Bigonzetti and Ailey go for it

Damn. Let's go for it. Why not?

That's Baroque. And that's Festa Barocco—a sexy hunk of Handel-powered fabulousness choreographed by Mauro Bigonzetti for the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. The entire thirty-one-member AAADT.

Not enough? Bigonzetti has put exquisite Hope Boykin in the lead as a Puckish character who introduces and weaves throughout the dance, stirring up love and mediating trouble. She has never looked or danced better.

In the ensemble segments, every square inch of stage space bursts with life and color in a festa of well-honed bodies, steely technique and passionate expressivity. Men and women wear the same sweeping, swirling satin skirts, designed by Marc Happel, each costume a sliver of a generously-enhanced rainbow, heightened and sculpted by Carlo Cerri's lighting. Bigonzetti cites the dramatic Caravaggio as a major influence on Festa Barocco's look and staging, and his choreography employs yet wisely redirects familiar Ailey strengths in unexpected ways, newly challenging and revitalizing these master performers.

Besides Boykin's shooting star, keep your eyes peeled for exceptional duets (Gwynenn Taylor Jones and Clifton Brown; Linda Celeste Sims and Glenn Allen Sims) and a brisk, incandescent solo (Matthew Rushing). And when the company is assembled onstage...wow!

Ailey is golden

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater at City Center through January 4