Smuin Contemporary Ballet - "The Christmas Ballet"

Smuin Contemporary Ballet
The Christmas Ballet
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco
December 20th, 2025 (matinee)

Smuin Contemporary Ballet is a class act, in so many ways. Definitely for what happens onstage, but also in how the company values engagement and relationship with its audience and with each other. Saturday’s matinee of The Christmas Ballet drove that message home, starting with Artistic Director Amy Seiwert’s opening welcome. With such grace and authenticity, Seiwert remarked about the joy and complexity of the holiday season, the importance of all kinds of family and the power of art to simultaneously heal and celebrate. It was quite touching as well as a calming, centering moment ahead of the afternoon’s gorgeous performance.

Up first we had ‘Classical Christmas,’ a collection of fifteen more traditional vignettes, seven of which were choreographed by company founder Michael Smuin. Tess Lane was equal parts delicate and dreamy, ethereal and expansive in Zither Carol while the understated elegance of Veni, Veni, Emmanuel continued to astound. The sky-high split lifts in For Unto Us a Child is Born are always impressive, though this year, they were even more buoyant than usual. And the combination of upper body stillness and detailed footwork in The Gloucestershire Wassail has endeared it as a much beloved Christmas Ballet offering. 

Smuin Contemporary Ballet in Seiwert's Dona Nobis Pacem
Photo Maximillian Tortoriello

Former company artist Nicole Haskins always injects the wonderfully unexpected into her choreography, like the Italian changement in Fantasia and the low arabesque in Peaceful Prayer. And Seiwert’s Dona Nobis Pacem is a marvel of dance architecture with its twists, turns, level changes and weaving. It feels like you are watching snowflake fractals glisten before your very eyes. 

Each year, The Christmas Ballet adds a few new chapters to its large canon of work; the first coming right at the end of Act I – Seiwert’s Ma Navu. A sinuous pas de deux danced by Shania Rasmussen and Dominic Barrett, the duet unfolded like a gorgeous stream of consciousness; a fluidity that defied stops or breaks. Similar to how Baroque music has very few internal cadence points, Ma Navu was one continuous statement of spinal articulation, with a particularly sumptuous final pose.

Onto Act II’s ‘Cool Christmas,’ where thirteen different episodes bring together a vast range of movement styles and genres. In the cozy, romantic Silver Bells (choreographed by another former Smuin dancer Rex Wheeler), wonder, magic and whirling turns abounded. Val Caniparoli’s humorous Jingle Bells Mambo paired robotic, angular staccato movements with flirtatious, suave legato phrases. And percussive dance joined the party with the flat-foot waltz clog in Droopy Little Christmas Tree and Tessa Barbour in the epic tap solo, Bells of Dublin. Act II is undeniably fun and entertaining, though a few of its dances (even some longtime fan favorites), may be ready for retirement. 

Two more world premieres made their debut in the second half, Myles Thatcher’s My Gift, Your Presence and Julia Adam’s The Sweater. Filled with sweeping choreography, Thatcher’s contribution made a narrative impression, touching on the complexity of relationships and the inherent human desire to be fully known and fully seen. Then, Adam’s work took us to the ice. Danced Saturday afternoon by Marc LaPierre, the solo opens in the land of figure skating and then quickly and comedically pivots to the world of hockey. Sporting a double-sided jersey (also known as a hockey sweater) featuring two of the original six NHL teams, LaPierre cycled through penalty box shenanigans, even a ‘gloves off’ moment framed by strobe lights. The Sweater was a highlight of 2025’s Christmas Ballet, and I imagine there were many patrons in the audience who hope it returns next year!