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the New York City Ballet who would in time become one of the dearest and most supportive people in my life. Now she asked each of us to point first our right and then our left foot to the side as she assessed the curve of our arches. In ballet, a properly curved arch determines not only how your feet will move but also how they will look in pointe shoes. It was the lack of that arch that had prevented Sheila from becoming a ballerina, and I was now nervous that the right foot I’d injured in my riding accident would prevent me from being chosen.
    The next thing Susie asked us to do was to lift one leg in the air, first to the front, then to the side, then to the back. At the height of the extension she took the leg in her hand and slowly stretched it to the ceiling to see how high it could potentially go. Mine went high.
    In the end, both Michele and I were given full scholarships tothe San Francisco Ballet School’s intensive summer program. Since, much as I loved to dance, I had no sense that there was anything special about me, I wasn’t really surprised or upset that I hadn’t been offered a place at SAB.
    For six weeks that summer, Michele and I really did ride the bus together. We also shared a room, and we took classes three times a day with girls from all over the country. At thirteen, I felt independent and grown-up.
    In class, it was obvious that the teachers noticed me, but I had no idea whether I was getting their attention because I was good or because they noticed how hard I was working. It still didn’t occur to me that I might be particularly talented.
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    When we returned to Sheila’s class that fall, she was thrilled to announce that the New York City Ballet was going to be performing in Los Angeles, and Peter Martins, the gorgeous, Danish-born star of Balanchine’s company, had agreed to teach one of our classes while they were in town. Of course, we all knew who Peter was, not only because he was such a big star but also because he was the lover of Heather Watts, a principal dancer with NYCB, who was one of Sheila’s former students and perhaps her greatest success story.
    On the appointed day we all dressed in our best leotards and anxiously awaited his arrival. When he didn’t show up at the appointed time, Sheila started class without him. I had a sinking feeling that he wasn’t going to come at all, but then the room suddenly grew silent and I turned to see a Greek god in whiteshorts standing in the doorway. I was stunned by Peter’s physical presence, but even more stunned that he was going to be teaching my class.
    To my amazement, he singled me out at the barre and encouraged me to turn my leg out even farther. He took a dime from his pocket and placed it on my heel while my leg was extended in front of me. If the dime didn’t fall off, he said, I could keep it. I focused with all my might, and he actually laughed at how determined I was to keep that dime, but it stayed where he put it. For the first time I had a sense that there was an exciting world of ballet beyond Sheila’s studio that I wanted to be part of. Needless to say, I hung on to that dime and stashed it away in my jewelry box for safekeeping.
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    By this time my younger sister, Romy, was also studying with Michele and me, and even though she was only eleven, the next year Sheila decided that all three of us could audition for the summer programs. We were thrilled when we all received scholarships to the San Francisco program, and I also got a full scholarship to the School of American Ballet.
    As sisters, we decided that we’d all go to San Francisco together, but Sheila had other ideas. She called my mother and me into a conference and said that she thought it was time Michele and I were separated. I should go to New York while my sisters went to San Francisco. It seemed strange and a bit daunting to be going off without them, but my mother and I trusted Sheila, and