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Young dancer wins Nutcracker role despite hearing impairment - KansasCity.com
The Kansas City Ballet’s performance of “The Nutcracker” always provides plenty of holiday fantasy. But one little angel is giving this year’s production a special magic.
You can see “The Nutcracker” and a ballerina who has overcome amazing odds at 1 and 5 p.m. today or at any of the other 13 performances through Christmas Eve at the Music Hall, 301 W. 13th St.
You’d never know it to watch her dancing to Tchaikovsky’s intricate score, but 9-year-old Gracie Hooks, who plays one of the angels, was born deaf.
“She’s profoundly deaf,” said her mother, Lauren Hooks. “But with Cochlear implants, she can hear like someone with a mild hearing impediment.”
Hooks and her husband, who are both full-time ministers at the Kansas City Church of Christ in Lenexa, discovered their daughter was deaf when she was very young.
“She was only 18 months old,” Hooks said. “By the time she was 2, she got her first Cochlear implant. With Cochlear implants, she has a different life than she would have otherwise. It’s allowed her natural talent for dance to come out.”
The electronic device has given a sense of sound to thousands of deaf children and adults, but the implant does not perfectly restore hearing. Recipients, especially children who have not yet learned language skills, must undergo extensive training to understand words and how to say them.
“Gracie attended the St. Joseph Institute for the Deaf in Lenexa, where they focus on teaching the deaf how to speak and listen,” Hooks said. “She would not be where she is today without that school.”
Ramona Pansegrau, music director for the Kansas City Ballet, has experience working with deaf dancers.
“When I was in Tulsa, we did outreach with one particular school that had four deaf children,” she said. “I set up a whole system with our tech guy that used a portable battery with different colored blinking lights to indicate different beats. But with Cochlear implants, Gracie doesn’t need that.”
Dancing in “The Nutcracker” is a dream come true for Gracie.
“It’s been a great experience,” she said. “When I was little, I saw it with my whole family. I was scared, but I don’t know why. I guess it was all the fighting between the Nutcracker and the Mouse King.”
Now she loves the holiday classic and, from all reports, is doing a stellar job.
“She’s doing great,” Pansegrau said. “You can’t tell any difference between Gracie and the other young dancers.”
Her mother is also pleased with her “Nutcracker” experience.
“The people at the ballet say she listens very well, and that makes us so proud,” she said.
Hooks, who says it was her daughter’s idea to audition for “The Nutcracker,” sees ballet in Gracie’s future.
“She’s athletically gifted and slim, but she’s got these legs. Even when she comes home from rehearsal, she’s still dancing. At home she tries to do what the big dancers do, spinning and jumping high. She’s a motivated little girl. I definitely think she’ll be doing this for a long time.”
The Kansas City Ballet’s performance of “The Nutcracker” always provides plenty of holiday fantasy. But one little angel is giving this year’s production a special magic.
You can see “The Nutcracker” and a ballerina who has overcome amazing odds at 1 and 5 p.m. today or at any of the other 13 performances through Christmas Eve at the Music Hall, 301 W. 13th St.
You’d never know it to watch her dancing to Tchaikovsky’s intricate score, but 9-year-old Gracie Hooks, who plays one of the angels, was born deaf.
“She’s profoundly deaf,” said her mother, Lauren Hooks. “But with Cochlear implants, she can hear like someone with a mild hearing impediment.”
Hooks and her husband, who are both full-time ministers at the Kansas City Church of Christ in Lenexa, discovered their daughter was deaf when she was very young.
“She was only 18 months old,” Hooks said. “By the time she was 2, she got her first Cochlear implant. With Cochlear implants, she has a different life than she would have otherwise. It’s allowed her natural talent for dance to come out.”
The electronic device has given a sense of sound to thousands of deaf children and adults, but the implant does not perfectly restore hearing. Recipients, especially children who have not yet learned language skills, must undergo extensive training to understand words and how to say them.
“Gracie attended the St. Joseph Institute for the Deaf in Lenexa, where they focus on teaching the deaf how to speak and listen,” Hooks said. “She would not be where she is today without that school.”
Ramona Pansegrau, music director for the Kansas City Ballet, has experience working with deaf dancers.
“When I was in Tulsa, we did outreach with one particular school that had four deaf children,” she said. “I set up a whole system with our tech guy that used a portable battery with different colored blinking lights to indicate different beats. But with Cochlear implants, Gracie doesn’t need that.”
Dancing in “The Nutcracker” is a dream come true for Gracie.
“It’s been a great experience,” she said. “When I was little, I saw it with my whole family. I was scared, but I don’t know why. I guess it was all the fighting between the Nutcracker and the Mouse King.”
Now she loves the holiday classic and, from all reports, is doing a stellar job.
“She’s doing great,” Pansegrau said. “You can’t tell any difference between Gracie and the other young dancers.”
Her mother is also pleased with her “Nutcracker” experience.
“The people at the ballet say she listens very well, and that makes us so proud,” she said.
Hooks, who says it was her daughter’s idea to audition for “The Nutcracker,” sees ballet in Gracie’s future.
“She’s athletically gifted and slim, but she’s got these legs. Even when she comes home from rehearsal, she’s still dancing. At home she tries to do what the big dancers do, spinning and jumping high. She’s a motivated little girl. I definitely think she’ll be doing this for a long time.”
