San Francisco Chronicle - September 19, 2008
Sylvia Rubin, srubin@sfchronicle.com.

Sweaty acrobatic dancing, as TV ratings prove, is a crowd pleaser.

Passport, the annual HIV/AIDS fundraiser now in its 26th year, had tons of that, choreographed for the third year by Brian Friedman, who has worked with Britney Spears, Prince, Usher and others. Making his first appearance as guest choreographer was Alex Da Silva from Fox's "So You Think You Can Dance" reality show, who performed a wild, spinning salsa dance number with his partner.

As always, the crowd at the first night's American Express-sponsored event just wanted to have fun, and they whooped and cheered in all the right places.

New to Passport his year were a series of straight-up Financial District suits by Alfani Red, Macy's private-label manufacturer, worn by a group of dancers who shimmied down a big metal staircase to the tune of "Putting on the Ritz." Actress Merilee Brasch, in full-on Marilyn Monroe finery, introduced the Ed Hardy segment by blowing kisses and pouting perfectly.

Also new this year were a '60s-inspired Mod segment with clothes by Ben Sherman; tarty, sparkly minidresses with glitter tattoo-like designs from Ed Hardy by Christian Audigier, and a hip-hop dance number performed by buff guys in black-and-white Keith Haring graffiti jeans that were manufactured only for the Passport shows.

The show opened with the Oakland pop band the Lovemakers setting the fast, thumping pace, as all-American sportswear - like white wide-leg pants worn with a floaty red blouse, preppy argyle sweaters and double-breasted blazers - by Tommy Hilfiger was trotted out. (Hilfiger's line is now sold only at Macy's and his own boutiques.)

An all-black punk segment was timely, given the new "Gothic Glam" show at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York. Models wore exaggerated faux Mohawk wigs with their black minis, biker jackets, tight jeans, latex leggings, piles of long chain jewelry and knee-high flat combat boots, styled by Macy's Women's Fashion Director Tifani Wilt, who selected all the women's clothing; the menswear segments were put together by Macy's men's fashion director, Durand Guion.

Other guest artists included No Doubt drummer Adrian Young, who danced down the stage after his solo, throwing drumsticks into the crowd, and the kids' dance troupe Jabbawockeez, who did a combination of hip-hop and acrobatic moves.

A moment of calm came along with the Calvin Klein segment, which made perfect sense. These were composed clothes, ranging from a shimmery chartreuse gown to a popcorn-knit gray cape-y sweater and a bronze leather jacket. Then it was back to dancing, with the INC segment, which had a salsa theme and a series of LBDs accented with lace bodices or lace sleeves.

The underwear segment, which came near the end, was worth the wait: This time the men wore football helmets, shoulder pads, white socks, cleats and little else.

Since the theme was football, there had to be cheerleaders. The crew from Cheer San Francisco, a nonprofit adult cheerleading troupe, threw each other up in the air and, fortunately, made the all-important catches after.

Now if they could only get Elizabeth Taylor - Passport's founding chairwoman, who used to come to San Francisco for the event - to come back and do a little song-and-dance number.

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