The Culture Lover’s December Guide
Get into the holiday spirit with an array of upcoming culture events that’ll make the season feel all kinds of cheery and bright. From virtual productions of Christmas classics, including Handel’s Messiah, George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker, and Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol, to IRL exhibition openings and innovative Art Basel Miami Beach virtual programming (think a conversation about mycelium), there’s truly something for everyone. If ever there were a year to go out with a bang, it’s this one.
1. Alvin Ailey Winter Season
December 2–31
Throughout the month, the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater is presenting its first-ever virtual season, with all programming free of charge. It kicks off with a live reimagining of Revelations—the company’s 1960 masterwork that celebrates African-American heritage—followed by a post-benefit dance party, which viewers can join virtually. Also on the lineup: choreographic premieres from associate artistic director Matthew Rushing and dancer and resident choreographer Jamar Roberts, live interactive workshops, a family matinee program, and more.
2. Yinka Shonibare CBE: “Earth Kids”
Opening December 4
For his seventh solo show at New York’s James Cohan gallery, British Nigerian artist Yinka Shonibare CBE will unveil a selection of new sculptures made with his signature Dutch batik-print fabrics. Titled “Earth Kids,” the exhibition explores the connection between the legacy of colonization and “mankind’s domination of the natural world,” which has ultimately led to climate change. Air Kid (Boy) (2020) will be on display and is one of four sculptures created to represent the elements. In place of a head, the figure features a globe revealing the earth’s surface temperatures recorded in recent years.
3. Art Basel’s OVR: Miami Beach
December 4–6
The art world will not convene in Miami Beach to ogle bananas duct-taped to walls, sip champagne, and enjoy the South Florida sunshine during the first week of December this year. But Art Basel’s OVR: Miami Beach (“OVR” stands for online viewing room) promises the opportunity to discover 2,500 modern and contemporary works from 255 leading galleries hailing from 30 different countries and territories—all from the comfort of wherever you’re hunkering down. Expect art from blue chip names such as Simone Leigh and Tracey Emin, as well as global talents you may not know yet, but definitely should. The presentation from Milan’s Prometeo Gallery Ida Pisani will focus on the Guatemalan performance artist Regina José Galindo and the Kurdish artist and activist Zehra Doğan. Meanwhile, the group show from Sao Paolo’s Galeria Luisa Strina, titled De Sur a Norte (From South to North), promises a virtual trip through the Americas, with Brazil (Clarissa Tossin), Columbia (Mateo López), and Mexico (Pedro Reyes) represented.
4. “Mushroom Conversations” and Waterproof Miami
Through December 6
For Miami locals, Design Miami/—the furniture and design fair that typically runs concurrently with Art Basel Miami Beach—will go forward, as is the way now, at reduced capacity, with a handful of presenters taking up residency at a new venue in the Design District. Hassan Pierre and Amanda Hearst’s ethical luxury e-commerce platform Maison de Mode is partnering with Rodrigo Garcia Alvarez’s vegan candle brand Amen to present “Mushroom Conversations,” an art installation about circular design. (Amen’s biodegradable packaging is made from mushrooms.) There will be a panel discussion Friday, December 4, at 4 p.m. ET that will also be streamed online for those not in the Magic City.
Also on the eco-conscious front, Bas Fisher Invitational (BFI), an artist-run curatorial platform cofounded by Naomi Fisher, and Bridge Initiative, a nonprofit founded by Kate Fleming that uses art to fight climate change, are teaming up for a socially distanced edition of their ongoing advocacy project Waterproof Miami. They will be distributing free copies of Thalassia—an artist book made by Michele Oka Doner about the environmental degradation of Biscayne Bay—at venues across the city including the Rubell Museum, The Bass, Oolite Arts, and Bakehouse Art Complex.
RSVP for “Mushroom Conversations”
Learn more about Waterproof Miami
5. iHeartRadio’s Jingle Ball
December 10
While this year’s all-virtual Jingle Ball is going to look wildly different from those of years past, its stacked lineup is reason enough to tune in to CWTV.com on December 10 at 9 p.m. ET. Featuring performances from Harry Styles, Billie Eilish, Dua Lipa, Doja Cat, Lewis Capaldi, Sam Smith, Shawn Mendes, and The Weeknd—in other words, some of today’s biggest stars—it’s all but guaranteed to be a great show.
6. George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker
Beginning December 11
The Nutcracker is one of our most cherished holiday traditions: New York City Ballet has performed George Balanchine’s original choreography set to Tchaikovsky’s iconic score every year since 1954. With the lights still dark at Lincoln Center, the company is partnering with Marquee TV to offer a never-before-seen recording of last year’s production on demand. Tickets are $25 for a 48-hour window viewing period. The production features principal dancers Maria Kowroski as the Sugarplum Fairy, Tyler Angle as Her Cavalier, and Megan Fairchild as Dewdrop.
7. A Christmas Carol
December 12–24
If livestreaming is the next best thing to live performance, London’s The Old Vic theater is doing one better with 16 separate fully staged livestreaming performances of Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol. Jack Thorne and Matthew Warchus’s critically acclaimed adaptation of the big-hearted holiday classic was a hit when it transferred to Broadway last fall, and now tickets can be had from anywhere starting at £20 (about $26). Former Walking Dead star Andrew Lincoln will star as Ebenezer Scrooge.
8. A Night at the Ballet
December 17–20
Just in time for the holiday, former ABT dancer Melanie Hamrick, ABT principal dancer Christine Shevchenko, and choreographer and producer Joanna DeFelice are launching their own production company, Live Arts Global, with a star-studded gala performance titled A Night at the Ballet. It will feature excerpts from The Nutcracker, Romeo and Juliet, Don Quixote, and more danced by stars of many of the top companies in New York (American Ballet Theatre, New York City Ballet, Alvin Ailey, and Dance Theater of Harlem) and around the world (San Francisco Ballet, Mariinsky Theatre of St. Petersburg, Russia). The hour-long performance will be available to stream for four days, and Hamrick and co. are asking for donations of any size to help support the dancers, stage crew, and all those involved in live theater who, due to the global pandemic, are in need of immediate financial support.
9. Handel’s Messiah
December 21
To ensure that the musical spirit of the holiday lives on, the Oratorio Society of New York will present a livestreamed event featuring a selection of excerpts from Handel’s epic Messiah performed by a pared-down choir of 24 and reduced orchestra of 12. Filmed in the barn of conductor Kent Tritle’s upstate New York home, the production will culminate with a rousing performance of “Hallelujah,” for which other society members will join in remotely to lend their voices to. Tune in live on December 21 at 8 p.m. at osny.org. Or watch it there on demand through January 10.
10. Virtual New Year’s Eve Ball Drop
December 31
Without a massive crowd crammed together in freezing weather, can the iconic Times Square New Year’s Eve ball drop even happen? The answer is yes, and it promises to be just as entertaining as ever. Hosted by Jonathan Bennett, the event will begin at 6 p.m. ET with the lighting and raising of the New Year’s Eve Ball. From there, the programming will continue commercial-free and feature hourly countdowns, as well as live musical performances from still-to-be-announced guests. To watch, tune in via a dedicated livestream or watch on Times Square’s official website.
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