Dance Instructors

Diggs School of Dance currently employs five teachers with extensive training in all forms of dance. The teachers work together to align curriculum throughout the classes to ensure a quality dance education for the students.

Hope Andrews Hunter is a native of Gloucester, Virginia and began studying at Diggs School of Dance in 1993. She performed a variety of solo and ensemble roles in ballets such as Giselle, Nutcracker, and The Snow Maiden with Bayside Youth Ballet. Ms. Hunter attended Shenandoah University and graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor of fine arts in Dance Education with a minor in psychology. Hope has choreographed for a variety of musicals and dance companies as well as directed dance programs at two camps in Pennsylvania. Ms. Hunter teaches dance for the dance magnet programs at Woodside High School and Huntington Middle School in Newport News while continuing to dance and choreograph for Bayside Youth Ballet.

Teresa Bracken is a native of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She has been performing and teaching dance for the past 15 years. Teresa holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She has performed with Walt Disney World and the Conservatory of Dance Arts in New York. Teresa has served as a dance instructor for 100 Miles Off Broadway, Center for the Arts, Chester Valley Dance Academy, Darlington Fine Arts Center, Creative Dance and Movement, and numerous elementary schools, day camps and day care centers. She has been a teacher at DSD for five years.

Debbie Diggs is the Director of Diggs School of Dance and manages the studios in Gloucester and Mathews. She has been teaching dance for 30 years, 20 of which have been here in the Middle Peninsula. Debbie received her dance training from Ballet Florida, Ballet Royal, Cecchetti Council of America, Joffrey Ballet, and Atlanta Ballet. She has studied with Marie Hale, Lea Darwin, Gus Giordano, Alvin Ailey, Jo Rowan, and Edith Royal. Her teacher training has included Dance Masters of America, Cecchetti Council of America, the Vaganova School of Teaching, University of Nebraska, and Kent State University.

Danile Giesy began her training in Norfolk, Virginia. She has been performing professionally since 1981 and teaching dance since 1983. Danile has performed with Chamber Ballet, Ballet Tidewater, Young Audiences of Virginia and Richmond Ballet. She has taught for Tidewater Ballet, Chamber Ballet, and the Governor’s School for the Arts, and is currently teaching at TRDance Center and for Adult Dance Camps in Richmond. Danile is also a certified Pilates instructor. She is Co-Director of Bayside Youth Ballet and has been a teacher at Diggs School of Dance for nine years.

Rachel Morris, a native of Mathews County, Virginia, has been studying at Diggs School of Dance since 1986. Rachel has performed with the Bayside Youth Ballet Company since it's creation in 1993. In 2000 she moved to Prince Edward County but continued to work with Diggs School of Dance for various alumni performances and dance camps. While in Prince Edward County Rachel taught ballet, pointe, jazz and tap at Five Pointes Dance Center. During the six years there Rachel also performed with and choreographed for the "Emberz" Dance Competition Team. Now residing in Gloucester County Rachel teaches art at Poquoson Middle School and is thrilled to be working with Diggs School of Dance and Bayside Youth Ballet again.