Here's a little secret of the critics' trade: we don't know half as much as we seem to. It's our lightning-fast research skills that enable us to quickly write something halfway intelligible with that unearned air of authority we're so proud of.

We like readers to think we know an awful lot. And we're pretty good at fooling people - at least some people, some of the time. Other times, though, it's best not to bother. Medieval Japan, for example - I know hardly anything about that, and I wouldn't try to seem like I did. Same with hedge funds. And cribbage.

Here's another one: Baroque dance. This refers to European (notably French) dance styles that predate ballet. I only know that much because of a chance conversation I once had with a bartender who - this being New York City - was, of course, in real life, a Baroque dancer.

That's all I knew, prior to last night. And I don't know much more now, even after seeing Austin McCormick's dazzling new dance-theater piece, The Judgment of Paris. The production mixes modern, ballet, and Baroque dance forms with several centuries' worth of music and storytelling to create a colorful, sad, comical-tragical new presentation of the story of Paris's fateful decision to award the golden apple to Aphrodite and its ramifications for the beautiful Helen of Troy and the whole ancient world.

Barely into his mid-twenties, McCormick is a gifted choreographer with a deep knowledge of early dance forms. He also has a flair for spectacle and a sharp ear for the right music to complement his vision. His company of six performers handily plays a variety of roles, dancing gorgeously, speaking, and in the case of Toby Burns, who plays both Paris and Menelaus, singing. (Burns's exquisite baritone would do any opera company proud.)

We can recognize seeds of the classical ballet movements we are familiar with in the courtly 17th century dance techniques that McCormick incorporates into his modern work... I think (see paragraph 1 above). Some of the wonderful costumes are authentic to that time... I think. What's certain is that the historical elements are artfully merged with modern dance movements, abstract and literal, slinky and angular. This is a pretty sexy show. Parts of it are inspired by the Folies Bergère (fans of the movie Moulin Rouge will love it) and it uses music from Offenbach's showy operetta La belle Hélène.