Cici's Hear to Dance
Cici's Hear to Dance
Cici is a young dancer with a cochlear implant and hearing aid training to be a professional dancer. When she was on our cover in Winter 2014, she was 12-years-old and had just finished her first summer intensive at the Dance Theatre of Harlem in New York. Today Cici, who is in 8th grade, was selected for pre-professional dance companies at the Center of Creative Arts (COCA) in St. Louis, Missouri, and once again had the opportunity to attend the Dance Theatre of Harlem last summer. It’s not always easy to be a dancer with a cochlear implant, but Cici, her audiologist, and dance teachers always find a way to make it work, from taping her FM microphone to her tap shoes to patching the FM into the sound system during a live ballet show. Cici wrote about her experience in NYC last summer in her blog, Cici’s Hear to Dance.
July 22, 2016
Dance Theatre of Harlem: Day 5
This morning I was on the subway trying to listen to my music through my Bluetooth Phone Clip, but the train was so loud I could barely hear my music. So, I changed my cochlear implant processor program. Once I found the right one, it completely blocked out the subway noise and made my music stand out. I was pleasantly surprised!I did my morning stretch before Ballet and Pointe rehearsals. I felt confident in Pointe today. My pirouettes were much cleaner.
The warm up for Jazz was very energetic and fun and also a serious core workout. The focus of Jazz today was to show your character. Technique is always important, but it was emphasized to use our personality and sass in our performance. Yay... I love to be sassy!!!
In Hip-Hop class, we added more to our Janet Jackson piece. This will be my first time doing a Hip-Hop duet. I'm proud of myself. I wasn't shy and decided to loosen up and enjoy the Hip-Hop experience. I did my best in a style of dance that I don’t usually perform... in public! I had a GREAT DAY!!!!!!
#overcomingobstacles #deafdancer #cochlearimplant #hearingaid #fmsystem #dancetheaterofharlem #coca #stlouis #muny #dance #ballet #hiphop #pointe #nyc