If it seems impossible to find a happening in Oklahoma City this weekend that isn't about Christmas, you're not losing your mind – it's just Oklahoma, baby!
Thank Zeus, some of it is super cool anyway. Let's get to it.
RACE Dance Collective: Hip-Hop Nutcracker
All weekend, check showtimes · OCCC Visual and Performing Arts Center Theater
Hui Cha Poos is the iconic modern dance artist, educator and collaborator behind just about every piece of contemporary choreography that happens in this town, and RACE Hip-Hop Nutcracker is her baby.
Forget snoozy, stuffy holiday shows – this one reimagines the Nutcracker through a fresh urban lens, performed by local dancers from OKCPS and local dance programs. Inclusivity is in RACE’s DNA, and there’s a Spanish performance on Saturday afternoon. Expect a high-energy experience worth driving out to the Harvard on May.
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OKC Ballet: The Nutcracker
All weekend, check showtimes · Civic Center Music Hall
If you’re feeling more fur-coat than Adidas, OKC Ballet’s classic Nutcracker performance never disappoints. Expect to be overtaken by the rush of the orchestra and stirred to awe by the sheer poetry of what the human body can do when it exercises a lot. Take your kids – Nutcracker at Christmastime was the one family value I ever deemed worthy to pass on! Sneak over to Patrono, after, for some cozy Italian bites and a nightcap.
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Santa’s House Party: EDM and House Night
Sat., Dec. 13 · 9 p.m. · Tower Theatre
Does your holiday spirit lean more Molly than mistletoe? Then Tower has you covered this weekend. Santa’s House Party is right for anyone who needs to lose their mind dancing out family drama and trauma… or would simply rather experience the holidays at a heart rate incompatible with emotional processing. No wristband required to drug.
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Sunday Jazz Night
Sun., Dec. 14 · 7 p.m. · Blue Note
Wrap the weekend with a seat in a dark room, a stiff drink, and the sonic salve of Blue Note’s featured jazz artist of the week. If you’re a cannabis-over-cocktails type, you’ll find your people in the indoor-outdoor space where the volume is better for conversation. Either way you’ll slow your pulse, warm your mood, and wonder why you don’t do Sunday nights at Blue Note more often.
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If you're getting up to something fun, weird, festive, or questionably wholesome this weekend, tell us about it in the comments.
