Blood & Bustiers

Merely existing. Not living. That's all disgraced ballet star Madeline James has been doing since jeté-ing out of the international spotlight and ranks of Dresden's Semperoper Ballet after an affair with the artistic director threatens to implode the company.

Back at home in The Six, Madeline's camping out on her brother's couch and eating far too much take-out for a former ballerina. Teaching English to foreign students, she's also trying to forget she ever danced. Then one of her Colombian students, a burlesque dancer named Cattaleya, disappears, and the girl's boyfriend, also Maddy's student, asks her for help just before making himself scarce.
Despite strong reservations, Maddy feels compelled to find out what really happened to her Colombian students.

As she is drawn into the seductive world of burlesque, it turns out the truth is much more complicated and dangerous then she could have ever imagined. With the help of Ruby, a trans burlesque dancer and Max, her cop brother, she finds herself caught in a tangle of jewel smuggling and visa scams all while struggling to find her courage to take the stage once again.