Anthony Williams' Urban Nutcracker

Anthony Williams' Urban Nutcracker retells the holiday classic as a Boston story, blending classical ballet with urban tap, hip hop, swing, flamenco, step and jazz as strains of Duke Ellington dovetail with Tchaikovsky. Founder Tony Williams, a retired international ballet star who trained with Boston Ballet, created it to celebrate multicultural Boston and to unite young dancers from diverse backgrounds alongside professional artists. The show debuted in 2001 at the Strand Theatre in Dorchester and, produced by City Ballet of Boston, now plays the Boch Center Shubert Theatre in the theatre district.

Our take: Buy tickets early from the Boch Center box office, since most performances sell out.