Chicago has always done its own thing when it comes to The Nutcracker. For decades, the city’s annual production was choreographed by Ruth Page, doyenne of Chicago dance, and directed by the late Larry Long. Then, in 1995, the city switched to Robert Joffrey’s version of the ballet, set in 1860s America. In 2016, the Joffrey commissioned a new Nutcracker from Christopher Wheeldon, who trained at the Royal Ballet School in London and then went on to dance with and choreograph for the New York City Ballet. Wheeldon’s approach is set at the time of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition—a world’s fair that took place in Chicago. —Laura Jacobs