DANCE REVIEWS : Footprints Looms Large at Benefit

Footprints, an eminently watchable, New York-based dance company that traces its steps to Alvin Ailey and, before him, Lester Horton, came to the right place for the right reason Wednesday: a benefit concert at the Morgan-Wixson Theater produced by Horton documentarian Lelia Goldoni.

Most important, the message was delivered with creative vitality, powerful technique and the kind of exuberance that the predecessors of this seven-member troupe projected in excelsis.

What’s more, co-directors/choreographers Freddie Moore and Ray Tadio, both sterling, body-perfect dancers on their own, did not use the platform for strictly solo purpose.

Instead, they blended into the ensemble numbers, even giving the spotlight to the deserving Ayako Morigami and Laura Rossini (utterly delectable in Tadio’s “Tik-Ka,” an effective gloss on ethnic exotica).

The choreography--which exulted in full-out extensions, soaring arms, snappy turns, arching backs and luxurious undulations--defined movement as drama. It even honored the Horton social conscience in Tadio’s “Lover Man,” a palpably brutal essay on woman-abuse with Carolyn Lanfredi as the convincing victim.