DATE: Sunday, June 22, 1997                 TAG: 9706210060
SECTION: DAILY BREAK             PAGE: E12  EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY JENNIFER JACOBSON, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   69 lines

TEEN-AGE DANCER HAS LEAPED PHYSICAL, EMOTIONAL BARRIERS

SIXTEEN YEARS ago, Matilde P. Deal had an innocent crush on ballet legend Mikhail Baryshnikov. She vowed then that her only child would study ballet.

Now she has a new favorite dancer.

However, Philip R. Deal's mother isn't his only fan. The talented 16-year-old has accomplished what many young Hampton Roads dancers can only dream about.

He has signed a two-year contract as a solo dancer with the Komische Opera in Berlin, where the average age for soloists is about 25. He'll leave his Virginia Beach home for Berlin in August.

In May, he finished a three-year stint as a student with the Kirov Academy of Ballet in Washington, D.C.

Philip and his family are surprised by his success, considering the obstacles he's had to overcome.

Doctors told Matilde Deal when she was pregnant that her baby would be born with severe birth defects. They predicted he would have no arms or legs. Matilde had been in a violent car crash and had taken medications that were harmful to unborn babies.

Doctors suggested she have an abortion. Matilde, a devout Jehovah's Witness, refused. She was prepared for whatever God gave her.

Philip was a miracle, she said, born with no major birth defects except for severely underdeveloped lungs.

But there was a setback when he was 9 - he was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis, a disease that causes respiratory distress. He was told he would not live through his teens. Doctors urged him to give up dance because it was too hard on his body.

However, Philip, who had been dancing since he was 2, never gave up on his mother's dream, which had by then become his own.

``It's my form of expression,'' Philip said. ``I express myself through my body. That's the way I speak. It makes me feel happy, complete.''

He kept dancing. Aggressive treatment of the disease has controlled his symptoms, and now he is expected to live a relatively normal life.

The only thing that ever separated Philip from his art was a car accident when he was 4. That took him out of the dance world for three difficult years.

He also did not always feel comfortable practicing his art in public. Philip was painfully shy until he was 8.

Neighborhood kids picked on him for being a dancer. However, Philip never let the fact that he was usually the only male in dance classes bother him.

``There are three things in my life that I'm obsessed with,'' he said. ``My faith, my family, my dance.''

His obsession with dance has led him away from Hampton Roads. After starting his career at Danceland in Virginia Beach, he needed more of a challenge.

He saw some Kirov dancers in a national competition and admired their technical skills.

``It got to a certain point that unless I left, I'd either have to quit or go to the next level,'' he said. ``And I went to the next level.''

Today, Philip is far from shy. He is a confident teen-ager who is proud of his accomplishments.

He'll finish his high school studies this summer, after being home-schooled all his life. ILLUSTRATION: Photos

VICKI CRONIS / The Virginian-Pilot

Philip Deal of Virginia Beach overcame cystic fibrosis to pursue his

dream of being a dancer.

Philip, 16, has signed a contract to be a solo dancer with the

Komische Opera in Berlin, where the average age for soloists is

about 25. KEYWORDS: BALLET PROFILE BIOGRAPHY

Send Suggestions or Comments to webmaster@scholar.lib.vt.edu