LAURA HARRELL Studio Manager
holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts, and Master of Fine Arts degree from Sam Houston State University. She has been with Hunter Dance Center since December of 2016 and loves the home and family she has built here. In addition to her work at HDC, Laura is the Company Director and dance teacher at Dance Du Coeur in Sugar Land, Tx. Laura is also an independent choreographer. Laura has presented choreography at The Dance Gallery Festival (Texas/New York City), the American College Dance Festival, the Fringe Festival (Houston), Brazos Contemporary Dance Festival, and in the first ever, Art Saves Lives: A Cultural Conversation performance and educational outreach program in Nice, France. Additionally, she has set work at SHSU, Booker T. Washington High School, SJC, HCC, LSC, and West Texas A&M University. Laura served as assistant choreographer for Recked Productions site-specific project, Up For Air, and co-choreographed Tower and Super Nova presented by NobleMotion Dance at Zhilka Hall (Hobby Center, Houston, TX). Laura was a featured emerging artist by NobleMotion Dance, a 2017 Dance Source Houston Artist in Residence, guest choreographer for METdance’s Duo Program, and a 2017-2018 recipient of the Houston Arts Alliance Individual Artist Grant. Harrell has also served as an Adjunct Professor at San Jacinto College, Houston Community College, and Lone Star College teaching modern, ballet, jazz, composition, and dance history.
MARGO SMOLIK Administrative Assistant
is a Houston-based dance artist with over two decades of training. She has been a part of the Hunter Dance Center administrative team since 2022 and is passionate about the dance education and community here. She is currently working toward her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance at the University of Houston and performs with The Lockin’ Keez Dance Company. In addition to her dancing, Margo teaches at Dance Du Coeur in Sugar Land, TX and local studios in Houston. Over the past three years, she has shared the space with students ranging from age 2 to adulthood, teaching creative movement, jazz, hip hop, ballet and modern classes. She loves facilitating students’ discoveries and celebrating dance as an accessible, rewarding practice.
MADELINE MONTGOMERY Administrative Assistant
Holds a BFA in Dance from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music where she studied under Dierdre Carberry of American Ballet Theatre, Jieng Qi of Ballet West, and Tricia Sundbeck of Cincinnati Ballet. In addition to ballet, she has studied extensively in modern and jazz. During her collegiate training, her most notable performances include soloist in “Paquita”, soloist in Shauna Steele’s contemporary work “Falling Upwards”, and corps of George Balanchine’s “Serenade”, staged by Joysanne Sidimus of New York City Ballet. Previous training came primarily from Kansas City Ballet, where she had the opportunity to perform alongside the company in The Nutcracker. Throughout college and upon graduation she had the opportunity to dance in professional productions with Dayton Ballet and Virginia National Ballet. She is thrilled to now be part of the Houston dance community- especially Hunter Dance Center!
ELYSSA VEGA Administrative Assistant
attended Incarnate Word Academy and trained at Amy Blake’s Academy of Dance as a part of the company until graduation in 2016. She went on to dance at the University of Houston (UH) where she participated in the UH Dance Ensemble and narrated school shows in the Young Audiences Touring Company. She got the chance to be in several performances as well as travel abroad to Costa Rica to teach university students and assist with teaching repertoire. At the beginning of her time at UH she joined Dayton Academy of Dance studio in Davton, TX as an instructor and competition choreographer in all styles of dance. Elyssa graduated from UH in May 2020 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance and now resides in Pearland, TX. She was the former head director of the JV Lassos and assistant director of the Lariaettes at Dobie High School these past two years. Vega is a core dancer of Mezclada Dance Company and has most recently begun her own choreography and teaching business Momentum Movement in partnership with Lizzy Aguilera. She plans to continue to dance and grow as an artist and choreographer and continue to utilize her diverse dance experience to motivate, educate, and elevate dance students all around the Houston area. Vega is very fond of Hunter Dance Center and is extremely grateful to have newly joined the HDC staff!
