Nutcracker

First Soloist Junor Souza and First Artist Rebecca Blenkinsop dancing in the sensor suits. Credit: Loughborough University Throughout the festive season, countless individuals delight in the enchantment of ballet spectacles such as "The Nutcracker." Though the stories of timeless performances are widely known, general audiences often miss the subtle narratives and emotions dancers seek to convey through body movements—and they…

This week we enter December and I can’t even comprehend how the year flew by. I’m not letting these exciting new art exhibitions fly by too, so this week I’m compiling the best of the best to help you plan your end-of-the-year outings. I’m Steven Vargas, your L.A. Goes Out host, and here are the top events for the upcoming weekend recommended by the crew (sign up here for the newsletter):Weekly countdown Installation view of “Hugh Hayden: Hughman” at Lisson Gallery, Los Angeles. (©Hugh Hayden / Lisson…

Photo by Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images When Tchaikovsky first composed The Nutcracker in 1892, we’ve got the feeling he wouldn’t have imagined a world where Academy Award-winning actress and Marvel Cinematic Universe superhero Brie Larson would be putting forth a homemade audition tape that involves her shaking her ass in a tutu. And yet, here we are. Those with a fondness for the classics best look away now, but for those curious to see if Larson would fare any worse than anyone to have been involved in Disney’s…

The title of this dismal, Russian-produced animation is a mashup of the Tchaikovsky ballet and the Mozart opera. But the story, a nonsensical magical Christmas quest involving evil humanoid rats, has little bearing on either. Teenager Marie is threatened with marriage in order to save her mother from debtor’s prison. For some reason she shrinks, and all her favourite childhood toys, including the world’s most punchable ostrich, come to life. The animation style is synthetic, the story is illogical, and the songs make you…

Rolling back the years, The Nutcracker and the Magic Flute returns us to the era before the advent of feisty young heroines in kids’ animations – back when the destiny of a female character, as often as not, was to wait around for a prince to show up, duff up the bad guys and make her his princess. That thankless role goes here to pretty, bland ballet dancer Marie (voiced by Alyson Leigh Rosenfeld), a young woman who, in the face of danger, shrieks and hides her face in her hands.The film opens on Christmas Eve. Marie’s…

This yuletide slasher movie is about as enjoyable as being force-fed a Christmas tree and having it violently pipeclean your insides. It joins Black Christmas, Bad Santa and this year’s Violent Night in the anti-Christmas oeuvre – but its placeholder characters, this’ll-do dialogue and mechanical gallery of kills show that seasonal subversion alone won’t cut it.Novelist Clara (Beatrice Fletcher) is reeling from her boyfriend Paul (Andy Dixon) cheating on her and decides to bunker down at the country manor of Auntie Marie…

The holiday season is here, and so are the festivities. I’ve compiled a mix of cheery holiday treats and some nonholiday artistic ventures to make sure there’s a little something for everyone, no matter how festive (or not festive) you’re feeling. And don’t worry, none of these weekend finds involves Ticketmaster. Here’s what’s on our radar this week:Weekly countdown 1. L.A. County tree lightingBeat your Monday slump with a tree-lighting ceremony at the Music Center. The annual L.A. County event will…