Paige Hall danced around the room with a smile on her face as Kristen Risser played off her movements, drawn to her like a magnet.
Risser danced as if shouldering the weight of the world, ready to protect and comfort Hall at every move.
Corona del Mar High School dance team director Cami Marseilles, 37, choked up as her students danced her story.
"It's a piece about my journey as a mother with a son on the autism spectrum," she said, a mother of two boys, who while not autistic have autistic-like symptoms. "Just fighting, fighting, fighting, and I almost ran out of steam, but I used prayer."
The school's dance team, Orchesis, recently rehearsed the piece for the Dance for Autism, a fundraiser for the HALO Foundation, or Healing Autism Through Learning and Opportunities, that takes place Sunday. Marseilles started the nonprofit this year to help financially support other families touched by autism or autism-like symptoms.