SARAH LYMAN Aerial Program Director
is an aerial artist and alumna of the San Francisco Conservatory of Dance. She joined the Hunter Dance Center family in 2015 and has since served in a variety of capacities around the studio. Sarah enjoyed notable careers in both aerial arts and contemporary dance, appearing in performances with Houston Grand Opera, Open Dance Project, and various musical artists, including, Diplo and Major Lazer. After five years dedicated to training, performing, and teaching aerial arts, Sarah has come full circle as Aerial Program Director. Her comprehensive understanding of HDC’s aerial curriculum was achieved through working directly with creators Abby Flowers and Sunny Negless: beginning as a student, followed by their teacher trainings, and before long, side-by-side as an assistant. Flowers was instrumental in Sarah’s preparation for the role of Tinkerbell in Open Dance Project’s Peter and Wendy. She completed Paper Doll Militia’s Lyra Level 1 teacher training with Rain Anya, an industry leader in contemporary aerial dance education. Guided by Annie Arnoult’s masterful approach to pedagogy, Sarah has cultivated an integrative style of teaching that uses her classic dance background as a tool rather than an aesthetic.
JOSHUA DE ALBA* (Aerial)
is a Houston-based dancer and choreographer, originally hailing from Central Florida. Joshua received his Bachelor of Science in Theatre from Northwestern State University in 2016, and has since worked as dancer, artistic director, actor, singer, musician, aerialist, stage combatant, coach, & even as an event coordinator. Joshua began studying Aerial at HDC under the mentorship of Abby Flowers and Sunny Negless. Recent professional credits include Houston Grand Opera, Cirque Noir, The Theatre Under the Stars, Hope Stone Inc., NobleMotion Dance, Rogue Aerial – now in his fourth season as a Company Artist at Open Dance Project, Joshua is thrilled to have found a home at Hunter Dance Center and in Houston Texas.
JADE DEVAULT (Pilates)
Jade Devault is a Houston based professional dance artist, choreographer, movement educator, and Certified Pilates Instructor. She was first introduced to Pilates while acquiring her BFA in Performance and Choreography from Texas State University. Jade has discovered Pilates is vital to her own ability to remain injury free during her rigorous rehearsal and performance schedule. She is excited to share the unique benefits of Pilates and functional movement with others.
BRIT THETFORD DEVEAU (Pilates)
is the owner of DEVEAU Wellness Haus, a place where integrative movement & wellness meet through 1:1 coaching. Originally from Quinlan, Texas, Deveau has been an active member of the dance community in Houston for over a decade. She is a founding member & collaborator of two of Houston’s leading dance companies: Open Dance Project & NobleMotion Dance. Deveau has performed at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Ruth Page Center for the Arts, and the Alvin Ailey Dance Theater where she was recognized as a “beautiful and fluid dancer” (broadwayreview.com) in the Dance Gallery Festival. Deveau is currently on the Health and Wellness team at The Houston Ballet Academy & Hunter Dance Center teaching Pilates in group and private settings. Deveau holds a Master of Fine Art in Dance from Sam Houston State University and is comprehensively certified as a Peak Pilates instructor.
SONIA ENGMAN (House, Hip Hop, Tippy Toes)
is a choreographer, performer, educator and certified personal trainer with an emphasis in modern, ballet, and street/club styles such as Hip Hop and House. Sonia received her BA in Contemporary Dance with a minor in Arts Management in 2016 from the University of New Mexico where she had the opportunity to work with many artists such as Vladimir Conde Reche, Donna Jewell, Mary Anne Santos Newhall, and Erika Pujic. Sonia has performed principal roles in Shira Greenberg’s touring production of Nutcracker on the Rocks, in a multi-disciplinary/multimedia performance in the Alps of Austria, worked on many dance film projects, competed in hip hop battles individually and as a member of TigerStyle! dance crew, and performed in other live stage performances including the Young Choreographer’s Showcase at Symphony Space in New York City. Sonia has been a guest teacher at intensives and workshops throughout the southwest, choreographed works for the University of New Mexico and e2 Dance Company in Kansas City, and choreographed and produced many of her own stage and video works. Sonia now dances with Houston based In Full Affect and Assorted Flavas Crew, and is in her third season as an Open Dance Project company member. She views art as a means of social change and feels that expression through movement is a necessary part of life.
