Smuin’s back for the holidays
After 20months of enforced “hibernation” the last thing any creature wants is a long winter’s sleep. We crave a reawakening and Smuin Ballet is leading the pack in joyfully bursting onto the stage with its perennial holiday favorite — “The Christmas Ballet.”
Over the next five weeks the company will tour the Bay Area with the show in four locations, beginning Friday in Walnut Creek.
This year’s rendition will premiere two new ballets created by former company members Rex Wheeler and Ben Needham-Wood, and include four pieces of choreography developed for virtual presentation in 2020 and now making their live debuts.
Last year was the 25th anniversary of “The Christmas Ballet” so artistic director Celia Fushille has included many of the original numbers choreographed by founder Michael Smuin from the first 1995version. The holiday show’s program has throughout its history featured an
ever-changing program.
“What I loved about it as a dancer was you were not doing the same thing every year,” says Wheeler. “If you decide to come see it, you’re going to get something a little different and refreshing. You’re going to get the classics and you’ll see old pieces return on new dancers.”
Just before the pandemic Wheeler helped the company produce an LBGTQ night in which a portion of that show’s ticket sales were donated to a charity supporting the LGBTQ community. The LGBTQ fundraiser returns this year with the Dec. 21 show, and Wheeler adds, “I also appear in the skits during the show as my drag persona Lady Camden.”
Details: Friday-Saturday at Lesher Center for the Arts, Walnut Creek; Dec. 2-5at Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts; Dec. 10-11at Sunset Center, Carmel; Dec. 16-26at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco; $25-$99; www.smuinballet.org.