THE SMUIN Ballet's Christmas Ballet is like spending the holiday with loved ones opening brightly wrapped presents under the tree. Everybody knows there will be some treasure from Michael Smuin, who died in 2007, but there also will be surprises — gifts undoubtedly charming and creative.

"There's something new for everybody to dance," said Celia Fushille, the company's artistic and executive director, in a recent phone interview. "We like to keep it fresh for the dancers and for the audience.

"My choreographer in residence, Amy Seiwert, she's creating a piece to Aaron Neville's 'Please Come Home for Christmas.' It's going to be a solo for one of our women, working with the lyrics

"We'll also have another piece by Robert Sund, who danced at S.F. Ballet for Michael. Last year, we performed his 'Carmen,' which, instead of Bizet, used Miles Davis' 'Sketches of Spain.' He is creating a piece for three, using a recording of 'Winter Wonderland' by Diana Krall."

Sadly, Krall, Neville and Davis, who died in 1991, won't be there to perform with the Smuin.

"To have all this different music live, it would be a challenge," Fushille said. "The cost would be prohibitive to us. We just don't have the budget. Thankfully, with tremendous electronics, digital equipment, we get quite a good sound."

Speaking of budget, the Christmas Ballet is to the Smuin as "Nutcracker" is to more

"It's not quite half of our earned revenue for the year," Fushille said.

The Smuin's budget is $3.2 million a year, "about a 50-50 split" between ticket sales and donations, she said. The recession has hurt the troupe just as it has hurt nearly every other arts company.

"Thankfully, we have a phenomenally supportive board, which has really stepped up," she said. "Things are turning around, looking up for us. Last year, the telemarketers kept getting, 'I can't commit right now.' Now, people are committing. A complete turnaround. We are encouraged by that."

The company even added a 16th dancer this season — John Orr (not this writer), who has danced in Fairfax and Sacramento. He's 21. "The median age of the company is 27," Fushille said. "Once I retired, it lowered the median age significantly!"

Fushille, 46, retired from active performance when she was 43. "I'm not missing the dancing; it was time for me to stop," she says. "I didn't want people leaving the theater saying, 'Gee, I remember when she was good.' I intended to focus all my energy as associate director. Sadly, tragically, Michael passed away eight months after I retired.

"The board asked me to take the director position. I have enjoyed the challenge."

At 17, Fushille moved to San Francisco. She attended the San Francisco Ballet School and met Smuin when he was associate director of that company. After Fushille suffered an injury, she left for 10 years, during which time she started a family while dancing part time.

After Smuin was ousted from the San Francisco Ballet, he decided to start his own company, and Fushille was the first dancer he hired. The Smuin Ballet's first performance was in 1994, and the company was an immediate success.

"Michael had a following from his days with the S.F. Ballet," Fushille said, "So many were delighted to see his work again. We had built-in fans from the beginning."

Smuin considered Fushille his muse and created many works for her. The first major one was "Te Busco" for "Frankie and Johnnie." A video of it on YouTube stars Fushille and Rodolphe Cassand. Go to the site and search for "Smuin, Te Busco." It's hot.

The Christmas Ballet always has a few hot numbers, too. Traditionally, the program is split in two, with the first half usually with dances set to traditional carols and canonical European composers such as Mozart, Handel and Bach. The second half jumps into pop music and jazz. The two portions reflect Smuin's career, which was a double orbit in the classical repertoire as well as in musicals and other modern works.

At his request, Fushille did some choreography when Smuin was still alive, but since his death she hasn't had time to do more.

She's bringing a new repertoire to the company and she's excited about it. "Last year we had the work of Trey McIntyre. This coming spring we have the work of another young choreographer, Ma Cong. And we will be doing Jiri Kylian's 'Petite Mort.' The dancers are so ecstatic ... that we're able to do a work of Kylian's. He's probably the greatest choreographer working today. Michael had brought some of his work to the San Francisco Ballet.

"It's such a blessing that we have Michael's legacy," Fushille said. "His fine works should be seen. At the same time, we cannot be a museum company, only presenting his work. It's vital for the dancers and the company that we have new works. We're excited about what we have in place."

Reach John Orr at jorr@bayareanewsgroup.com.