In this modern dance narrative Stations, director Lili Fuller offers us a holly jolly, hip-hoppy Christmas. And one thing's for sure: Your granny's creaky Nutcracker this ain't. Told entirely through balletic jazz, accompanied by Parmer Fuller's jazzy score, Stations tells a kaleidoscopic tale of holiday spirit, focused through the prism of the current dreary economy.
A young husband (Andrew Dits) and his pregnant bride (Juliana Tyson) leave a gift for a kindly homeless woman (Diana Vaden) — an act of good karma that garners future benefits when they find themselves out of work and are forced to make their home in a bus shelter.
The amiable young cast assay balletic and breakdance-style moves with energy and passion: Vaden offers a beautifully jazzy turn as the homeless woman, while Nathan Parsons delights as an acrobatically shambolic drunken Santa.
Although the plot is occasionally hard to follow — the result of a tendency to balletic whimsy that sometimes comes across as awkward — the work's artful mix of tight choreography and energetic performances makes for a genial, upbeat holiday mood. The finale tableau, an image of strangers coming together to help the homeless parents at their bus-barn manger, offers a powerful, Nativity-like image.

Tuesdays-Fridays, 8 p.m. Starts: Nov. 29. Continues through Dec. 30, 2011

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