Xmas Philes

Fri., Dec. 10, 7:30 p.m.; Sat., Dec. 11, 2:30 and 7:30 p.m.; Sun., Dec. 12, 2:30 p.m.; $34-$46, Kimmel Center, 300 S. Broad St., 215-893-1999, kimmelcenter.org.

by Janet Anderson

[ dance ]

Philadanco's saucy holiday contribution turns tradition on its head. Choreographer Daniel Ezralow's dance lineage is rooted in deeply wiggy experimental soil — think Pilobolus, Momix and ISO — so his hip-hop "Jingle Bells," celebration of Louis Armstrong's "Zat You, Santa Claus?" and rethinking of "Silent Night" should come as no surprise. But you ain't seen nothing yet: Artistic Director Joan Myers Brown is waiting till Ezralow has time to expand the show into a full program. Till then, two of the dancemaker's other works will fill out the evening: Compassion & Revenge, an immediate reaction to 9/11, and Pulse, a magical dance with performers sliding across the stage like ice skaters. "We'll keep doing Philes every other year until the full-length version is finished, and then we'll do it annually," says Myers. "I'm just waiting for Danny."

Fri., Dec. 10, 7:30 p.m.; Sat., Dec. 11, 2:30 and 7:30 p.m.; Sun., Dec. 12, 2:30 p.m.; $34-$46, Kimmel Center, 300 S. Broad St., 215-893-1999, kimmelcenter.org.