She was a dancer, but she couldn't go en pointe.

Something happened. A hesitant step, some detritus on the stage, a fall.

A ballerina who could not go en pointe.

She could teach. And she did. Youngsters who flocked to her, and loved her as she gathered them around. She could dance. But she could no longer go en pointe.

So she acted, and she did dance in the plays that needed it.

She was trying for a part now. With some dancing.

Her mother died last month.

She still could not go en pointe.