Our Staff
Keri Pierce
Owner
Keri Pierce began her dance teaching career at the age of 14 as a teacher's assistant to Robin Fincher at the then Rainbow Dance Gallery. She took over the business in 1992 and changed the name to Keri's Dance Factory. Keri has shared her dancing skills and love of teaching with students at KDF in Lindale for the past 27 years. In addition to her work at the studio, she has been director of the Lindale High School Star Stepper Drill Team for the past 15 years. Keri has a Bachelors of Science in Mathematics, is a Texas State Certified Dance Teacher, and in addition to her work with the drill team and dance programs at Lindale High School, she teaches high school math courses. She is married to Victor Elizalde and has 3 children, Quinton, Kerrigan, and Kortlen. Being a part of the Lindale community and the KDF family are two of her greatest joys in life!
Laura Ingram
Studio Manager
Laura became a Dance Mom in 1992 and fell in love with the dance world. She is the mother of three children, a son and two daughters and has seven grandchildren, who are the joy of her life. Both of her daughters, Callie and Macey took dance classes at KDF until graduating and proceeded on to be Apache Belles. Laura loves being the “studio Mom” to all KDF students. She enjoys crocheting, sewing, reading and playing the piano.
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Laura has managed the studio for 25 years and enjoys all aspects of the dance life. She began her work experience as a Billing Clerk for Central Freight Lines where she transferred into the Accounts Receivable department. From there she worked for Lindsey Morden Insurance Adjusters first as a receptionist, then secretary to a regional Vice President, and then Administrative Assistant to the Senior Vice President of the Legal Department.
Liz Short
Front Office
Hi! I'm Liz Short, I'm the awesome lady at the front desk! I have been part of the KDF family for the past four years. I have a daughter, Khloe, who has been taking dance at KDF since she was 4 and I also have a son, Noah, who has basically grown up at the studio. I married my high school sweetheart, Bruce, 11 years ago. We are proud to be part of KDF!
Callie Miller
Studio Director & Dance Instructor
Callie began her love of dance when she was 4 years old right here at KDF Dance & Gym (Keri’s Dance Factory). After her 15 years of dance education with KDF Callie attended Tyler Junior College where she was a member of the Internationally Famous Apache Belles serving as a Dance Captain her sophomore year. While under the direction of Ruth Flynn and Christy Evans Callie received her associates degree in dance. Afterwards she transferred to UT Tyler to get her Bachelor's degree in HR management. Callie is the director of our competition classes and dance teams. She has been an instructor for KDF since 2005 training children of all ages in jazz, tap, ballet, lyrical, contemporary and clogging. Under the direction of Ms. Callie the dance teams have won many prestigious awards several being named National Champions at the Dance Showcase USA competition.
Cassie Green
Dance Instructor
Cassie began dancing at KDF at the age of 4 and has been trained in Jazz, Tap, Ballet, Pointe, Lyrical, Clogging and Hip Hop. She has an Associates of Arts in General Studies and is beginning her second year in the TJC Ultrasound program. Cassie served as a Lieutenant of the Lindale High School Star Stepper Drill Team her Junior year and Captain her Senior year. She was also a member of the Internationally famous Tyler Junior College Apache Belles where she served as Dance Captain her sophomore year. Cassie has been teaching at KDF for 4 years and currently teaches Jazz, Tap, Clogging, Preschool, and Stretch and Technique. Cassie loves spreading her love and knowledge of dance to aspiring dancers of all ages! Cassie recently married her high school sweetheart, Tate.
Whitney Bacon
Twirling Instructor
Whitney began dancing and twirling at the age of two at KDF. In her sixteen years there, she competed on dance and twirling performance teams. She is a graduate of Lindale High School; while there, she was Head Drum Major of the Pride of Lindale, as well as Lead Majorette. From there, she attended Tyler Junior College, where she performed with the Touch of Gold auxiliary and served as Captain. She is pursuing a degree in Elementary Education from UT Tyler. Whitney currently assists
the Lindale Junior High majorette line. During the season, she travels across East Texas teaching color guard and twirling camps.
Kristi Poindexter
Cheer & Gymnastics Coach
Kristi grew up and went to High School in Lindale. She is married to Jim Poindexter and has one daughter, Kayla, who is currently a cheerleader at TJC. Kristi has a passion for the sport of Cheerleading and was the cheer coach at Cumberland High School where she took the team to the State UIL Game Day championship. The team placed in the top 20 in the Large co-Ed division for the state of Texas. For the cheer program Kristi plans to include elements of All-Star Cheer but a large emphasis on Game Day Cheerleading. She believes cheerleading is so much more than just cheering on your team. It also includes building self confidence, trust among your teammates and learning how to get the crowd involved with your spirit.
Destiny Miller
Hip Hop Instructor
Destiny grew up in Lindale, TX and began dancing at KDF Dance & Gym at the age of 7. In High school, Destiny was on the Lindale Star Steppers Drill Team for 3 years and was a Social Officer her Junior year and a Lieutenant her Senior year. After graduating High School in 2018, Destiny attended Trinity Valley Community College and was a part of the Internationally Acclaimed Trinity Valley Cardettes. She was also on their competition team called “Showgirls”. After graduating from TVCC, she then transferred to Stephen F. Austin State University. While she was at SFASU, she was a member of the SFA Dance Team. While on the dance team, she was awarded a DTU National Champion with her team!
Destiny is a recent graduate with a Bachelor’s in Business Administration.
She can’t wait to start this journey and teach dance where it all started for her!
Julie Anderson
Dance Instructor
Julie has been a member of the KDF Family for many years. In her seventeen years at KDF, she competed on the Twirling, Tap, Jazz and Production Performance Teams and served as the Assistant Twirling Instructor from 2002-2006. Julie was a member of the Lindale High School Band where she earned the title of Head Majorette for the 2004-2005 season. She graduated from Lindale High School in 2005. Julie continued her twirling career as a Kilgore College Twirler and become Drum Major and Head Twirler for the 2006-2007 season. She finished her undergraduate education at Texas A&M University (Whoop!) and completed her master's degree at Sam Houston State University. Julie is an active member of the United States Twirling Association, Texas Twirling Council and Once...Always Kilgore College Twirling Association. She is married to her high school sweetheart Chris Anderson and they have two children. Elizabeth and William. Julie loves all genres of dance, but her passion is being able to share the love of dance with all of her students.