Birdwoman

In its 60th season, the Sacramento Ballet undertakes one of the most famous ballets of all time, Swan Lake, for the first time in 15 years. Even if you're about as good a dancer as Taylor Swift, it's nearly impossible that you haven't been exposed to elements of the ballet in some form, whether it's the parallel portrayal of the ballet in Black Swan, the swelling drama of the Tchaikovsky score (I'm still waiting for a baseball player to use the meaty part of “Swan's Theme” as his walk-up song) or the allusion in the “Shake it Off” video by none other than T-Swift.

Ahead of the actual production during the last weekend of March, catch “Inside the Director's Studio: Timeless Beauty Revealed” with artistic director Carinne Binda (1631 K Street; Friday, March 13; 6 p.m. to 7 p.m., $20), during which she will delve into the history of the ballet and how she went about adapting it for the Sacramento Ballet. The following night, from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m., the studio opens its doors for rehearsal during Second Saturday—an excellent opportunity to see the iconic choreography close up (and for free!).

The production itself is about as serious as classical ballet gets—gorgeous white tutus everywhere, choreography that's breathtaking in its precision and zero smiling. There's a princess that gets turned into a swan, an evil doppelganger that tries to steal her man, an owl sorcerer that is super pissed for no discernible reason—so much drama! (No one is stabbed with a shard of mirror at the end, but it's tragic nonetheless.) $19-$57; 7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 26, through Saturday, March 28, and 2 p.m. Sunday, March 29; 1301 L Street, www.sacballet.org.