Rachel Howard December 12, 2020Updated: December 14, 2020, 8:03 am
Cassidy Isaacson and Brandon Alexander perform in Smuin Contemporary Ballet’s first virtual presentation of “The Christmas Ballet.” Photo: Terez Dean Orr
Michael Smuin was a master at building dependable, durable, crowd-pleasing machines. Perhaps the ultimate proof of this can be seen now through Dec. 24 in the online stream of Smuin Contemporary Ballet’s “The Christmas Ballet.”
Created in 1995, a year after Smuin founded the San Francisco dance company, this spectacle was designed to sate all tastes (though you’re more likely to love it if you lean toward a Rockettes-style Broadway baby aesthetic). There’s a “Classical Christmas” opening half dressed in white and set to music including Bach’s “Magnificat,” and a “Cool Christmas” second half dressed in red and set to pop ditties such as “Santa Baby” and “Christmas in New Orleans.”