I directed him to stand downstage left and I took my position upstage right. I showed him how we’d run in swift circles in opposite directions, and with each revolution, we’d increase the size of the circles until we finally met in the middle of the stage. I thought the circular movements fit the whole dream-sequence vibe of the piece. Dreams didn’t follow logical, step-by-step patterns. They swirled, never taking you down a straight path. Once we had the circles down, I showed him how I would pirouette into his arms, and he’d catch and hold my hips as my leg opened into a grand rond de jambe—extending my leg out and then circling it all the way to the back as I thrust both arms out to the side. That part was a lot like the balcony pas de deux from Romeo and Juliet, when the lovers touch each other and the whole world shifts. I’d always loved that moment. So I’d put it in.

It took a while for us to get the timing right, for Jude to catch on to my hips after I turned, but he was great at holding me steady. I smiled as I remembered our first Vamp rehearsal, when he’d pulled me into the lift for the first time. It had been exhilarating and confusing, like all the pieces of my world were rearranging themselves. When I let that memory in, my rond de jambe became oversized, effervescent.

The rest of the dance was a mixture of steps that fit the swells and dips of the music and echoes of my favorite ballets. My favorite was the part from Giselle. In the second act, when Giselle is a Wili, she tries to convince the other Wilis not to kill the man who wronged her because she still loves him, despite everything. She does a slow développé, raising her leg to the side, almost up to her ear, and holds it steady, like it’s nothing. Like she’s in complete control of her body. I’d never thought much about that part before, but it meant something to me now. Even though she lost her life, Giselle found power and peace in what happened after. But that didn’t mean she lost all connection to her past. She still loved who she’d loved before, and she used her power to save him.

Lastly, we repeated the circles, but moving away from each other, the circles getting smaller with each revolution until we were at opposite ends of the stage again. I backed slowly into the wings while Jude watched, his arm outstretched, ready to get pulled into the next part of the “Broadway Melody” dream sequence.

Jude lifted the hem of his shirt to wipe sweat off his forehead after running through the whole combination for the first time. “How am I doing?” he asked.