Twas the weekend before Christmas and there’s loads to do in the way of movies, music, theater, dance and art.

And shopping. It’s an especially great weekend for shopping what with Gifted at the Brooklyn Flea, Kings County General Store at Southpaw on Sunday and a Holiday Craft Fair at the Brooklyn Lyceum. Click on read more for all the essential details of what I’ve listed so far.

Shopping

This weekend at BAM: Black Swan, 127 Hours, The King’s Speech, The Fighter

This weekend at the Pavilion: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Black Swan, The Fighter, Chronicles of Narnia, How Do You Know,  The Tourist, Curious George: A Very Monkey Christmas and more…

Holiday Shopping

This weekend at theBrooklyn Flea: Gifted, a holiday market sponsored by the Brooklyn Flea and Design Sponge.

Sunday at Southpaw: Kings County General Store December Holiday markets sponsored by Bust Magazine!  You’ll find perfect holiday gifts made in NYC by local companies starting at only $5-$50! Kings Co General Store is located at Southpaw,125 Fifth Ave (St Johns + Sterling) in Park Slope. Admission is FREE! Drink specials all day! Music by Mikey Palms & friends from  East Village Radios Chances With Wolves (www.chanceswithwolves.com).

Saturday and Sunday at the Brooklyn Lyceum: The Holiday Craft Market with 60 vendors

The Hard Nut at BAM

Through December 19 at BAM: To celebrate its 30th anniversary, Mark Morris Dance Group reprises its irreverent and much loved The Hard Nut, a retro-modern take on the holiday favorite The Nutcracker. Morris’ rendition—which has won Ovation TV’s Battle of the Nutcrackers contest for three years running—transplants the story from the decorous 1890s to the swinging 1970s, a freewheeling era realized with panache and wit. Inspired by the E.T.A. Hoffmann story, Tchaikovsky’s gorgeous score, and the comic book art of Charles Burns, Morris captures the beauty and tenderness of this classic while infusing it with supreme musicality and raucous humor.

A New Nutcracker at BAM

Dec 22-January 3 at BAM: Magical toy soldiers, sparkling fairies, mischievous mice, and all the enchanting inhabitants of E.T.A. Hoffmann’s whimsical world descend upon BAM for the world premiere of The Nutcracker, presented by the renowned American Ballet Theatre and choreographed by ABT artist-in-residence Alexei Ratmansky.

Music

Friday at 8PM at the Good Coffee House: David Roche is a singer/songwriter from a family of famous singer/songwriters. (The Roches are his sisters). He has been writing songs from an early age and performed with his wife, daughter, sisters, in-laws and more. Louis Rosen is a multi-award winning songwriter, guitarist and pianist best known for his recent recordings and performances with the jazz/pop vocalist and Broadway musical actress, Capathia Jenkins. Louis goes solo this time, though Capathia and a few friends have promised to sit in.

Saturday at 8PM at the Bell House: Harry and the Potters bring their annual Yule Ball to Brooklyn! It’s a night for wizards and muggles of all ages to revel in the magic and cheer of the holiday season. Wear your fancy dress robes and be ready to toss back a few wizardly concoctions at the bar (Elixir to Induce Euphoria, anyone?). $3 from each ticket benefits the Harry Potter Alliance (thehpalliance.org), a non-profit that brings Harry Potter fans together to fight the dark arts here in the muggle world.

Saturday at the Jewish Music Cafe (doors open at 8:30): Eitan Katz for motzei shabbos

Saturday Dec 18 at 8PM at Barbes: Smokey Hormel is probably best known for his works with Beck, Tom Waits and his Brazilian project with Miho Hatori. He also fronts such projects as Smokey’s roundup, inspired by Western Swing of Milton Brown, or his Secret Family, heavy on percussion and African guitars. Tonight, his band draws from his entire repertoire, bringing us the best of Smokey.

A Klezmer Christmas Eve

December 24th at 8PM at Barbes: For the past two years, December 24th has proven to be an exceptionally lovely evening for klezmer, for no particular reason that we can ascertain, really. The first concert certainly wasn’t motivated by a book we found at an elementary school music program with the fascinating title of “Christmas Music for Everyone”. This year, ditch the movie and come to the continuation of the klezmer coincidence for a delightful evening of music, dancing and drink. Sets at 8 PM & 10 PM, $10 suggested.

Theater

Through December 19 at the Gallery Players in Park Slope: Dancing at Lughnasa Brian Friel’s haunting and beautiful Irish masterpiece opens December 4 under the direction of Heather Siobhan Curran.