The Ballet Series

"Is it simply stage fright? Or will I never dance again?" In grief over her mother's death, twelve-year-old Gina vows never to dance ballet again.    Gina leaves her childhood home to live with the only family left to care for her, Uncle Gene. Months before the breakup of Russia, he accepts a job at the American Consulate in Leningrad, home of the famous Kirov Ballet Academy. As tensions rise in the city and Russia nearly breaks apart, Gina desperately tries to overcome stage fright.    On the day that President Gorbachev is arrested, the city erupts in panic and Gina becomes lost in crowds of people.   Will her uncle find her? Will she ever see her Russian friends again? Will she finally face her fears and dance again?

Travel to Paris with Gina, where she and Tina create their own ballets in the City of Lights.  After her adventures in "Grand Jeté," Gina continues working to become a ballerina at the School of American Ballet in New York City. Feeling inadequate and untalented, she longs for acceptance at the academy. In spite of new boyfriend Charlie, she misses her best friend, Tina, with whom she studied ballet in St. Petersburg, Russia.  After a serious incident, Gina's guardian Uncle Gene sends her to Paris, where Tina is in the corps of the Paris Opera Ballet. Together the girls explore Paris and create their own ballets in the beautiful city. While a series of terrorist attacks rock the city, Gina and Tina search for a place to perform so people can remember how beautiful the world can be.

A Parisian encounter that will change Gina's life. After six months of performing classical ballet in Paris, Gina finds herself sitting for Laurent in his studio. His quick sketches reveal a young dancer grieving her past. The two walk through Paris to a museum famous for its Impressionism collection. As she studies the paintings with Laurent, Gina reveals experiences which have shaped her present, leading her to what is next in her young life.