Jason McDole never spoke much growing up. But he listened and watched and learned, which is no mean feat when you have a nearly 80 percent hearing loss and want to be a dancer.

That path took McDole from Aliquippa to New York and back again to the Pittsburgh area. Now, students at Point Park University are benefitting from his considerable experience in New York, where he worked with notable choreographers such as Twyla Tharp, Robert Battle, Lar Lubovitch and David Parsons. That would be a success story for any artist, but McDole can only perceive loud pounding trucks or airplanes without his hearing aids; with the aids, he has 50 percent of normal hearing.

"Dancing gave me that voice without my voice," says McDole, who suffered his hearing loss at age 3. "It allowed me to express myself before I could really go out there and share. It's amazing how dancing has allowed me to become more articulate. I think it's because it allows you to develop your individuality so that you can become who you are. Dance helped me to trust myself."

McDole's intense brand of focus allowed him to pick up steps and quickly move on to add the music counts. As his dancing became effortless, so did the conversations, something that gives him just as much satisfaction today.

Now his choreographic talents will be on view at the Playhouse Dance Company's "Pittsburgh Connections," a showcase that will include works by Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre principal dancer Erin Halloran, Slippery Rock University assistant professor of dance Jennifer Keller, Point Park University faculty member Nicolas Petrov and Whitney Moncrief, a Point Park alumna and Artistic Associate for Hubbard Street 2.

McDole, 33, always maintained his Pittsburgh ties, and now he has come full circle.

It all began in Aliquippa, an old steel town that has seen better days.

"It's such a shame, the life and terms of the city are not quite as vibrant as they could be," he begins, mentioning that his mother's side of the family still lives in nearby Hopewell. "But the families are still intact -- the Italians and Serbians and food. It's almost a contradiction."

He grew up watching his older brother and cousins play football while the more compact McDole got into movement as a gymnast. Then a bout with Osgood-Schlatter's Disease, joint pain that can occur during children's growth spurts, halted his athletic career.

As he recovered, dance wasn't the immediate alternative, although his grandmother always wanted him to pursue it. McDole sampled soccer and tennis before his grandmother's persistence finally prevailed.

"I finally gave in and walked into my first class," McDole says of his time at Paula Scriba's studio in Rochester. "I walked in not knowing what to expect. But I remember wearing sweat pants, long white tube socks and a really oversized red tee shirt and took a ballet class with my socks hanging over my toes."

"I knew instantly once class was over," he says with conviction. "I think it was the movement I was looking for, but it was also satisfying my innate qualities, which are precise and particular. Ballet technique called for that -- it was challenging for me. It made complete sense to me."

He stayed for two years. "I had a great teacher that let me go -- those are the best." Then he decided "to come Downtown and take class."

Next came a three-year stint with the CLO mini-stars, whose roster then included "Heroes" villain Zachary Quinto. "That was great," he enthuses.

"It really gave me a taste of a pre-professional experience in terms of performing and rehearsing and being among really talented people."

McDole left CLO for the Pennsylvania Governor's School for the Arts, which became "the turning point for understanding my commitment that I needed to make. I realized I wasn't a kid anymore." This past summer he received an alumni award and told the audience that "coming to Governor's School made me realize how much I really loved to dance and how hard it is. I learned the ultimate sacrifices that need to be made and the ultimate steps to make that leap."

He next explored Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, where "it was so serious -- I loved it. You walk in the room and you could hear a pin drop."

Although he was accepted into PBT's Schenley full-time program, he opted to stay connected with his Hopewell friends during his senior year.

Commuting in an '85 Honda Accord, McDole attended the half-day program at Point Park, where he studied with Roberto Munoz. He also got to perform with some "heavy-hitters of dance" in the college program.

The experience helped him get accepted to "loud and crazy" New York University and "pristine" Juilliard. He chose Juilliard, which gave him a full scholarship.

He went in as one of 24 in a class that graduated 16 -- those who didn't make it were asked to leave. For McDole, who describes his work ethic back then as "pretty hard core," it was a chance to find himself and "to be stable in a vibrant and unpredictable city."

During McDole's Juilliard years, his talents attracted collaborators such as Battle, with whom he found his creativity and developed a wonderful working rapport.

Battle became a member of David Parsons' company, and through him, McDole was accepted there shortly before his senior year, although he only made his professional move following graduation.

McDole stayed with Parsons for four years, after which he "was ready for a change."

"I was getting comfortable. I hate being comfortable with dance. If you're comfortable, something's wrong."

He made a quick transition from an "athletic, powerful, space-eating dancer" with Parsons to slow-moving adagios that "felt so good for the soul" with Lubovitch. "It was my other side of dancing that I didn't know existed."

McDole worked with Lubovitch for two years, "and then I met Twyla." Again it was through Battle -- a rather private audition on only a day's notice with two other dancers.

In came Tharp, looking familiar in gray sweats, an oversized T-shirt, white socks, high-top sneakers and a boom box. "She walked right past us, put the box down, put the music on and just started dancing."

An hour and a half later, Tharp hired McDole right there.

It was the beginning of five years with the prominent American choreographer, whom he calls "the top of the top." By the time she had her Broadway hit, "Movin' Out," she was "on her game again. Here she was coming back, reinventing."

Then Tharp opted to work with him on her new Broadway show based on Bob Dylan, "The Times They Are A-Changin.' "

"It was a phenomenal experience to build a show from scratch and I was there," says McDole. "It wasn't critically acclaimed, but it was a success for us. And I got to work with her in the studio for six weeks."

Even before the show ended, McDole had been thinking about the future for some time. After a brief substitute assignment at Point Park while visiting Pittsburgh, he was offered a position teaching modern dance.

"I wondered if education was for me," McDole says. "So I thought, 'Let me get uncomfortable and see what this is all about.' Point Park has a place in my heart and it's nice to inform the students as to what is expected of them in New York."

Dance department head Susan Stowe and her staff welcomed him with open arms. "Jason's the kind of person you like to be around," she says. "He has a great energy, one that translates in a nurturing, but demanding way with the students. And since he worked with different choreographers, he brings a wide variety of styles that he can pass on."

His cast in "Conscious" for "Pittsburgh Connections," is just as eager as he once was. As McDole notes, "They came to rehearse, curious and wanting to be there, and that was just a gift in itself."

First Published: November 15, 2007, 10:00 a.m.