Holidays of music and dance

The Moscow Ballet is coming to the Wells Fargo Center for the Arts this holiday season.

Dust off the Bing Crosby, dig up the Johnny Mathis and trot out “Santa Baby” — it’s almost that time of year.

Yet no matter how deep your record collection goes, Christmas music is really meant to be a live experience. It’s the reason caroling was invented, and the reason Elvis Presley loved to sing “Blue Christmas” in concert.

A roomful of voices or musicians summoning the holiday spirit, in harmony, can be a beautiful thing. From world music to smooth jazz and a holiday pole-dancing cabaret, Sonoma County has decked the halls for dozens of popular yuletide performances, starting this weekend. Here’s the best of the lot. Check it twice.

Best Excuse to Don Our Gay Apparel: In the spirit of SantaCon, those jolly seasonal flashmobs where thousands of St. Nicks converge in one spot from Portland to New York, the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus returns to Santa Rosa, this time dressed as 250 Santas for the “SantaConcert” to benefit Face to Face Sonoma County AIDS Network.  For a glimpse of what you might see and hear, check out the high-kicking elves in the “Favorite One” video at www.sfgmc.org/favorite-one-holiday-video.  7:30 p.m. Saturday (aka World AIDS Day) at the Center for Spiritual Living, 2075 Occidental Road, Santa Rosa. $25-$35. www.f2f.org.

Best Globetrotting Holiday Experience: In the span of two weeks at the Wells Fargo Center, you can travel in spirit to holiday celebrations in Mexico, Ireland and Russia. On Dec. 7, Compania Mazatlan Bellas Artes de Sacramento returns with 28 dancers and musicians for the traditional Posada Navidena. Look for the debut of the new work “Yucatan.” 7 p.m. $15 children, $20 adults. 50 Mark West Springs Road, Santa Rosa. www.wellsfargocenterarts.org

On Dec. 16, Irish fiddler Eileen Ivers, she of the trademark blue fiddle and soundtrack for “Gangs of New York,” conjures Dublin in December for “An Irish Christmas,” backed by the Santa Rosa Symphony. (3 p.m., $37-$80).

And finally, the 20th anniversary production of Moscow Ballet’s “Great Russian Nutcracker” closes out the Wells Fargo Center’s “We Are the World” holiday tour with two shows at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Dec. 23. Hardly hidden among the sugar plum fairies, you won’t miss the Christmas tree that grows five stories tall. ($28-$75).