Newick Photography:  from left, Tony, Sammy, Scott, Alexis

Pam and I attended a wedding on Martha’s Vineyard in mid-July.  It was a double wedding of Alexis Iamarinno- a former student of mine and the one that is airborne above – her fiance Scott and her brother Tony and his fiance Sammy.  They just sent me a link to some gorgeous photographs.

Their wedding was a true Vineyard event.  A resounding gathering of the island community who have seen Alexis and her brother grow from infancy to beautiful adulthood.  I am posting a few photos on Facebook because they so wonderfully capture the richness and spirit of the island community.

But back to the leap.  Next weekend, my daughter will leap.  She is marrying the father of her coming child.  Actually, we (her family and her friends) are all leaping.  Leaps of faith, leaps of joy, hopeful leaps, tentative leaps, wild leaps.

I am a dancer.  I remember when I first discovered that I could soar.  It was in a jazz class taught by my mentor and beloved teacher, Charles Moore.  Charles danced for joy and you could not be in his classes without being infected by the pure sensual, playful, ravenously gorgeous feeling for movement that he shared with us.  On that day we were leaping – sailing across the floor one after the other – and all of a sudden I was flying out of my mind – higher than I had ever flown – a leap of faith, a prayer in the air.

My intention for my daughter’s upcoming wedding is that I leap, that my heart fly open and wide with love, with hope, with joy.