‘The Christmas Dance’ is what the holiday is all about
Category: Movies
Sarah (Kristen Vaganos) has been a avoiding returning to her hometown for years. When she was a little girl she fell during the Christmas play and made an embarrassment of herself. Ever since then she has been a Scrooge around the holiday. She has no Christmas spirit. That darn dance number and the fall has spoiled the holiday and she still bears the emotional scars of that fateful night.
Now she is grown and living in the big city, Sarah tries everything to avoid returning home for the holiday. She has a successful career as a writer for a magazine and thinks her life is heading on the right path. That is until she is given the assignment to write a heartfelt Christmas article. It seems the magazine is “going in a new direction” and it’s one she doesn’t like. Anyway, they have definitely assigned the wrong person to this article.
Sarah is frustrated. She wonders how she will write the piece when she has no holiday feelings herself. Then her brother has an accident and without thinking she drives back to her hometown where she is confronted by her past, old friends, memories, and her family.
It’s not the ideal setting for her with this assignment deadline looming. If she doesn’t write it she will be fired.
While experiencing Christmas in her hometown with family and friends, Sarah slowly begins to regain that holiday spirit. Is there jolly in her heart after all? Confronted by the annual Christmas play, she comes to terms with her past.
This is a religious film. It’s not a typical lighthearted Christmas story. It is filled with religious references and the like. But it is clear the holiday spirit lives in Sarah’s hometown and it’s not something she can avoid. And, truth be told, she discovers she is not immune to it after all.
The Christmas Dance premieres in theaters and VOD July 23, 2021 for Christmas in July.
About the Author
Francine Brokaw has been covering all aspects of the entertainment industry for over 25 years. She also writes about products and travel. She has been published in national and international newspapers and magazines as well as Internet websites. She has written her own book, Beyond the Red Carpet The World of Entertainment Journalists, is the entertainment correspondent for Good Day Orange County, and has her own TV show, Beyond the Red Carpet, on Village Television in Orange County. She is a longstanding member of the Los Angeles Press Club and the Television Critics Association and is accredited by the MPAA. Follow her on Twitter.