2pm Dance

For 15 years, David Wilcox’s production of “The Nutcracker” appeared every Christmas season in the Long Beach Terrace Theatre, danced by his Los Angeles Classical Ballet. No longer. The Wilcox company is now defunct--but his “Nutcracker” staging (co-choreographed with Terri Lewis) has been reborn in mainland China and is coming back to the Southland, performed by the Classical Ballet of Guangzhou. Visiting the U.S. for the first time, this 50-member ensemble learned the Wilcox version in six weeks and introduced it to home audiences in mid-November.

* Classical Ballet of Guangzhou in “The Nutcracker,” Shrine Auditorium, 649 W. Jefferson Blvd., Los Angeles, 2 p.m. $15 to $100 (patron, includes reception). (562) 290-0323. Also Tuesday-Dec. 23, 8 p.m., Carpenter Performing Arts Center, 6200 Atherton St., Long Beach. $25 to $75 (patron, includes reception). (562) 290-0323.

4pm Music

“Joy: Seasons of Love” is the title of this year’s holiday concert by the South Coast Chorale. Among other unusual selections will be a new song by theater composer Jim Grady; more usual will be 15 songs from previous December Chorale shows and, to close, a Christmas medley in which the audience will be invited to sing along.

* South Coast Chorale, Carpenter Performing Arts Center, 6200 Atherton St., Long Beach, 4 p.m. $23. (562) 985-7000.

4pm Music

It’s a tradition! Angelic a cappella singing group Inner Voices--Morgan Ames, Melissa Mackay, Michael Mishaw and Donna McAfee--gather every year about this time to harmonize on seasonal favorites. This year, they’re joined by former Take 6 vocalist-arranger Mervyn Warren and sopranos Julie Delgado and Mimi Manners in a bring-the-kids performance that always ends with the audience joining in.

* Inner Voices, the Jazz Bakery, 3233 Helms Ave., Culver City, 4 p.m. Adults $17; children 12 and younger, $9. (310) 271-9039.

4pm Music

The All-American Boys Chorus, 90 voices strong, spreads holiday cheer in “Sounds of Christmas ‘99,” a concert of seasonal favorites and works by J.S. Bach and Charles Gounod.

* The All-American Boys Chorus,” La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts, 14900 La Mirada Blvd., La Mirada, 4 p.m. $18 to $25. (714) 708-1670.

7:30pm Pop Music

“What better place than here, what better time than now?” That’s Zack de la Rocha’s call to arms in Rage Against the Machine’s new song “Guerrilla Radio,” and it pretty much sums up the militant immediacy that has made the L.A. band a unique force in rock--a popular band with an unshakable commitment to radical social comment.

* Rage Against the Machine, with Gang Starr and Queens of the Stone Age, Sunday and Monday at the Forum, 3900 W. Manchester Blvd., Inglewood, 7:30 p.m. $25. (310) 419-3100.

8pm Blues

Whether she’s singing songs made famous by Billie Holiday, Otis Redding or Willie Dixon, Etta James comes on to the blues with a voice as big as Santa’s belly and a sleighful of risque asides. She’s also been known to bring soul and humor to a Christmas song or two (you’d better watch out, Santa, when she’s singing about you!). The Tommy Castro Band opens.

* Etta James, House of Blues, 8430 Sunset Blvd., 8 p.m. $30. (323) 848-5100.

FREEBIES

Walk the labyrinth, a replica of one laid on the floor at Chartres Cathedral in about 1220, at the First United Methodist Church, 1008 11th St., Santa Monica. 2:30-5 p.m. White socks required. (310) 393-8258.

L.A. Philharmonic community holiday concert at Holman Church, 3320 W. Adams Blvd., 7 p.m. The program includes excerpts from Tchaikovsky’s “Nutcracker” and carols of the season. (323) 731-7285.