'Dancer's Christmas' is a festive whirl

VerEecke is the Jesuit artist-in-residence at Boston College and the founder of the Boston Liturgical Dance Ensemble there. In the world of liturgical dance -- quite separate from the usual ballet-and-modern circuit -- he's highly regarded. He's written a book on the subject, and last year his troupe performed at World Youth Day in Toronto, in a service over which the Pope presided.

Jesuits are known as humanists, and a humanistic view of Christianity colors the current version of "A Dancer's Christmas," which has evolved and improved immensely over the years. This is a happy, celebratory production. Other than a brief tableau of the Crucifixion in the first act, the production is all joy. It acknowledges human sexual desire and gently pokes fun at a performer dressed as a cardinal and at the medieval church's spoilsport attitude toward dance. It also acknowledges that Christmas is a concept that has changed over the centuries, accruing customs, carols, and conifers along the way.

Classical ballet is the basis for the choreography by Father Bob, as he's known to all. Some of the dancers are even on pointe, which is slightly jarring. There seems no reason for it, other than their ability to dance on toe. Otherwise, the two-hour show passes in a festive whirl, thanks to the obviously committed cast, some of whom are dance professionals with finely honed techniques. Dancers who have been with the show for years -- including Jamie Huggins, a 20-year veteran, and his wife, Nicole, who joined in 1989 -- provide continuity and confidence.

"For All Time," the first of the evening's three parts, is Mary's retelling of her story, with a shaft of light the metaphor for the Annunciation, as it is in so many Renaissance paintings of the scene. The stage crowds up with the usual Nativity figures -- magi, shepherds, angels -- and then adds characters including Peter the Apostle and, according to the program, an epileptic. Sorting out who's who and where we are in the story proved a bit of a challenge for this lapsed Unitarian, but I never felt completely lost.

"Once Upon a Christmas" is the medieval part, with troubadours, jesters, and tiny children who emerge from a cart done up as a traveling theater. The children in "A Dancer's Christmas" aren't drilled as those in "The Nutcracker" are, nor are they meant to be. They're charmingly unself-conscious; they wave to friends in the audience, and the older ones look after the littlest.

A witty, almost vaudevillian reenactment of the Fall paves the way for the killjoy cardinal, whose minions carry banners that say "No Dancing" and "No Playing." It ends, however, with the cardinal in a kick line, a la the Rockettes.

"Dancing Day" is about God not only approving dance, but wanting to join in. Father Bob, dressed dashingly in a tux and looking Fred Astaire-ish, is the MC overseeing the succession of carols. "Silent Night," with three lovely women putting three equally lovely little ones to bed, is the one that always makes me tear up. The reformed cardinal reappears, as do the revised banners: This time they say "Now Playing" and "Go Dancing."