Dance
Swan Lake
Choreographer Christopher Wheeldon sets Swan Lake in 19th-century Paris. October 15 and 16. Joffrey Ballet
Hedwig Dances
The modern troupe teams up with Cuban company DanzAbierta to examine life in the Midwest and the Caribbean. October 9 to 11. Columbia College
Peep Show
Two choreographers develop routines in real time with input from the audience and plenty of booze. October 6, November 3, December 1. Links Hall
Message Me If . . .
Avant-garde choreographer and dancer Kelly Anderson tackles the trials of online dating. November 14 to 16. Links Hall
Art
Ensor’s Dark Side
A lesser known contemporary of Van Gogh, Belgian artist James Ensor produced work that is disturbing and often funny. November 23 to January 25. Art Institute of Chicago
Examining the Body
Local artist Riva Lehrer dissects the experience of painting a human body in a presentation called “A Self-Portrait in Formaldehyde.” October 25. Block Museum of Art
Complex Beauty
The Kenyan-born, Brooklyn-based collagist Wangechi Mutu takes on feminism, colonialism, and race. Through December 7. Block Museum of Art
Shaq Selects
Basketball legend Shaquille O’Neal curates an exhibit at Expo Chicago titled Shaq Loves People, a series of contemporary portraits. September 18 to 21. Navy Pier
Classical
Mozart’s Requiem
This orchestral behemoth was unfinished when Mozart died at age 35. The portion he left behind glimpses immortality. October 19. Pick-Staiger Concert Hall
Chicago Symphony Orchestra with Prieto and Yeh
Carlos Miguel Prieto conducts CSO principal percussionist Cynthia Yeh as she buries James MacMillan’s Veni, Veni, Emmanuel under a welter of cymbals and mallets. December 18 to 20. Symphony Center
Bartók and Boulez
Pianist Alice Sara Ott, 26, plays Bartók in a program that also includes Figures-Doubles-Prismes by 89-year-old Pierre Boulez. November 12 to 15. Symphony Center
American Contemporary Music Ensemble
The talent-glutted musicians of ACME play off-kilter grooves by the psychedelic sometimes-rocker Joseph Byrd. October 26. Constellation
Opera
Porgy and Bess
Baritone Eric Owens reprises his role as Porgy in the hottest operatic event of the season. November 17 to December 20. Civic Opera House
Capriccio
For the past four years, Renée Fleming’s fingers have been in the Lyric Opera’s staged productions—but now her sterling voice will be in one, too. October 6 to 28. Civic Opera House
Gli Equivoci nel Sembiante
Alessandro Scarlatti’s baroque opera has been mounted only a handful of times in its 335-year history. October 24 to 25. Haymarket Opera Company
Hecuba
Oracle Hysterical, the opera-stretching avant-gardists, present an unstaged version of their concept album based on the Euripides play. November 6. Constellation