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Somewhere into the second hour of her
triumphant set at her Alegria debut, DJ
Alyson Calagna threw down a majestic
remix of Deborah Cooper's "(Are You)
Satisfied?" - as if to not only
determine the level of euphoric
satisfaction sweeping across her floor,
but also to assert her complete and
total command of that Alegria sound that
has, for so long, made the boys move
with joyful abandon.
While Calagna has been a fixture on the
circuit scene for years, headlining
national events such as Winter Party,
Winter Music Conference, Purple Party,
White Party, Market Days, Divers/Cite,
as well as her stellar signature
performances at Arabian Nights for Gay
Days, Calagna initially attracted a
cult-like following for her Monday
morning after-hours parties at the
now-defunct Cactus in Miami - and it
was, therefore, fitting and sweet that
Calagna claimed the Alegria booth as her
own on Memorial Day Monday morning at
five.
Right from her ethereal opening track,
Calagna made it clear that she'd done
her Alegria homework. This, after all,
is a woman whose mantra is "Knowledge
speaks, wisdom listens" - and her set at
Pacha (formerly known as Sound Factory,
the home where Alegria began its
dominance of New York nightlife) was the
work of a consummate professional whose
personal evolution has mirrored her
signature sound of sexual, sensual, and
spiritual beats.
In spite of her international
reputation, there were boys at Alegria
who had never before heard Calagna in
the house - and to witness their
reaction as Calagna's rhythms slipped
effortlessly beneath their skin was to
feel anew the joy of discovery at
something exceptional and great.
Ever since her formative years in New
Orleans, Calagna has made it clear to
those on her floor that she's making
"music for the seeker." What she offers
to those who listen is a journey into
ecstatic and joyful realms, suffused
with the spiritual. There's feeling in
Calagna's mixing; there's depth and
dimension in her song choices. There's a
journey in every one of her sets. In
other words, in the words of Mavis
Staples, she's going to take you there.
Pacha was filled with the Alegria
faithful, those who would skip the
Island for a sweaty, concupiscent,
cathartic workout. We saw South Florida
boys and Jersey Shore boys and Brazilian
boys and we saw go-go boys who worked
their boxes and their booty as if their
lives depended on it. Earlier in the
night, Hector Fonseca had played the
gentleman, laying down a perfect intro
set for Calagna (which was right and
decent, given that Calagna had opened
for Fonseca at Chris Ryan's Desire Ball,
last year for Pride). And we saw a very
happy Ric Sena, who has always prided
himself on knowing what the boys want,
even before they do (case in point: a
deejay who, at the time of his Alegria
debut, was more well-known in South
Florida than New York and who,
ultimately, became synonymous with the
Alegria sound, none other than Abel
Aguilera).
For those of us who've loved her for
years, it was a joy to witness Calagna's
triumph at Alegria Memorial Day - and a
harbinger of good things to come for
Alegria and New York.
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