Meet our Artistic Staff and Faculty

ADMINISTRATION

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Priscilla Crommelin Ball, Founder/Executive Artistic Director

Curran Tellalian, Associate Artistic Director

Kyana Goodyear, Executive School Director

Priscilla Crommelin-McMullan, Artistic Advisor & Youth Company Director

Faith Ladnier, Bookkeeper

Emily Stehl, 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!

Curran Tellalian 

Associate Artistic Director & Ballet Teacher

Curran Tellalian trained at The Nutmeg Conservatory for the Arts and attended summer intensives at l’Académie Américaine de Danse de Paris (France). She continued training with Alexei Tchernichov, during which time she competed in Youth America Grand Prix and had the wonderful opportunity to be coached by Elena Tchernichova. She was awarded a full dance scholarship to Point Park University, where she pursued a BFA in Ballet and Dance Pedagogy. She danced professionally with Albano Ballet, Exit 12 Dance Company, and Montgomery Ballet. In 2013, Ms. Tellalian was honored to be asked by Priscilla Crommelin Ball to join Alabama River Region Ballet, as a ballet teacher and, later, Youth Company Repetiteur. She attended Open World Dance Foundation’s Vaganova Teacher Training, where she studied with Prof. Ludmila Safronova, at the time, one of the last remaining students taught directly by Agrippina Vaganova, herself. In 2017, Ms. Tellalian became Ballet Mistress of the Naples Academy of Ballet in Naples, FL. Currently, she is Assistant Artistic Director of DAP Festival in Pietrasanta, Italy, under the direction of Adria Ferrali. Ms. Tellalian is delighted to return home to River Region Ballet!

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”.

Priscilla Crommelin-McMullan

Artistic Advisor, Youth Company Director & Ballet Teacher

Having her mother as the perfect ballerina to look up to, Priscilla Crommelin-Monnier McMullan started ballet when she was 3 years old under the tutelage of her mother, Priscilla Crommelin Ball, at the Ecole de danse du Stade Francais in Paris, France where her mother was the founder. Priscilla continued to live in Paris with her French father, mother, and brother until she moved to America at 6 years old. She trained with many of the finest ballet schools in the world. She began her formal classical ballet training with the Montgomery Ballet under the instruction of Oscar Antunez, Stevan Grebel, and her mother. When she was 13 years old she received a full tuition scholarship to The Houston Ballet summer intensive, training under Ben Stevenson, Clara Cravey, and Fernando Bujones. The following 2 summers were spent in New York where she received a full tuition scholarship to the American Ballet Theater, training under Kevin Mckenzie, Rebecca Wright, Leslie Brown, Hilary Cartwright, Cynthia Harvey, Susan Jones, Bonnie Mathis, Brian Reeder, and Lupe Serrano. She performed the lead role of Kitri in ABT’s final performance at Lincoln Center. The summer following that Priscilla went to the prestigious School of American Ballet in New York where she once again received a full tuition scholarship. She trained under Peter Martins, Peter Boal, Suki Schorer, Kay Mazzo, Susan Pilarre, Andrei Kramerevtsky, Jock Soto, Katrina Killian, Darci Kistler, and Sean Lavery. She left Alabama at the age of 16 after being offered a full tuition scholarship to attend the year round program at The North Carolina School of the Arts where she had the honor of training under Melissa Hayden, Nina Danilova, Warren Conover, Fanchon Cordell, Kee Juan Han, Frank Smith, and Christine Spizzo. At NCSA, she majored in dance and ended up graduating high school there. That summer, Priscilla was once again offered a full tuition scholarship to attend the School of American Ballet in New York. She was placed in the Professional Division under Peter Martins and was one of two girls asked to stay for the year round program under a full tuition scholarship. She attended the year round program and performed in the Final Workshop Performance at Lincoln Center. That summer, Peter Boal offered Priscilla a full tuition scholarship to the Pacific Northwest Ballet. She was then asked to be a part of the Professional Division which she accepted where she trained and performed with the main company. Her teachers included Peter Boal, Kelly Boal, Nicholas Ade, Elaine Bauer, Marisa Albee, Bruce Wells, and Sonia Dawkins. Priscilla was offered a professional contract with the Los Angeles Ballet under Thordal Christensen and Colleen Neary, where she stayed for two seasons. The following year, Priscilla was offered a contract with the Ballet de l’Opera National de Bordeaux under Charles Jude in Bordeaux, France. She was there for one season and decided to freelance with various ballet companies after that, while at the same time continuing to travel the world as an international model and actress. During her prolific performing career, Priscilla danced the leading roles in many classical ballets, most notably the principle roles in “The Nutcracker”, “Swan Lake”, “Sleeping Beauty”, “Don Quixote”, “Firebird”, “Romeo and Juliet”, “Symphonie Concertante”, “Four Temperaments”, “Bouree Fantasque”, “Symphonie in Three Movements”, “Who Cares” and “Midsummer Night’s Dream.” She worked with many renowned choreographers including Christopher Wheeldon in which she performed his “Scenes de Ballet” at New York City Ballet’s New York State Theater, Twyla Tharp in which she performed her “Waterbury Bagatelles” with the Pacific Northwest Ballet, Christopher Stowell’s “Swan Lake” and “Nutcracker” and Melissa Barak’s “The Thing They Do Not Speak Of.” She performed as the original cast in Peter Quanz’s ballet for the New York Choreographic Institute. She also performed original roles in Elie Lazar’s “Surrender to Love” and “Fedora” that she performed at the Pietrasanta de Danza International Festival in Pietrasanta, Italy. Priscilla’s favorite role of all time is “Odette” in “Swan Lake”. Priscilla is so happy to be settled back in Alabama after traveling the world for most of her life. She is passionate about teaching and sharing her knowledge and love of ballet with aspiring young dancers. 

