The Chippewa Valley has loads of local talent, but that doesn’t mean the area doesn’t appreciate and welcome amazing performers from all over. Moscow Ballet’s The Great Russian Nutcracker took the cake as the Best Touring Theatrical Production for the third consecutive year. The ballerinas and danseurs celebrated the holiday season with an impressive 100-city North American tour and took the Pablo Center’s stage on Nov. 6. The brilliant dancers and choreographers of the nationally renowned Alvin Ailey II troupe came in second for its Oct. 27 performance at the Pablo. As a part of 2018’s UWEC Artists Series, All is Calm: The Christmas Truce of 1914, a musical play recounting a legendary World War I incident, came to Eau Claire on Nov. 26. — Taylor Reisdorf