Day in the life: Kalian Smith

“It’s not work if you love what you do.”

This is how Kalian Smith reflected on 30 years of teaching tumbling and dance to droves of young pupils in the Creston area.

In her line of work, Smith wears a lot of hats on any given day. She is foremost a teacher, but also by necessity a stylist, housekeeper and office administrator, all in the name of serving the youth who study their craft at Leslie’s Dance Emporium in Creston, Osceola, and Mount Ayr.

“If you’re lucky enough to have a job you love to do, time doesn’t matter,” Smith said.

This is good for Smith, considering a typical day in the studio for her “can start anywhere from 8 or 9 o’clock in the morning and last until 10 at night.” For every public recital performed by her students, the preparation time required by Smith can be measured in weeks and months, rather than hours.

In preparation for a performance, students of all ages must learn dancing and tumbling skills that connect to the corresponding choreography of the upcoming show. This molding of the performers takes place during afternoon and evening classes, leaving morning and weekends for all the extra efforts.

The studios must be cleaned, finances organized, scenery designed, dancers fitted for costumes and choreography crafted.

“Probably doing choreography takes the most time,” Smith said. “I really don’t have time for hobbies. Keeping busy, I guess, could be my hobby.”

Though the process of designing and synchronizing the moves to each dance and tumbling performance can be grueling, seeing the progression of her students is what continues to stoke her passion.

“It’s the light bulb,” Smith said. “Seeing the light bulb come on in their heads when they realize they can do something is why I love to teach them.”

“Kalian has taught kids to tumble, tap and twirl. She has pushed them to be strong, be flexible and to do their best,” said Leslie Tyler, owner and president of Leslie’s Dance Emporium

“In her years of teaching she has touched the lives of children and families for three decades, inspiring them to work hard for their goals, celebrating their success, and showing them how to recover when things go wrong,” Tyler continued.

Smith’s legacy as a teacher stems from a lifelong background as a dancer and tumbler. She is certified by test through Dance Masters of America and safety certified through the United States Tumbling Association.

“I, myself, was a dancer,” Smith said. “I danced from when I was 3. Leslie and I took (classes) from the same instructor until she (the instructor) passed the studio on to Leslie. Then Leslie was my teacher my last couple years of high school, then I went to work for Leslie straight out of high school.”

Admittedly, tumbling is Smith’s favorite discipline to teach.

“Tumbling. That’s what I do. I was good at it as a kid,” she said. “It takes a lot more self-confidence I think. You have to be secure and confident in what you are capable of in order to do some of those things.”

As for her favorite age group to teach, Smith “probably enjoys working with elementary age the most just because everything’s fun,” she said. “They don’t have attitude yet. They’re still willing to try new things. If they crash they get up and go again.”

To every group of students, though, Smith gives the same timeless advice: “Just keep trying. If it doesn’t work the first time, if it doesn’t work the 20th time, just keep trying.”

All of Smith’s time and dedication is displayed in the skill and enthusiasm of her students, who have performed on a wide array of stages throughout the state and even the country. On three separate occasions, Smith and her pupils have performed at Disney World in Florida and once for a halftime show at Arrowhead Stadium, home field of the Kansas City Chiefs.

“The times we danced at Disney World were great,” Smith said. “And the time we took a lot of our studio to Arrowhead Stadium to do a halftime show. The performers were divided into pink, yellow and green costumes. There were like 15 studios who sent performers and our studio made up the entire yellow section. We thought that was awesome that we dominated the field.

“Between learning the routine, rubbing elbows with the cheerleaders and the fun of being on the field, I think that’s probably right now my favorite memory.”

A knee injury about a year ago prevents Smith from dancing now, but during those glory days she rarely, if ever, missed a chance to fine-tune her skills and instincts as a performer.

“I was way out of high school at the time but I performed as well,” Smith said. “How can you pass up that opportunity? I mean I couldn’t. I even danced on stage at Disney.”

Smith has been a pillar of the Creston area performing arts community for three decades as of this year, but has no definitive plans for retirement right now.

“It really doesn’t seem like it’s been 30 years,” Smith said. “I love working with the kids so, until something changes, that’s what I’m going to keep doing.”