ARRB Costume Shop!