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COURTESY OF ANTI-GRAVITY

Luke Vexler of Amherst performs with AntiGravity, a Manhattan-based acrobatic and theatrical group. Tonight, he is expected to entertain at an inaugural ball in Washington.

AMHERST - When newly inaugurated President Barack Obama takes his first lady on a spin around one of Washington's dance floors tonight, a young Amherst man will be hard to miss.

Luke Vexler, 23, will perform at the first-ever Neighborhood Ball with about 15 members of AntiGravity, the Manhattan-based acrobatic and theatrical group he's been a member of since he was 15.

Held at the Washington Convention Center, and televised by ABC at 8 p.m., the Neighborhood Ball is the so-called "people's ball," with affordable or free tickets set aside for D.C. residents. It will be the first of 10 balls the Obamas are expected to attend tonight. Vexler and AntiGravity hit the stage at 9:15 p.m. and again at 9:55.

The only thing Vexler knows about the performances is that he'll be wearing his AntiGravity Jumping Boots, spring-loaded stilt-type boots that enable one to bounce and flip to frightening heights. Other members will gyrate from bungee cords attached to the hall's ceiling.

A Jumping Boot specialist, Vexler has been training on and off at the group's facility in Orlando since he was 15.

"I do all the tricks," he said. "Front flips, back flips, freestyle."

After skiing Monday at Hunter Mountain in the Catskills with his mother and older brother Aaron, Luke Vexler drove six hours to Washington.

"The security is tight," he said. "They've told us, #Once you're there, you're there.' It'll be a long day - no one will be going in and out."

"It's such an honor for us to be here," said AntiGravity founder Christopher Harrison. "I was walking around the Mall Monday. Everyone's so excited and alive."

Vexler grew up in Amherst - more specifically at the Hampshire Gymnastics School owned by his parents, Anne and Norm Vexler, both former University of Massachusetts gymnastics stars of the 1970s. He is a 2004 graduate of Amherst Regional High School. He, Aaron and sister Talya were "gym rats," spending every possible moment at their family's facility.

Norm Vexler said his kids took to the sport naturally. "I had a bunch of friends who were gymnasts, but their kids all got into soccer or baseball," he said. "That my kids loved the sport was icing on the cake."

Luke has one more semester at Temple University - his emphasis is film and media arts - and is trying harder and harder to focus on academics, so that his last year there "won't be miserable." That's easier said than done, though, because he's in great demand as a performer and spends a good deal of time on the road. He toured 37 cities this past fall as a performer and choreographer with the Gymnastics Superstars Tour.

AntiGravity, a stirring, heart-stopping marriage of sport, theater and sound, was founded by gymnast and Broadway performer Harrison in 1990 as a venue for champion athletes to continue to use their highly developed skills. The group has staged more than 400 productions in 25 countries and has employed 330 athletes from a variety of disciplines.

Aaron Vexler and his wife, Caroline, now Hollywood stunt performers and still part-time members of AntiGravity, urged Luke to audition in 2000. As the youngest, smallest and most charismatic member of the group, Luke was usually seen out front.

"Not only is Luke an immense talent," said Harrison, "but he has such an expressive spirit. Every time you see him he's smiling and happy - as if life is just as good as it gets."

Vexler's debut performance with AntiGravity was at the 2002 MTV Awards hosted by P-Diddy, Busta Rhymes and Usher. He toured Portugal last year with the group, appearing at the Portuguese Golden Globes, and has performed on the Today Show and helped kick off last year's Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

"There is nothing he can't do," said Harrison. "Anything I throw at him, he does. He brings a youthful edge to our performances. He's a tremendous hip-hop dancer and we incorporate that into the mix, too."

Consistently counted among the nation's top gymnasts during his Temple career, Vexler has been ranked as high as fifth, and finished 12th in the NCAA championships last year. He won the All-Around ECAC championship in his senior year and was one of seven finalists for the Nissen Emery Award, gymnastics' equivalent of football's Heisman Trophy.

His older sister Talya, 28, is an assistant coach at Iowa, after a stellar career at the University of Georgia.

Of his hometown, Vexler said, "I couldn't wait to leave. But when I went down to Philly, I realized how great it was to grow up in a small town."

Vexler calls his departure for Temple and the big-city life of Philadelphia an eye-opening experience.

"Until I left Amherst I had never spoken to a Republican," he said. "I thought Amherst politics were a consensus for the rest of the country. I soon found out that that was way off. It was a strange thing for me, but it put things in perspective."

As de facto frontman for AntiGravity, it's possible that if Obama were to talk with anyone from the group, it might be him.

"That would be unbelievable," said Vexler. "I'd say my chances were slim to none, but I'd love to shake his hand."

Bob Flaherty can be reached at bflaherty@gazettenet.com.