ATTICUS GRIFFIN* (Contemporary, Modern)
is a contemporary dance artist, performer, creator, and educator who began his formal dance training at age 18 in Fort Worth. He has his BFA in Contemporary Dance from The University of Texas at Austin. Before moving to Houston to join Open Dance Project in Fall of 2021, Atticus was the Color Guard Director at James Bowie High School, performed with NobleMotion Dance, and was a Ventana Ballet company member.
EMILY JESSE (Aerial)
trains, teaches, and performs on various aerial apparatuses including silks, trapeze, rope, and custom fabricated apparatuses. As an instructor, she works to empower students both in class and in their daily lives; a love of aerial allows people to accomplish goals they never believed possible. Prior to teaching at Hunter, Emily spent seven years teaching trapeze and fabric at VauLt. She completed fabric and trapeze/lyra level 1-3 teacher trainings with VauLt in Houston, TX and Paper Doll Militia’s Level 1 Aerial Silks in Oakland, CA. She has attended festivals including the Irish Aerial Dance Festival, Edinburgh Aerial and Acro Convention, and Frequent Flyers Productions’ Aerial Dance Festival with aerialists from all over the world, each one influencing her teaching style and training strategy. Emily is thrilled to be a part of Hunter Dance Center and to share her love of aerial arts with the Houston community!
TAYLOR MCANULTY (Acro Dance)
Biography coming soon!
MADELYN MANLOVE* (Ballet, Modern, Jazz, Floor-Barre®)
is a San Antonio native who began her training with Collective Dance Artistry. She received a BFA in Dance Performance and a minor in Kinesiology from The University of Texas at Austin where she studied with Charles O. Anderson, Erica Gionfriddo, Gesel Mason, Andrea Beckham, and Tina Curren, among others. In addition to being an experienced ballet and modern teacher, Madelyn is also an Advanced Lagree Fitness trainer and is looking to continue her passion for Lagree in a new city. She is an apprentice with Open Dance Project.
LINDSAY MAXFIELD (Aerial)
Lindsay Maxfield (she/they) has been coaching aerial and circus arts for over a decade, originally training and performing with Arizona Circus Center and Velocity Circus Arts. After spending time traveling to other Circus schools including Las Vegas Circus Center, iFly trapeze and New England Center for Circus Arts Lindsay specializes in unique apparatuses as well as lyra and trapeze. Lindsay found passion in coaching beginner Circus artists as well as advanced trapeze and doubles work and take particular interest in routine and performance choreography. Lindsay became a certified aerial rigger in 2016 and produced her first full production in 2018 with a cast of 35. Lindsay enjoys theatrical makeup and costuming and spends her down time with her partner and two cats!
LINDSEY McGILL (Ballet, MUNZ BARRE®)
was born in Houston, Texas where she trained at the Houston Ballet Academy under the direction of Ben Stevenson, Clara Cravey, and Priscilla Nathan Murphy. Since graduating from Houston Ballet, Lindsey has worked with Hope Stone Dance, Michele Brangwen Dance Ensemble, iMEE, Dominic Walsh Dance Theater, O Dance, NobleMotion Dance, The Next Stage Project, KDNY, and Dayton Contemporary Dance Company 2. In addition to teaching ballet to intermediate – professional level adult dancers at Hunter Dance Center, she teaches at Houston Ballet Academy and is beloved throughout the adult ballet community here in Houston.
SETH McPHAIL (Modern)
was born in Hartford, Connecticut, but escaped to Houston at the age of 2. Seth grew up in Friendswood, TX where he graduated high school and began his dance training at San Jacinto College South at the age of 18. He went on to obtain a BFA in dance from Sam Houston State University where he studied under Jennifer Pontius, Andy Noble, Dionne Sparkman Noble, Erin Reck, and Jonathan Charles. After graduating, Seth spend two years dancing at sea with Royal Caribbean Productions where he performed the musical Hairspray. Since returning, Seth has performed with Open Dance Project, NobleMotion Dance, Hope Stone Dance, and METdance. Recently, he had the opportunity to perform with Dark Circles Contemporary Dance at Jacobs Pillow’s in Massachusetts. Currently, Seth teaches dance at Hunter Dance Center.
