Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins | Rochester

Twin Cities-based Little Tanz Theater is proud to present Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins— a folk ballet for the young and the young at heart, based on the classic children's book by Eric Kimmel and Trina Schart Hyman.

Hershel of Ostropole, a wandering trickster and fixture of Eastern European Jewish folklore, wanders into a small village during the holiday of Hanukkah. However, no one is celebrating. The village synagogue has been overtaken by a pack of Hanukkah-hating goblins who are preventing the villagers from lighting candles and enjoying potato latkes. Oy vey! Can Hershel outwit the goblins and save Hanukkah? You'll have to join us to find out.

Hailed by audiences as "infectious", "dynamic", and "so great we came a second time" Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins features a multi-generational cast and live music from the Eyn Tsvey Dreydel klezmer band. It's like the Nutcracker, only with pickles instead of sugar plums. Choreographed by Hannah MacKenzie-Margulies with music direction from Josh Rosard, this production is quickly becoming a new holiday tradition.

Performance schedule: December 5, 2026, 7:30PM & December 6, 2026, 2:30PM

Run time: 55 minutes

Tickets: Sliding scale $10-$55

Little Tanz Theater creates family-friendly dance theater works inspired by Ashkenazi Jewish traditions of Eastern Europe and the diaspora. Tanz (sometimes spelled tants) means “dance” in Yiddish, and through our work we seek to share and celebrate Yiddish dance, klezmer music, and yiddishkeit in all its forms.