We do learn that Vanessa used to be a dancer she says as much, and glides through the film as a dancer should; this includes twirling her foot in elegant circles while she reclines, glum as ever, in a chaise on the balcony of the remote hotel where she and Roland settle at the beginning of the film.
In fact, while I can appreciate a good slow burn, By the Sea is such a staggering epic of quietness and indulgence that the boredom overtakes the measured emotions by the time the twenty minute mark hits.
That sort of reclamation of her own story is powerful and demands greater appreciation.