Liberty Cronin: Dancing to Her Own Beat
Hearing loss doesn’t keep Liberty Cronin from performing in Tulsa Ballet’s “The Nutcracker.”
Liberty Cronin was 3 years old and had just gotten hearing aids when she saw her first performance of Tulsa Ballet’s “The Nutcracker” in 2019.
“She could hear the dancers’ feet,” said her mom, Candace. “She could actually hear them.”
Liberty was so taken with the ballet that she jumped up to dance in the aisle. “She got in trouble for that,” Candace said.
It was that December night, however, that changed the trajectory of Liberty’s young life. Every year the Tulsa Ballet performs “The Nutcracker” one night free of charge for area social service organizations and their clients through a program called Hope for the Holidays. When Candace saw “The Nutcracker” performance listed in a TSHA newsletter, she thought it might be fun to take Liberty. (TSHA — now The Center’s Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services — provides services for individuals who are deaf or have hearing loss.)
“I was a little reluctant to take her at age 3,” Candace said, “but she enjoyed it, and it held her attention.”
The type of hearing loss that Liberty has can affect her balance, so Candace took advantage of Liberty’s early interest and enrolled her in ballet, thinking it might help. She never imagined that dance and music would become Liberty’s way to express herself.
Rehearsing and performing “The Nutcracker”
Now age 9, Liberty has been dancing ever since the “aisle incident.” She auditioned for “The Nutcracker” in 2021 and was cast as a small pudding cake. This year she is a Hawk Angel, a part she loves. Liberty will be dancing with over 160 other ballet students this month.
Liberty Cronin as a Pudding Cake
“I feel happy when I’m dancing – and free,” Liberty says. “The snow scene in ‘The Nutcracker’ is my favorite.”
Even with hearing aids, it’s difficult for Liberty to hear the teacher during rehearsals, so she uses a device called a “Roger.” The Roger is a special microphone that the teacher wears that connects to Liberty’s hearing aids, allowing her to hear the teacher without added background noise and distraction. She also focuses on vibrations and uses her other senses, counting and memorizing the music as well as taking advantage of patterns and visual cues to learn her role. She practices at home as well. During the performance, Liberty can’t use a device, but by the time she’s on stage, she is more than ready.
Dancing with hearing loss at Tulsa Ballet CDE
Colleen Lahti, Center for Dance Education (CDE) administrative assistant with Tulsa Ballet, says that they have had other students who were deaf or who had hearing loss at the Tulsa Ballet’s CDE. “There’s something about how you use your other senses,” she says. “We’ve found that students who are hard of hearing or deaf have a different way of connecting to the music – it just flows out of them.”
Liberty shrugs off her hearing loss, even though her mom says that people are shocked that Liberty is so accomplished at tumbling and dance.
“I want to be a professional dancer when I grow up,” Liberty says.
Candace says neither she nor her husband have any connection to dance, but they are all in with Liberty’s dance passion, taking her to lessons and rehearsals several times a week.
“It’s a huge opportunity and learning tool for her,” Candace says. “It’s absolutely amazing. We let her make the decisions about trying out or going to the next level. We’re so proud of her. It takes a lot for someone with hearing loss. She’s come a long way.”
Lahti says the sense of community at the CDE makes the students feel that they’re part of a team. “It’s collaborative rather than competitive,” she says. “It’s a sacrifice to families with rehearsals and late nights.”
“I can’t think of one thing that’s negative. The dance instructors here are amazing,” Candace says. “They have high expectations, which helps Liberty with accountability and responsibility. They’re respectful and they treat others how they want to be treated. Tulsa Ballet has taught her a lot. She just loves it. If it hadn’t been for the night that we got our free tickets, I don’t think we would have paid attention to ballet. That one night changed our lives completely.”
