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TO FEBRUARY 26
If it were a movie, the Washington Ballet’s newest production would bear the tag line, “If you liked The Nutcracker, you’ll love Hansel and Gretel!” Like the famous Christmastime ballet, Rick McCullough’s Hansel and Gretel features a mix of professional and student dancers, a confectionery setting, and a two-act format. Unlike more abstract pieces, this story ballet offers the able Washington Ballet dancers the chance to act in character roles. And there are plenty of those: Based on the highly symbolic fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm, the ballet includes references to everything from parental abandonment to gluttony to cannibalism. Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m. at the Kennedy Center’s Eisenhower Theater. $34.50-40. (202) 467-4600. (Brook J. Sadler)