After a 26 year absence, New York City Ballet is returning to Chicago, and will appear at the harris Theatre. “The announcement is historic on a number of levels. In addition to a long-overdue return by a great troupe, the plans signal a new era for the 2 1/2-year-old Harris, venturing into new territory as a presenter of its own attractions. Opened in fall 2003 as a rental house, mostly for local companies, the theater, part of Millennium Park, did not sponsor presentations itself. Now, that’s changing in a blockbuster way.”