Nobody wants to give God a bad review.

And, luckily, nobody has to after Ballet Magnificat!'s seasonal A Christmas Festival, which brought dance aficionados, the faithful and some who were just curious to Thalia Mara Hall Saturday night.

If you went in as a doubting Thomas – apprehensive of a dance troupe that also calls itself a Christian ministry – you left impressed by the professionalism throughout.

"I don’t believe Christianity can be used to excuse bad art," said Ruth Carr, 64, of Jackson, at intermission. "They are very professional."

And indeed, the secular, such as Tara Thibodeaux and Jirka Voborsky's Flames of Paris pas de deux was nicely interwoven with religious pieces such as Kathy Thibodeaux’s moving, er, pas de dieu with the Lord during The Mercy of the Lord/The Glory of the Lord.

If you could dance a prayer, this was certainly it.

Even the seamlessly synchronized pairing of Kathy Thibodeaux and John Vandervelde during act one’s The Bread of Life seemed to be about something bigger than the two of them on stage.

There were moments, however, when the choreography seemed an odd juxtaposition with music whose relentless message of praise could seem tedious.

Most of the dancing had a light, far-from-earthly feeling that sometimes left you wanting a foil to the celebratory tone – something darker and heavier, a little sin to set off the grace.

But Kathy Thibodeaux’s inventive choreography – for instance, several children pulling back one who gets carried away – brought humor and humanity to bear.

Indeed, Christmas is for children, and the evening’s most stirring moment came with the second act number Angels that featured the ensemble – down to the tiniest Ballet Magnificat! school children – dressed as angels and flooding the stage in white.

Also rousing was a company and junior-company number that incorporated swirling streamers. The image was theatrical and powerful.

Costume designer Rose Faucher’s act-one pastels reflected the reverent tone of the praise music, and the more powerful primary colors that splashed the stage in act two added brilliance to the Christmas theme.

It was a family crowd, ethnically and culturally diverse, that attended this program, and if some were there to find God through art, others were finding art through God.

Several who had come mainly for the ministry said that although they were experiencing ballet for the first time, they would attend again – not just Ballet Magnificat!, but also other companies in the area.

To nitpick, someone could have turned down the bass on the too-boomy sound system.

Or was that just the voice of God?