DANCE

This week, Boston Ballet’s production of The Nutcracker squares off for its annual combat against José Mateo’s, but a dark-horse candidate will emerge on December 20 when BalletRox’s Urban Nutcracker takes the stage at the Strand Theatre in Dorchester. The production boasts "a diverse professional cast with headliners from the Dance Theatre of Harlem," along with at-risk kids from the city’s neighborhoods. And the kids are no mere window dressing. BalletRox is the brainchild of Jamaica Plain’s Anthony Williams, an Italian-born, JP-bred dancer who spent his formative years in the Browley-Heath housing projects. A former gang member, he rose to international success with stints in the National Ballet of Portugal, the Norwegian National Ballet, and Boston Ballet, among others. His Urban Nutcracker — "a holiday dance classic with an inner-city edge" — is back for a second year at the Strand with weekend performances December 20 at 7 p.m., December 21 at 2 and 7, and December 22 at 4. Tickets are $10 to $20; call (617) 282-8000.

THEATER

The biggest Tony winner in Broadway history heads our way in June, and tickets go on sale this week for The Producers, Mel Brooks’s old-fashioned, big-time musical comedy that’s based on his 1968 film. They say you can’t please all the people all the time, but unless you count progeny of the Führer, this show seems to have turned the trick. The story of down-on-his-luck impresario Max Bialystock and nebbishy accountant Leo Bloom, who set out to make a fortune by bilking old ladies into investing in a sure-to-fail Broadway musical called Springtime for Hitler, the show was nominated for — and won — 12 Tony Awards last year, including Best Musical, Best Score for composer/lyricist Brooks, Best Book for Brooks and Thomas Meehan, and Best Direction of a Musical for Susan Stroman. It’s still selling out on Broadway. But beginning June 17, the show, which Time pronounced "a gift from the showbiz gods," will come to the Colonial Theatre, complete with vaudeville chutzpah, Borscht Belt humor, catchy tunes, shapely chorines, a large dollop of political incorrectness, and, of course, dancing Hitlers. Tickets, which will disappear quickly, go on sale this Friday, November 29, at 9 a.m.; call (617) 931-2787, then get a refresher course when the movie plays the Brattle Theatre, in Harvard Square

PERFORMANCE

If you’ve ever listened to a Wu-Tang Clan album or taken in a Bruce Lee double feature, you probably don’t need us to tell you who the Shaolin Warriors are. For the rest of the planet: they’re an ass-kicking secret society of kung-fu-fighting monks who invented the martial arts a long, long time ago. Like, remember when the Wu-Tang were cool? Even longer ago than that. Rediscovered in China’s Henan province after every B-movie chopsocky morgue re-released its catalogue with Shaolin-citing Wu-Tang knockoff titles, the "soldier monk" descendants of the original Shaolin Temple have been reintroduced to America as the multiculturalist audience’s answer to Jackie Chan. Better than reruns of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, the high-stepping clan are back with a staged production entitled Shaolin Wheel of Life. It’ll be here Friday January 31 at 8 p.m. and Saturday February 1 at 3 and 8 p.m. at Berklee Performance Center, 136 Massachusetts Avenue. Tickets are $35 and $42.50; call (617) 931-2000.

WORLD MUSIC

World Music’s winter schedule won’t be out for another few weeks, but if you’re looking to stuff the stocking of a loyal world-beat fan, you could do far worse than to pick up a pair of tickets to the South African vocal group who started it all, Ladysmith Black Mambazo. Sure, there’s a new Paul Simon greatest-hits album for them to promote. But they’ve also got their own new twist: the British-based Wrasse label recently issued Chillout Sessions, a disc of Ladysmith tunes as rejiggered by a host of DJs for coming-down club kids. This past year was a tragic one for the group; in May, Nellie Shabalala, wife of Ladysmith leader and founding member Joseph Shabalala, was murdered outside Durban. Putting their trust in the healing power of music, the band are back on the road, and they’ll kick off a US tour with a date on Friday January 31 at Sanders Theatre. Tickets are $20 to $35; call (617) 496-2222.