A Long Road Back to Dance

The toddler, barely old enough to walk, undulated in the living room — or sometimes down the grocery store aisle — to a song in her head. Her mother knew then that Mia Redding was meant to be a dancer. Indeed, Redding grew into a powerful performer — strong arms, more like a football player’s than a delicate ballerina’s — as she leaped and twirled on stage at Booker High. But then in April, a few weeks before the most important audition of Redding’s life, her hopes of a dance scholarship were smashed when a suspected DUI driver blew through a red light and plowed into her car. … In September, Redding took her first dance class at New College of Florida, wearing her lucky sweatpants and favorite black leotard. She moved on wobbly legs, frightened that a pin might suddenly pop out of place.