'The Christmas Ballet' review: Smuin's baby

Without a doubt when Michael Smuin unveiled "The Christmas Ballet" 17 years ago, he hoped it would become a holiday classic, and it's a testament to the finesse and enthusiasm of Smuin Ballet's current artistic team that it has become just that.

On Wednesday night, as hula girls daintily strutted to the ukulele strains of "Christmas Island" across the stage of the Mountain View Performing Arts Center - the second stop on the company's holiday minitour that culminates in two weeks at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts - a guy in the audience murmured, "This is my favorite." And that's the beauty of "The Christmas Ballet": No matter how you feel about the holidays, there's a favorite episode to be found in this show.

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