The Hip Hop Nutcracker

About This Event

Tchaikovsky's score, re-scored and danced as hip hop, with a DJ and a violinist on stage alongside the dancers — a genuinely different family-holiday option from the traditional Nutcracker if you've already seen the Joffrey's version a few times.

It's newer than it looks: choreographer Jennifer Weber and writer Mike Fitelson created it in 2013, premiering that December at venues in New Jersey and New York. It keeps every beat of the original 1892 ballet's story — the battle between soldiers and mice, the toy dolls, the snow scene, the Kingdom of the Sweets — just told through hip-hop choreography instead of classical ballet, with the score remixed by a DJ and violinist rather than a full orchestra. Old-school rap pioneer Kurtis Blow opens every performance himself, rapping a live introduction before the dancers take over.

Worth knowing: no single showtime is listed since it runs across five days with a normal theater schedule of multiple performances — check broadwayinchicago.com for the exact date and time you want.