here it is, logan.

Listening with her Heart

By Laura Mandanas | photography by Katharine Sidelnik

"Baby Got Back" by Sir Mix-A-Lot. "Boogie Shoes" by KC and the Sunshine Band. "Hey Mama" by the Black Eyed Peas. Although Gina ---- is a dancer, she has never heard so much as a single note of any of these insanely danceable songs-or any song, for that matter. ---- has been profoundly deaf since she was six months old.

---- is a dancer in the RIT/NTID Dance Company. Several nights a week she and a dozen or so members of the troupe get together to rehearse under the direction of Thomas Warfiled. They are a mix of hearing, non-hearing, and many varying degrees of hearing between the two. ---- happens to be non-hearing. She explains, "If a lion roars right in my ear, I won't know he's right by me...[unless it's] close enough to feel soft vibrations."*

Although dancing in a company has been a lifelong dream of ----'s, it was only recently that was was able to realize it. Though she had previously auditioned to be in dance companies near her home, the studios seemed to look only at her disablility rather than her dancing. After all, how could she be expected to keep in rhythm with dancers that would be taking their cues from something she'd never even heard?

Sarah Clark, a third-year digital imaging and publicity student, encountered similar obstacles before she joined the troupe. The first dance studios she wanted to enroll at wouldn't accept her; she persisted, however, and finally was able to attend classes at a studio called Patty's Place. She was the only deaf student there. Clark recalls the experience, saying, "It was a very big challenge. [In hearing dance studios, they] don't look exactly at you. I could read lips when I looked at the mirros, but mostly I just watched their feet."

"Here," Clark says, "It's not a problem. This studio is one of the best I've been to. Directions are given in both sign language and voice; it makes it easier to pick up exactly what to do." Her favorite part is when the company does ballet. "Ballet is so elegant, so poised, so magical," Clark says, smiling. "It just makes you feel like you're dancing on a cloud, dancing freely."

Ballet isn't all they do here, though. Drawing inspiration from many sources, their choreography incorporates elements of many forms of dance into an appealingly eclectic visual medley. Says Clark, "It's very enriching, very challenging to perform here. There are a lot more movements...it was just basic dance movements when I started out, but now there's gymnastics involved-tumbling, pas de dukes, partner lifts and spins." This spring they will be performing "Handamation," a performance that combines dance and sign language. It's not so far a leap, after all, from sign language to dance. ---- has noticed it; others have, too.

Yes, there are some types of music ---- wishes she could hear. Though she's not quite sure what she would like, she knows that she's attracted to music with strong rhythms and beats. "I guess I don't 'hear,'" says ----, "but my heart and I listen." And although she believes that music and dance are very related, ---- notes that people who dance from the heart can dance without music. "Just like me," she says, "I don't hear at all, but I can go with the flow of the others. I do what the teacher says, and then I do what my heart feels."

*For this reason, Gina ---- was interviewed primarily through e-mail; Sarah Clark was interviewed in person.

and I realize I forgot to answer your question, joyce - this was my first dance experience. I have been a dancer since I was a little girl ... in my heart.