Sunday, January 17, 2010

Kathy Lybarger's 7th Street Dance Studio





There's a place on 7th Street where nothing matters quite so much as
poise,
grace
and good humor.

It's where Kathy Lybarger has stood before generations of Alliance youngsters and taught them to feel the music, know their capabilities and to dance. It's a place where, even on the bleakest of winter days, there's always sunshine: two small arms arched overhead and occupying little dancers as their teacher slyly transitions to the next lesson.

Anyone who has attended 7th Street Dance Studio's annual spring dance recitals at the high school auditorium can't help but be impressed by Lybarger's choreography. But it is in orchestrating her classes, with even the tiniest dancers, that her talents are most apparent.

Her tuition prices are eye-popping for anyone who has ever enrolled in similar classes in a metropolitan area. She charges a mere $40 per month for a weekly class, $45 monthly for two classes per week, $48 for three classes, or $50 for four. And each student benefits from the years she has poured into this passion project that took shape in an old grocery market at the intersection of 7th and Grand. Lybarger is both owner and instructor. She is the essence of 7th Street Dance Studio, but she lets her students be the heart and soul.

There are no "difficult" students in Lybarger's studio, only children who trip her "fun meter." Any missteps or silliness are met first with laughter as light as air and then with a gentle but firm refocusing.

Lybarger conveys ease, confidence and humility that together provide the foundation for everything else she teaches: from classical ballet and tap for tots to lyrical ballet, pointe, tap and jazz dancing for her older students. Even the dancers who don't have their moves down pat come away with this understanding: One step at a time, give it your best shot and don't take yourself too seriously.


7th Street Dance Studio
Owner/Instructor: Kathy Lybarger
636 East 7th Street
(308) 762-8211

4 comments:

  1. I remember riding my bicycle by there often when delivering papers.

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  2. Thanks for reading, Ben. Please ignore the green hyperlinks. They are ads. I didn't put them there, and I'm not happy about them. When I add any hyperlinks, they appear orange/brown; those have something meaningful attached. Also, thanks again for nudging me to keep writing. Now that we're settled in, it should be easier to produce more consistently.

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  3. Great job. (I didn't see any green hyperlinks in this story, by the way. Were you able to remove them?)

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  4. nice 2011 dance recidal

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