After the death of her crippled father, who was once a great ballet star in New York City, Amaryllis (Sanchez), decides to move from her native Puerto Rico to the Big Apple in search of a new life. Upon her arrival, with no job and nowhere to live, Amaryllis turns to working in a strip club to make ends meet. She quickly creates a new family in New York by befriending an older man in her building, a washed-out poetry professor named Miles Emory, as well as her co-workers at the strip club. Increasingly desperate, Amaryllis seriously injures herself during a performance one night at the club, only to be saved by Christian (Sweeney), a doctor in the audience. Miles’ poem "Yellow" inspires Amaryllis to seek a Broadway dancing job and her emotional connection to Miles helps to give him a reason for living that eluded her father. As Amaryllis’ relationship with Christian turns into a love affair, she must make a choice between the security of his love and following her dream.