Dance gave her power and escape. By her teens she was training in Los Angeles with Russian masters, her technique honed and elegant. Hollywood noticed before she ever spoke on camera.

MGM signed her in the 1940s; by the early 1950s she was the studio’s shimmering secret weapon. Her breakthrough came in Singin’ in the Rain (1952) in the “Broadway Melody” ballet with Gene Kelly. In a slinky green dress, she didn’t say a word—she didn’t need to.