<p>We all need a safe place to shine when we are young, if not in our parent&rsquo;s eyes, at least in our own. Lucy Maglietta, growing up in the town of tiny Yucca Springs on the vast Mojave Desert, longs for a place that&mdash;unlike her home life&mdash;feels safe and calm, and she finds it at the Star Struck Dance Studio.<br />
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When the aging ballet mistress passes the teaching baton to Lucy, she accepts, along with her friend Richard Myers, tap-extraordinaire, who helps run the daily operations of the studio. Together they are of great strength and even greater na&iuml;vet&eacute;, a combination often true in the dance world. For Lucy and Richard, the Star Struck becomes the center of their lives.</p><p><br />
Tensions rise after their only African American student and Richard are brutally attacked, and Lucy and Richard soon discover just how much prejudice exists in a seemingly innocent landscape. What becomes crystal clear for both friends is that the only way to beat back fear, for a dancer, is by dancing.<br />
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This is a story that explores the wide range of human emotion from behind the intimate curtain of a dance studio. With humor, compassion, a sprinkling of irreverence, and a sharp eye on contemporary life, Sanelli explores, through Lucy, what it means to be a daughter, a teacher, and a friend at a moment when she is forced to approach life as a lesson in forgiveness in an attempt to understand why haters hate.</p>