FIRAT KAZBEK ÖZSOY (Ballet)
was born into a family of artists and started studying ballet at Hacettepe University National Conservatory in Ankara, Turkey. He is a graduate of the Hungarian Dance Academy in Budapest Hungary. He graduated with honors and moved to the United States at 19 years old. He danced with Delta Festival Ballet and worked with Fernando Bujones at Texas Christian University. He was invited to join the Houston Ballet under the direction of Ben Stevenson and Stanton Welch where he performed the roles of Ptolomy in Cleopatra, Jester in Cinderella, Cheshire Cat in Alice in Wonderland, Gopak in Nutcracker, Duet in Five Poems, Rooster in La Fille Mal Gardee, John in Peter Pan, Dr. Suess in Touched, Coyote in Tales of Texas, Pas de Cinq in Suite en Blanc, Jaguar in Fire Bird, Soloist in Ketubah, Soloist in Miraculous Mandarin. His repertoire includes roles in Dracula, Sleeping Beauty, Snow Maiden, Coppelia, Swan Lake, Don Quixote, Peer Gynt, and Romeo and Juliet, Manon, Gloria, Second Before the Ground, The Shadow, Madame Butterfly, Divergence, Giselle, La Sylphide, Merry Widow, Etudes and Graduation Ball. Mr. Özsoy teaches ballet to students and professionals at the University of Houston and guest teaches nationally and internationally. Fırat is a Professional Audio Engineer and Sound Designer working in theatre, dance, live concerts and film.
CAMEO RENEÉ (Broadway Bound, Tippy Toes, Ballet, Modern, Jazz)
born and raised in Kansas City, Missouri, danced at studios around the Kansas City area, and solidifying her training at DanceWorks Conservatory. It was there she decided to pursue a BFA in Dance and Performance at the University of Missouri – Kansas City and graduating with an emphasis in modern dance. Studying under faculty such as DeeAnna Hiett, Mary Pat Henry, Gary Abbott, and Sabrina Madison-Cannon she was given the opportunity to work with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Störling Dance Theater, and many more guest artist. After graduating Cameo relocated to Houston to further her training and pursue a career in dance. Since moving here she has been featured in the Tobe from the SWAT Concert Tour, Urban Souls Dance Company, and now in her 3rd season with Open Dance Project.
LORI RUTLEDGE (Aerial)
started teaching in the pole community with Sheila Kelley’s S Factor in 2009, then started taking aerial classes in early 2010 at Gyrotonic Houston. Once she became an intermediate-level student, she received formal teacher training in aerial fabric levels 1, 2, 3, and hammock condition for beginner through advanced levels in January 2012 through the course of the year at Vault Houston (formally Gyrotonic Houston). The following year she received formal teacher training for intermediate/advanced aerial fabric and taught all levels at Vault Houston through December 2016. She began teaching at Hunter Dance Center in December 2016 and The Artz (formally Vault Houston) in 2017 where she’s an assistant director for the adult program and teacher trainer. She has performed in local shows including performances with the Houston Grand Opera from 2014-2018.
JAIME GARCIA VERGARA* Dance Instructor (Modern, Aerial, Circus Arts, Musical Theater Jazz)
is a dancer from Cali, Colombia. Jaime began his dance journey with a Colombian folkloric company in 2010 where he studied various dance styles such as Salsa, Paso Doble, and Rumba. From 2013-2015 Jaime became a member of FrenetiCore Dance Company where he began to receive his introduction to Ballet and Modern dance techniques. During this time Jaime was also able to work with many incredibly talented choreographers including Jane Weiner, Jennifer Salter, Rebecca French, Laura Harrell, Ashley Horn, and Annie Arnoult. While at Sam Houston State University (SHSU) Jaime had the opportunity to work with Erin Reck, Jennifer Mabus, Dionne Noble and Joshua Peugh amongst other great choreographers. Jaime has a BFA in Dance and a Pilates Certification, teaches Latin, Modern, and Aerial at Hunter Dance Center and is in his third season with Open Dance Project.
