Meet Our Instructors
Patti Herm
Patti Herm, Director, holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Dance Education and a Master of Arts in Dance from Western Michigan University. She began her study of dance in Grand Rapids at the age of 3 and took classes from Margy Jones and later from Sally Seven, founder and former director of the Grand Rapids Ballet. While a dance student at WMU, Patti danced in all three ensembles: University Ballet Theatre, Repertory Dance Company, and University Dancers. After graduation she taught vocal music in the Paw Paw and Portage Public Schools for five years as well as teaching dance for Portage Community Education, YWCA, and the Kalamazoo Parks and Recreation.
Patti has continued her study of ballet and other dance styles throughout the years. She has studied extensively the Vaganova (Russian) method of ballet teaching through attendance at the Russian Seminars taught by the late Jurgen Schneider, former ballet master of the American Ballet Theatre of New York City. She has also attended seminars taught by world renowned David Howard and Finis Jhung.
Patti's expertise in working with young children began at the Creative Learning Fair in Kalamazoo, a summer arts program. She has choreographed 24 musical productions for the Otsego high School vocal music program between 1997-2006. She has also choreographed for the Kalamazoo Civic Theatre summer productions as well as the Kindleberger Festival in Parchment. She is co-director with Julie Spiech of the competition dance team.
In December of 2000, Patti co-choreographed with teachers Julie Spiech and Catherine Smith, this area's first full length production of the Nutcracker Ballet. This famous ballet was again presented in December of 2002, 2004 and 2006. Patti resides in Otsego with her husband, Jim, and three children, Kelli, Kyle, and Kathleen. Her hobbies include singing, reading, and sports. You can contact miss Patti at misspatti813@gmail.com.
Cindi Bosma
Cindi Bosma
Cindi Bosma has been teaching ballet and lyrical dance at Patti Herm School of Dance for 12 years. She has co-choreographed six productions of the Nutcracker Ballet since 2004. Her specialty is in choreographing the Snow and Grand Pas Deux’s in our bi-annual production. Cindi has choreographed for the PHD Competition Team for the last eight years. Her beautiful and innovative choreography for dances has won numerous regional and national awards.
Cindi graduated Western Michigan University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Dance. For two years she danced with the Capitol Area Ballet Theatre in Lansing , Michigan . Cindi was a senior member and demi-soloist with the Grand Rapids Ballet Company for two years. Prior to teaching at our dance school, Cindi taught ballet and lyrical dance for eight years at the former Dance City in Portage, Michigan.
She has performed in and choreographed many ballet productions at Young Michigan Dances in Coldwater, Michigan. Cindi is a dental hygienist in Parchment and Otsego and resides in Plainwell with her husband Andy and daughter Kenison.
Gabrielle Hunter
Gabby Hunter began teaching at Patti Herm School of Dance in April of 2013. She was born and raised in Walled Lake, Michigan and began her dance training at the age of three. She started dancing at Dance Dynamics Performing Arts Center in Walled Lake. She continued her training at Big City Dance Center in Wixom, Michigan where she attended many workshops and received many awards and scholarships. At a young age, Gabby performed at the Detroit Opera House and the Fox Theatre in productions of the Nutcracker as well as dancing at Disney World.
During her years at Big City Dance Center, Gabby worked with many commercial choreographers such as Sonya Tayeh, Tokyo, Gregg Russel, Darcie Mapel, KC Combs, Dennis Caspary, Mandy Moore, Allen Cooper, and Tara Foy.
After high school, Gabby majored in Dance and Psychology at Western Michigan University. While there, she performed in the annual Winter Gala Concerts for three years. Her performances included a reconstruction of Loie Fuller’s La Mer, Kirsten Harvey’s Self I Said, and she performed as a member of Western Dance Project (WMU’s dance touring ensemble). Gabby graduated in 2014 with a Bachelor of Arts in Dance as well as a Bachelor of Science in Clinical Psychology. Gabby has taught all styles of dance since 2010. She choreographs many of the competition dances for the PHD Competition Team. Her dances have won many top awards the past three years. She hopes to inspire dancers to be the best they can be in all aspects of life while sharing her love and passion for dance.
Christy Schwartz
Christy grew up in Otsego and was a student at our dance school for 14 years. After graduation from Otsego High School, she attended the University of Central Florida and then returned to Western Michigan University to complete her Bachelor of Arts degree in Criminal Justice. She completed her Master of Arts degree in Sociology at WMU. Christy joined the staff at our studio in 1996 and teaches pre-ballet and beginning tap. She has choreographed musicals at local high schools including Kalamazoo Central, Loy Norrx, and Kalamazoo Christian. She has held several different positions at KOHL'S department store, and resides in Kalamazoo with her husband Mike and daughters Mia, Nora, and Ruby.