The little girl had actually lost her hearing at age 2, when she had a high fever.

How she became a dancer was a direct result of her enrollment at age 7 in a school for children with disabilities. There she met a teacher who would tap her heels rhythmically on the floor to communicate with the children, since they could feel the vibrations.

Tai's father, seeing how enrapt his daughter was at this tapping form of communication, bought the child some dancing shoes.

"The shoes gave me an ability to express myself without words," Tai says, using sign language.

Tai devoted herself to dance, seeing it as a way to express herself physically. When she was 15, she joined the China Disabled People's Performing Troupe.

Now, the 29-year-old dancer frequently travels abroad to perform with the group. Tai and her colleagues have danced at La Scala in Milan and Opera National de Paris. In May, the troupe received thunderous applause from an audience at the 2005 Aichi Expo in Japan.

One of the most popular performances by the troupe is "Thousand-Hand Bodhisattva." In it, 21 female dancers, all with hearing disabilities, move their arms and feet delicately to the rhythm, despite not being able to hear it.

During the show, the performers are instructed by two coaches, each standing at the stage wings, giving the dancers signals on how they should move. This way, the dancers know if they are moving to the music correctly.

The dancers, naturally, have a somewhat tougher time learning their routines than dancers with unimpaired hearing.

But Tai said, "We haven't lost our powers of expression."

Tai's appearance in February on a special TV program for the Chinese New Year vaulted her into the limelight in her native land. She is now considered one of China's leading dancers. From Dec. 1-4 this month, she even performed at the Great Hall of the People.

With many people in China unable to go for treatment for their hearing disabilities, especially the poor, much needs to be done about this problem, Tai says.

"After I retire from center stage, I would like to play a role in guiding children who have the same difficulties as I do," Tai says.

By Nobuyoshi Sakajiri
http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200512280131.html