The death of the dancer and choreographer Terry Marley, whose naked body is found in a gym steam room, threatens the careers and livelihoods of dancers and managers alike. Unexplained accidents and another death endanger the dance company's survival. Only then does Deirdre Coburn, recently retired Prima Ballerina (who thought she had come to New York just for a summer away from facing stage retirement and from settling into a marriage) find that the deaths will continue and the company will implode unless she can reconstruct a ballet no one has ever seen. Meanwhile, in the torrid heat of a New York summer, the dancers are warming up as usual, without a clue to their future.