From the show:

It all begins with Mama Van Goethem taking on extra laundry work so that her daughter Marie can fulfill her lifelong dream to take dance lessons. In no time, the fourteen year old is discovered by the strict Mistress de Ballet as Paree’s next great ballerina. Not long after, Marie’s ill grandfather grows sicker, needing an expensive new medicine that her Mama cannot afford. Marie, fearless as always, agrees to model for the mean Edgar Degas. His model’s strength inspires the cranky old artist to create something the likes of which the world has never seen before. But the long hours of modeling force Marie to drop out as the coveted featured dancer in the Opera House’s annual holiday ballet. Heart broken, Marie vows to her friends Charlotte and Louise that her days as a dancer are done. Months later, when an invitation arrives in the mail for her to attend an exhibit at the most important gallery in all of Paris, Marie is in for the surprise of her life.