With about 85 to 90 percent hearing loss in both ears, Zervas uses hearing aids to hear the music. But even with the aids, she can't hear the lyrics.

"I feel like I can express myself through movement," she said. "I can count."

Mary Devine Story, 40, co-owner of the Florida Ballet School, said instructors don't treat Zervas any differently from the other dancers.

"She's a very strong dancer," she said. "We expect as much out of Angela as we do any other student."

Devine Story said Zervas has beautiful extension and a remarkable sense of tempo and rhythm.

"If you came to class and I had 20 students, you'd never pick Angela out (as being hearing impaired)," she said.

She makes one adjustment to accommodate Zervas' disability: Because Zervas reads lips, Devine Story has to make sure she is looking directly at her before giving instructions.

"I don't want people to think differently of me," said Zervas.

Zervas moved to Clearwater from Philadelphia in July with her family, including her parents Tom and Carrie, and her sister Irini, 15. Irini is not hearing-impaired, but Angela was diagnosed with sensorineural hearing loss in both ears at the age of 3. The hearing loss, which is progressive, is the result of nerve damage, although doctors have not been able to figure out the exact cause, said Carrie Zervas, 42.

"We think that she had more hearing as a newborn," said Carrie Zervas.

Doctors told the Zervas family Angela would never speak, but she began speech therapy shortly after her diagnosis. She does not use American Sign Language, relying on lip reading and speech to communicate with people, her mother said.

"(We wanted a) normal atmosphere, a normal family environment," Carrie Zervas said. "We wanted her speech skills."

Because Angela Zervas can't talk on the phone, she relies on e-mail and uses her cell phone to text message old friends in Philadelphia and new ones in the bay area, just like other teenagers.

"People see I'm a normal person," she said. "I'm just like everyone else." Zervas has been in mainstream schools since preschool and has maintained high grades at Tarpon Springs High.

She does that while still dancing ballet at least 71/2 hours a week.

"Dancing ballet requires a great deal of time and effort," said Devine Story. "(Angela's) had to have particularly strong desire, dedication, focus and discipline to get to the level of dancer that she is."

Zervas took her first dance class when she was 8. Although she initially took ballet, jazz and tap, she decided at 11 to stick with ballet.

"I'm slow and graceful," she said. "(Other types of dance) are not my style, it's not me." Her most recent public performances were four pieces she danced in the Florida Gulf Coast Ballet Company's holiday show in December.

"She knows what her strengths are and she uses them to prove herself," Carrie Zervas said. That translates into her dancing.

"Sometimes if I'm sad or angry, I can go to (dance) class and by the end of it, I'll be just fine," Angela Zervas said. "It helps me vent a lot."

Zervas is auditioning for summer intensive dance programs all over the country.

"People are surprised a lot of times when they find out she's hearing-impaired," said Irini Zervas, who also dances.

Zervas usually doesn't tell people about her hearing loss. "I just don't want them to judge me right off the bat, let them find out later," she said.

Devine Story said she knew about Zervas' hearing difficulties when she first registered for classes, and was surprised someone who was hearing-impaired could perform ballet.

"(We were) that much more pleasantly surprised when we saw her dance," Devine Story said. "It's remarkable and it's a testament about how hard she works."

By Tiffani Sherman
http://www.sptimes.com/2006/01/15/Northpinellas/Gracefully_breaking_t.shtml