'Dance is Work'
Gallup dance coach honored for hard work, positive program

Tiley leads a dance class Monday morning at the Starlette Dance Studio in Gallup. [Photo by Daniel Zollinger/Independent]

By Elizabeth Hardin-Burrola
Staff Writer

LIFE OF DANCE: Kristy Tiley leads a dance class Monday morning at the Starlette Dance Studio in Gallup. She instilled rhythm by counting "1,2,3 and you punch.... kick, 5 6 7, 8" as she led the children in a boxing theme dance. Tiley was recently given the "Making a Difference" award from the Soroptimist International of Gallup. [Photo by Daniel Zollinger/Independent]

GALLUP — The dance studio's shelves of trophies mostly first place and walls adorned with award plaques, photographs, and framed newspaper clippings speak to how successful Kristy Tiley has been as dance team coach.

But a poster hanging on the back wall of the dance studio speaks to the "why" of Tiley's success. "Dance is Work," it says simply.

In the 10 years since Tiley became the coach for the Gallup High School Bengal Dance Team and founded the Starlette Dance Studio with its competition dance teams, Tiley has taught hundreds of local girls, led dozens of them to state and national championship titles, and has inspired a few to follow in her footsteps as members of college dance teams.

For Tiley, hard work is the key to success.

"My motto is work hard, dream big," Tiley said in an interview on Monday. "I think you have to have the passion mixed with the hard work," she added.

Tiley's hard work was recently recognized by Soroptimist International of Gallup when the organization named Tiley as this year's recipient of the annual Soroptimist Making a Difference Award. Each year, the women's organization gives the award to a local woman who has made positive contributions to the lives of area girls and women.

The other three finalists for this year's award were Christine Abassary, Misty Fairchild, and Joyce Graves. Latrissa Overman, the president of Soroptimist International of Gallup, was also named Soroptimist of the Year.

Tiley was nominated for the award by Overman. In her nomination letter, Overman said she believes Tiley's dance programs have "helped to put Gallup, New Mexico, on the map" by being positive programs for girls and producing state and national award-winning dance teams.

"I was honored," Tiley recalled when asked about the nomination. "It's nice when people recognize your hard work. I didn't think I was going to win," she added.

But winning is something Tiley knows a lot about. The 1992 Gallup High School graduate earned a partial dance team scholarship to attend the University of Nevada at Las Vegas. And while a student at UNLV, Tiley coached her own award-winning teams.

Tiley, who is now an algebra teacher at Gallup High, took over the Bengal Dance Team 10 years ago and established the Starlette Dance Studio in 1999. She said two highlights of her career thus far include her GHS team winning the NMAA 5-A Championship in 2005 and her Starlette Dance Team winning Grand Championship honors in New York City, where the Gallup girls competed against teams from the East Coast, Florida, and Texas.

By coaching competitive dance teams in Gallup, Tiley said she hopes she will help other local girls obtain the opportunities that college dance team scholarships offer.

"I wanted to bring that back to the community," she said. According to Tiley, two former students are currently members of college dance teams.

Tiley said she had a number of talented dance and gymnastics instructors while growing up in Gallup, but she is particularly indebted to Sandy Roberts, her coach at UNLV.

"I learned about discipline, commitment, and just having determination and responsibility," Tiley said, who explained she tries to pass on those same values to her Gallup dancers.

With her nomination of Tiley for the Soroptimist award, Overman wrote: "Kristy does a lot more than teach them dance. She teaches these girls discipline, respect, pride and much more. She is constantly stressing self-respect and respect for her and the team." Tiley, who has master's degree in teaching, also stresses the importance of education, added Overman.

The girls on Tiley's competition teams work hard to meet her standards. This summer, Tiley said, those dancers are practicing about 12 hours a week as a team, with more individual practice time at home.

"That's the reason we are successful," she said, "because the dancers work hard."

Tiley said she is grateful to the generosity of the Gallup community and GHS administrators for their support of her teams and their fund-raising efforts. Tiley said she knows other communities and school administrations aren't always so supportive.

"Gallup supports its teams," she said. "I like that."

Tiley said she is also grateful to her parents, Joyce and Joe Herrera, who enrolled her in dance and gymnastics classes during her childhood and who, along with Tiley's husband, Mike, continue to be supportive of her career and goals.

One of Tiley's short-term goals is to take her GHS team and her Starlette Dance Teams to Hawaii's Aloha Spirit Championship next spring. Tiley's long-term goals include earning a second master's degree in educational administration and eventually coaching at the college level.