SPENCER GAVIN HERING (Int/Adv Adult Ballet)
born in Munich, Germany, is the son of two professional ballet dancers. With a life immersed in the arts, Spencer began training with his mother Cecilia Hering in Redlands, California at the age of 16. After two years at Pacific Northwest Ballet School, he joined Ballet Pacifica in Irvine, California and has since danced as a principal artist with Maximum Dance Company/Ballet Gamonet, Dominic Walsh Dance Theater, Miami Contemporary Dance Company, Island Moving Co., State Street Ballet as a Principal, and Hope Stone Dance Company. Mr. Hering is a Co-Founding Director of iMEE, established 2009, where he danced as a principal artist for eight seasons.
Mr. Hering served as Island Moving Company’s (IMC) Associate Artistic Director, Resident Choreographer and Ballet Master for two seasons in Newport, Rhode Island. He was a Co-Founding member of the five week, summer dance festival, the Houston Dance Festival: HERE & NOW. Mr. Hering most recently served as Ballet Master for Vitacca Vocational School for Dance in Houston, TX 2018-2020 where he continued his passion for training and mentoring young artists.
Spencer draws inspiration from limitless possibilities, as well as boundaries. To bring curiosity, to cause wonderment and to provoke different thought is his arts’ purpose. To share his love, his voice and his interpretation of the world, is ultimately what he wishes to reveal. Through his life experiences as a dancer, Spencer has found infinite inspiration from time shared with other dancers, choreographers and directors. Mr. Hering is currently a faculty teacher at Houston Ballet Academy.
“We dance to actively engage, and inspire the audience’s mental perspective, to grow and evolve. The art of dance is primal, universal and can be voiced through an unlimited amount of movement… Infinite Movement Ever Evolving.” -S.G. Hering
CAROL SMITHERMAN ANGLIN (Modern-Horton Technique)
is a renowned ballet teacher, modern teacher, choreographer and adjudicator, with 40 years of experience. She was the founding Artistic Director of the Louisiana Dance Foundation and resident dance company, Louisiana Dance Theatre. Ms. Anglin received her MFA from University of Oklahoma’s School of Dance in 2019. As a Ballet and Modern teaching artist, Carol has taught globally in Russia, Europe, and Canada. She was one of 18 international teachers accepted to New York University to train with Mme. Claude Bessy and Serge Golovine, Directors of the Paris Opera Ballet School. She completed the Intermediate and Advanced Horton Pedagogy Courses at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center in New York (2011, 2017, 2020) and the National Dance Educator Organization’s Annual Conferences in Miami (2019) and virtually (2020, 2021).
BRENDEN WINKFIELD* (Hip Hop, Tap)
began his career on Long Island, New York. He began formal training of Tap, Jazz and Ballet at local studios before settling into the well known competitive studio, David Sanders Dance Dynamics. There he broadened his studies into modern, lyrical, hip hop and contemporary. Competing at countless dance conventions and earning titles like Junior Mr. Starpower gave Brenden unmeasurable competitive experience. He also gained the opportunity to perform in multiple large-scale shows like The Radio City Christmas Spectacular. After eight years of intense competition in New York, he moved to Houston, Texas where he now resides. Brenden was then hired by Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines and Princess Cruise Lines as a dancer and performer on their entertainment fleets. He went on to perform as a tap soloist in Tokyo Disney’s Big Band Beat in Japan, and was a top Academy Finalist on Season 14 of So You Think You Can Dance. Brenden is now looking forward to dancing on land, in the states, hoping to teach dancers what it takes to become a real performer.
*Open Dance Project Company Members/Apprentices photos by Lynn Lane.