Published: November 14, 2009 10:55 pm      

Original art heralds ‘Nutcracker 2009’ — Dec. 10-13

In early November, as Dalton’s shops transform into holiday wonderlands, a familiar sight begins to appear throughout the community. In storefronts and doorways of area business establishments, posters are displayed featuring the characters and scenes from the regional production of “The Nutcracker” ballet.

For more than a decade, the appearance of these posters has heralded the beginning of the holiday season and created anticipation for the opening night of Dalton Arts Project’s (DAP) “Nutcracker” production. Each year, Dr. Karen Heid has created an original painting depicting characters and scenes unique to the local production.

For this year’s painting, affectionately referred to as “Tidings of Comfort and Nutcracker,” Heid incorporates several images from scenes in Act I. Just as the infamous transformation of the nutcracker to a young prince is viewed by the live audience as a fog billows across the stage, so it is in the painting as the mist swirls around the figures of a sleeping Clara and the Nutcracker Prince.

In Heid’s painting for “Nutcracker 2009,” iconic symbols of the Nutcracker are on view, joyful reminders of favorite images from both the traditional ballet and the unique touches anticipated in the regional production. The warmth of the blazing fire, the illumination from the many candles that adorn the beautifully decorated Christmas tree (that will “grow” several feet before the audience’s eyes), and the gifts in the stockings are reminders of the comfort and joy of the party in Act I. Yet, the ethereal figure of Herr Drosselmeyer peering from above the mantel upon a sleeping Clara and the transformed Nutcracker Prince is a signal of the ballet’s exciting transition to the scenes beyond, far beyond, in the Kingdom of the Sweets. For those who have attended the production year after year, they know that, as the mist recedes, it is certain to be followed by the delights of Spanish hot chocolate, Chinese tea, spring flowers, candy canes and bon-bons. Thus, this painting not only celebrates the traditional party setting of the “Nutcracker” but also illustrates well the ballet’s pivotal transition, building anticipation for the delights that await the audience in Act II in the Kingdom of the Sweets.

Heid is an assistant professor of art education in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of South Carolina. In addition to college students, she has experience teaching students in elementary, middle, and high schools as well as a private studio setting. She has a doctorate degree in art education from the University of Georgia, a master’s degree in education from Berry College, and a bachelor’s degree in fine arts from the University of Tennessee.

Heid’s original artwork and poster reproductions depicting “Nutcracker 2009” are made possible by donations from The Pine Needle, The Frame Shop, and Brown Printing.

Tickets for Dalton Arts Project’s “Nutcracker 2009” go on sale to the public on Monday, Nov. 30, for the following performance dates and times:

Thursday, Dec. 10 at 7:30 p.m.

Friday, Dec. 11 at 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, Dec. 12 at 10 a.m., 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

Sunday, Dec. 13 at 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. (second Sunday show continues this year).

Tickets (and Nutcracker 2009 posters) may be purchased at the Nutcracker Boutique at 411 North Park Drive in Dalton, by calling 706-529-2787, or on the day of the performance at the Dalton High Theatre, 1500 Manly St. Ticket prices are $10 to $16.