A STAR SHINES BRIGHT IN THIS ‘NUTCRACKER’

Teen overcomes stroke, Down syndrome to dance in ballet this weekend

The parents of Northampton resident Alice Hawley — a 14-year-old with Down syndrome — didn’t know if their baby girl would ever walk, let alone dance.

But the middle schooler will plie and spin her way across the stage this weekend in the Pioneer Valley Ballet production of “The Nutcracker.”

“If someone told me when she was born that she’d be dancing ballet, I would have laughed. And then I would have cried,” said her father, Steve Hawley. “I feel so much pride in her. She’s doing better than we could have expected.”

Alice was born with plenty of barriers between her and the stage. Along with having Down syndrome — which often comes with low muscle tone and loose ligaments — Alice suffered a stroke after she was born. A blood clot from the placenta was sent through her heart and carotid artery, and lodged in three different places in her brain.

The stroke impaired motor control on the right side of her body. It took Alice four years and a great deal of physical therapy before she learned how to walk.

At 5 years old, she began to dance.

“We initially approached ballet because the training is similar to what she was doing in physical therapy,” Steve said. “The best kind of physical therapy is the kind you don’t know is physical therapy.”

When Alice thinks about the upcoming performances — which run through Sunday — she balls her fists, brings her arms to her chest and yells, “I’m so excited!”

“I think the best word to describe it is ” Steve said. “There are noises only teenage girls can make, and she makes them.”

During rehearsal, Alice’s smile has never left her face while on stage, said Pioneer Valley Managing Director Martha Potyrala.

“It’s just this open-face smile,” Potyrala said. “She’s really risen to every challenge. I’ve never heard Alice say she couldn’t do something.”

Down syndrome is a genetic disorder that causes a wide range of developmental and physical disabilities. About one in every 700 babies in the United States is born with it each year, which makes it the most common chro-

mosomal condition.

Alice’s determination amply illustrates people’s ability to achieve their goals in the face of adversity, said Josh Komyerov of the Massachusetts Down Syndrome Congress.

“I think the biggest thing to glean is just the ability for people with Down syndrome and other disabilities to overcome obstacles,” Komyerov said. “I think Alice is a perfect example of that.”

STAFF PHOTOS BY NICOLAUS CZARNECKI ‘SO MUCH PRIDE’: ‘If someone had told me when she was born that she’d be dancing ballet, I would have laughed. Then I would have cried,’ Steve Hawley says of his daughter, Alice. The Northampton father and daughter dance during rehearsal, above.

ON WITH THE SHOW: Alice Hawley checks her costume backstage, above, then goes over the party scene of ‘The Nutcracker’ with artistic director Maryann Kodzis at rehearsal, top.

‘I’M SO EXCITED!’ Alice Hawley curtseys backstage, right, then takes the floor for a dance scene with her father, Steve, above. The Hawleys share a hug onstage, above right, at rehearsal and a moment backstage, far right.