Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
The Schmooze

Jewish ‘Nutcracker’ Comes to San Francisco

Tired of the same old Nutcracker? Looking for a new — and Jewish — twist on that holiday classic? Look no further than “The Jewish Nutcracker, A Maccabee Celebration” in San Francisco.

World Dance Fusion is presenting this holiday season a performance that unites the Tchaikovsky’s score with a fusion of various international dance genres. Katy Alaniz Rous has choreographed the story of the Maccabees’ fight for religious freedom and rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem, blending dance forms such as Flamenco, Chinese, Persian, Kathak, Afro-Hatian and Capoeira. The production is meant to reflect the diversity of the world’s Jewish population.

Sounds like it’s worth a try. Who could pass up a chance to watch a Sufganiyot Fairy instead of the stale Sugarplum Fairy?

The Jewish Nutcracker plays at the ODC Theater in San Francisco from December 15 to 18.

A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.