A web site devoted to novels and films that confront the social, ethical, and cultural implications of genetics.
"Dancing on Air" in Beaker's Dozen (1998)
By Nancy Kress
Caroline Olsen is a world-famous ballet dancer, performing during a period in which genetic modifications for dancers is de rigueur and opponents to the procedures proliferate. She is assigned a bioengineered dog named Angel, who can speak and has the intelligence of a five-year-old, in order to protect her from an assassin who is targeting bioenhanced dancers. Susan Matthews is equally concerned about the assassin, but not because she dances: she is a journalist who has been assigned to investigate the world of bioenhanced ballerinas because her daughter is in training for the City Ballet. As Caroline’s body begins to break down inexplicably, Susan becomes convinced that the dancer has been genetically modified in some way...