This is the time of year when dance reviewers start psyching themselves up for another Nutcracker marathon, and, despite the excellence of that work, audiences too may be wondering whether there exists any other suitable Christmas ballet. The answer is ‘yes’, and it comes in the form of Northern Ballet Theatre’s tale of moral redemption, A Christmas Carol.

Based of course on the Dickens story, the ballet tells us how the embittered miser, Scrooge, comes to realise that generosity and friendship beat living alone in misery with a pile of money.

Bob Cratchit, touchingly played by Hironao Takahashi, works as a clerk for Scrooge, who treats him abominably – hogging the miserable fire in the office while a freezing Cratchit tries to warm himself with a candle. Things are not good at home either as Mrs Cratchit, her two daughters and her disabled son Tiny Tim prepare for another frugal Christmas.

But things are about to change. The terrifying ghost of his dead partner, Marley, warns Scrooge he will be condemned to endless torment as a phantom if he doesn’t mend his ways, while the three ghosts of Christmas take him on a dream journey in which he discovers how even poor people can be happy if there is love, and why the girl he loved abandoned him because his love of money was greater than his love for her.

The story is told with great gusto and lots of dancing from the ensemble cast. It unfolds to a compilation of original music by Carl Davis and Christmas carols, often sung by the cast. Lez Brotherston’s sets and costumes bring the foggy streets and bare interiors of Dickensian London vividly to life.

But it’s the members of this fine company who breathe humour and pathos into the story. Nathalie Leger is just right as the loving wife struggling to do her best for her family despite their poverty, while Pippa Moore is very moving as she takes leave of the man she cares for, disillusioned by his selfish greed.

My favourite part is where the condemned spirits, all pale and ragged, perform an abandoned dance around Scrooge’s bed. Scrooge himself is the impressive Darren Goldsmith, tall, gaunt, with long lank hair and a permanent sneer – until he finally sees the error of his ways, and provides a lavish Christmas feast for the Cratchit family. A round of applause, too, for the children from Myra Tiffin Performing Arts School, and especially for George Carey, who touches the heart as the ill-fated Tiny Tim.

Until Saturday. Tel: 0844 871 7652 (www.AmbassadorTickets.com/MiltonKeynes).