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.

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.

Meghan Lyman

Ballet & Jazz Teacher

Meghan Lyman received her classical ballet training for 15 years at the Huntsville Ballet in Huntsville, AL. Currently, she is continuing her training at Troy University in Ballet, Contemporary, and Musical Theatre. While at Troy, she has trained under the direction of Dominique Angel, James Boyd, Thang Dao, and Adrienne Hicks. Throughout her dance career, Meghan has performed various roles including “Shepherdess” soloist, “Spanish” soloist, and “Snow” demi-soloist in Huntsville Ballet’s “The Nutcracker,” as well as “The Fall Fairy” in “Cinderella.” Since attending Troy University, she has performed in numerous original works including choreography by Katey Fleming, Brynt Beitman, and Troy University’s production of “Mamma Mia.” These works have been performed at various festivals, including CDC Fest in Orlando, FL, and ADF in Birmingham, AL.

Sarah Paterson

Ballet Teacher

Dancing since the age of three, Sarah tried out different styles and quickly found her love of ballet. Sarah began dancing with Alabama River Region Ballet at the age of six, and continues her training through ARRB and its faculty. Sarah has been training and performing with the Alabama River Region Ballet Youth Company for six years now. As a member of the Youth Company, Sarah has attended workshops at Troy University's "Day of Dance," trained with renowned guest artists, and has participated in special performances all while learning from incredible mentors. Sarah has performed various roles in ARRB’s “The Nutcracker,” including the lead roles of "Clara" and "Sugar Plum." She has been included in other performances such as Vivaldi's "Winter,” "Creek Indian Odyssey," excerpts from "Sleeping Beauty," "La Bayadere," "Giselle," "Les Sylphides," and "Swan Lake." She danced the role of "Aurora" in "Sleeping Beauty." 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 (ACES). Sarah has been an assistant teacher with Alabama River Region Ballet for 3 years and taught Creative Movement this past year. She has also been an assistant in the Fairytale Ballet Camp during the summer. Sarah is currently a senior at Evangel Christian Academy and plans to attend college and become a professional ballet dancer.

Erin Waggoner

Ballet & Jazz Teacher

Erin began dancing at the age of four and enjoyed all forms of dance. Two years later, while attending ARRB's Fairytale Ballet Camp, she discovered her love for ballet and informed her parents that this would be her new dance school. She has trained in the Alabama River Region Ballet School for 8 years and has been a dancer in the Youth Company for 6 years. Erin has attended workshops with Troy University, Alabama Dance Festival, 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 Nutcracker," including "Sugar Plum Fairy," "Dew Drop Fairy," "Candy Cane Soloist," "Chinese Soloist," "Snow Corps de Ballet," and the "Ballerina Doll." Other performances as a dancer in the ARRB Youth Company include "Creek Indian Odyssey," "Aurora" and "Diamond Fairy" in "Sleeping Beauty," and excerpts from "La Bayadere," "Giselle," "Les Sylphides," and "Swan Lake." She performed the Act III "Kitri" variation from "Don Quixote" as a guest artist at Bright Method Studios and placed in ACES (Artistic Competition for Exceptional Students). Erin has attended summer intensives with Alabama River Region Ballet, as well as with The Washington Ballet, Nashville Ballet, Alabama Ballet, and American Ballet Theatre. She has been an assistant teacher, at ARRB, for Fairytale Ballet Camp, Creative Movement, Elementary Ballet, and Beginning Jazz. 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 dancing at the age of two and has continued her dance training with various studios across the world as a military child. She has performed in "The Nutcracker" every year since 2008 and has had the opportunity to perform roles including "Dew Drop," "Snow Queen," "Spanish Soloist," "Doll," "Snowflake," and "Flowers." She has also danced in productions and excerpts of "The Sleeping Beauty," "Coppelia," "La Bayadere," "The Wizard of Oz," "Cinderella," and "Faust." In addition to her ballet training, Sophia has danced in many contemporary and student-choreographed productions, including originating pieces for "Echo and Catalyst" for IMPACT Dance Company. After joining Alabama River Region Ballet's Youth Company in 2021, she has had the opportunity to participate in Troy University's "Day of Dance" and compete in the Artistic Competition for Exceptional Students (ACES). She has attended summer intensives with local studios and the Nashville Ballet. She has been a student-teacher for two years at previous studios and for one year at ARRB, mainly in the Pre-Ballet classes. She also has assisted in teaching for ARRB's Fairytale Ballet Camp. Sophia currently attends Montgomery Academy and plans to attend college in the future.

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!