“She dragged me to J.K.O. and I was not having it,” Ms. Hurlin said. “Not having it. I was like, ‘Mom! I’m a lyrical dancer! I don’t want to do ballet. I don’t want to leave my friends.’ That was a big point.”

At Westchester Dance Academy, Ms. Hurlin had a life of “sequins and running around hotels and ordering room service,” her mother said. The transition to ballet wasn’t easy — there were tears. “It was one of those mom-daughter moments where, thank God you’re in the car so you don’t have to look at each other,” Ms. Roberts Hurlin said.

Gradually, Ms. Hurlin started getting into ballet. “I was like, Hmm, I can actually do this really well,” she said. “Maybe I do like it.”

One thing she has learned about herself over the years is this: “I am terrified about the unknown,” she said. “If I don’t know what’s probably going to happen, I don’t want to do it. I need a little taste before I get into it. It’s more about settings and places. New roles, that’s fine.”

Even for something like Odette/Odile in “Swan Lake”?

Ms. Hurlin’s eyes widened. “If I did it right now?” she said, her voice rising to a squeak. “I need at least another three years as soloist. Actually, interesting story. Back in the school, I was offered to go into the Studio Company and I said no. I called my mom and had her explain it because I couldn’t look at Franco in the eye and say, ‘No, I’m not ready to do this.’ ”