Journalist Daniel Mandelkern leaves Hamburg on assignment to interview Dirk Svensson, a reclusive children's book author who lives alone on the Italian side of Lake Lugano with his three-legged dog. After stumbling on a manuscript of Svensson's about a complicated menage a trois, Mandelkern is plunged into mysteries past and present.
Katya is a young, outstanding and upcoming ballet dancer. In just a few weeks she is due to have a major audition for the New York Ballet Academy and Katya has good chances of getting a scholarship. But when she meets a group of street-dancers the girl dives into a completely new world.