Kathy Lybarger has been dancing since she was 2½ years old, and hasn’t stopped for the last 56 years. After 23 years of dancing, she decided to turn her passion into her career. Her husband, Larry, bought her a small building in 1982 that sat right where Grand Avenue meets 7th Street so that she could open her own studio, and so she did. Thirty-three years later, her small business is still a success.

Before the building became the business we know today as the “7th Street Dance Studio,” it operated as a grocery store. Seven years passed between the closing of the grocery store and the opening of the studio. Needless to say, the building was in need of a little TLC. She quickly fixed it up and opened her now hometown-famous studio.

There wasn’t any specific reason that Kathy wanted to become a dance teacher, she just loved putting together choreography and turning simple moves into beautiful dances. After all these years, she still loves seeing the kids, and even the adults, get on stage and feeling good about themselves and what they do. When asked about what her favorite part about being a dance teacher was, she said she just loved to see the progress.

Although being a dance teacher seems like a fun career path, there is a lot of work that goes into it, just like any job. The studio runs 38 classes a week, and Kathy teaches 28 of those herself. In addition to the teaching, she spends one hour every morning cleaning up the studio and then she spends two hours at home working on new choreography to teach. She also has to spend time to pay bills, write letters home, do bookwork, and any other miscellaneous jobs that need to be done before having any time for herself.

Of course, there’s also the recital every year, which brings extra work. In order to put together a recital, planning, organization, creativity, and a lot of patience are essential. These aren’t always easy tasks, especially when she has to do this every day just to get ready for one day out of the year.

When asked if Kathy thought of herself and the studio as successful, she had one word: “absolutely.” After all, she was able to put three children through school and help support herself and her family with what she does. After running her studio for 33 years, being awarded “Person of the Year” by the Alliance community, putting on beautiful shows every May, and even taking several students to a weekend-long convention every year to compete and take class, she has a lot to be proud of and look back on.

So what does Kathy attribute her success to? She says, “Following through with decisions and just being fortunate enough to have a community that supports me.” After being lucky enough to be a dancer at this studio for 14 years, I would definitely say that I speak for most of the community in saying that Kathy is a cherished part of our town and a wonderful asset for the families and children. She’s amazing at what she does and, as dancers, she is so much more than our teacher. She is our role model, our second mother, and our greatest inspiration.