The plot incorporates many elements from the Cinderella story, transposed into a modern context. Cindy is a young mixed-race girl, the daughter of an Irish pilot who recently disappeared and a “Sun Girl” whom she never knew. She lives in the suburbs with her stepmother La Palma and her two stepsisters Pétula and Tamara who mistreat her. Her consolations are her favorite dance, the jig, which her father taught her, and a few outings, which cannot last long, however, because her stepmother threatens to kick her out if she does not return home before midnight.