I went to a wedding this past weekend where, as is typical, many of the guests were dancing. What wasn’t typical was that a large portion of the Louisville Ballet were guests. One of their members was the bride and they performed a dance for her to Abba’s Dancing Queen. The men were in suits, the women were in gowns, and this wasn’t a ballet. But the fact that the dancers were trained professionals shone through. First, they were precisely in time with the music, second, no one took a step back that should have been forward, or a step left that should have been right. But the overriding thing they did was radiate expressivity and joy.
In the context of this wedding event, it was more than the sum of individual expressions of joy. It was more than an artistic expression of a well-trained corps de ballet. It had two something extras in it: 1) awareness of the bride’s surprise and delight at what seemed like an impromptu performance; 2) love. This love was of a particular kind – it was for the bride. One of their team, their corps, was marrying her long-time love. They loved her and their celebration of happiness and hope in her life was both for her and for more than her – it was for happiness and hope in general. It was for love, happiness and hope for us all.