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A male dancer wearing a long orange skirt holds a female dancer in a purple leotard above his head, her body arched backward. The background is black.

Repertory

Festa Barocca

COMPANIES

CHOREOGRAPHER

RUN TIME

44 Minutes

WORLD PREMIERE

New York City Center, 2008

MUSIC

Georg Freidrich Handel

COSTUMES

Marc Happel

LIGHTING

Carlo Cerri

Acclaimed Italian choreographer Mauro Bigonzetti, praised for his fresh and inventive sensibility, brings his distinctly European flair to Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s repertory for the first time with this lavish full company work.

With a highly dramatic style, complex partnering, and seamless integration of classical and modern styles, Bigonzetti showcases the Company dancers’ emotional intensity and technical prowess.

The Los Angeles Times called Mr. Bigonzetti’s Festa Barocca “a major addition to the Company’s repertoire that offers a perfect vehicle for its many-faceted talents to gleam anew.” 

Glenn Allen Sims leans foreward with his arms extended backwards as Linda Celeste Sims strikes a pose on his back

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater's Linda Celeste Sims and Glenn Allen Sims in Mauro Bigonzetti's Festa Barocca Photo by Nan Melville

Members of the company adorned in differently colored dresses

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in Mauro Bigonzetti's Festa Barroca Photo by Nan Melville

The women in the company take front stage as every performer does the same movement

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in Mauro Bigonzetti's Festa Barroca Photo by Nan Melville

Every member of the company bowing forward with their arms extended in the air

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in Mauro Bigonzetti's Festa Barroca Photo by Nan Melville

Funders

Leadership support was generously provided by Daryl Roth. Generous support was received from The Fred Eychaner New Works Endowment Fund. This work was also made possible, in part, by public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts.