The Snow Queen - November 20-23, 2025
The Snow Queen: Celebrating its 20th Anniversary in 2025
Show Information:
Thursday, November 20: 7pm
Friday, November 21: 7pm
Saturday, November 22: 2pm* ($5 Tickets!) + 7pm
Sunday, November 23: 2pm
Dalton High School Theater - 1500 Manly St, Dalton, GA 30720
Adults: $20
Children age 3+, Students and Senior Citizens (ages 55+): $18
Saturday Narrated Matinee: $5
Babies 2 and under may sit in a lap at no charge.
*The 2pm performance on Saturday is a narrated show that is perfect for young viewers and their families! Dalton High School Players narrate the show in character as sisters Anne and Lena, guiding the audience through all of the music and magic of The Snow Queen. Tickets are $5 for this showtime only!
When we were given the opportunity to raise $20,000 that would unlock a $20,000 matching grant for a total investment of $40,000 for the 20th anniversary of The Snow Queen, we were honored and excited but knew it would take an all-in effort. After months of generous donations from our dance families and the unwavering support of our community, we are proud to say that we not only met our goal - we EXCEEDED IT!
We extend a heartfelt THANK YOU to everyone who contributed to this campaign! Your gifts helped us invest in new scenery, costume elements, and technology, enhancing the overall imagery and production elements of this annual ballet and elevating the performances for years to come! Thank you for contributing to the legacy of The Snow Queen. The magic lives on, indeed!
Celebrating 20 years of a magical journey that honors life’s seasons and the enduring power of love - the Creative Arts Guild and Ballet Dalton present our 20th annual production of The Snow Queen - an original story ballet performed with a live chamber orchestra. Enjoy the wonder and beauty of dazzling costumes and beautiful imagery while dancers and musicians unite for one incredible production November 20-23 at Dalton High School Theatre.
In 2005, the Creative Arts Guild produced its first annual production of The Snow Queen. The Snow Queen was adapted from a beautiful and well-known Hans Christian Andersen story and was transformed into a full-length classical ballet. Every part of the ballet was hand picked by Dance Director Jessie Southerland and former Assistant Dance Director Elizabeth Fisher. The score incorporates pieces from Glazunov, Tchaikovsky, and Delibes among other public domain music, each costume was carefully selected, and every step was choreographed from the ground up making this a truly original work of art.
After the 10th anniversary of this production in November of 2015, Creative Arts Guild staff and board members began dreaming about how we could elevate this annual production and bring an even greater arts experience to our community audiences and elevate the performance and educational opportunity for our students. CAG was also charged with a new strategic focus to engage and support working artists. The idea of the addition of a live orchestra was born.
With the support of the Ken and Myra White Foundation, during the 2016 year, the score was constructed by arranger Rodney Bishop. David Pasqua was then brought on as the production's conductor and leader of the Creative Arts Guild Chamber Orchestra's musicians, and our 11th annual production of The Snow Queen opened to our largest audience to date.
The addition of the professional musicians not only added a tremendous learning opportunity for our students and engaged working artists validating their work in the world but also engaged a broader and larger audience - people who loved music but fell in love with the ballet. Although the production was 11 years strong in 2017, many of our audience members were first-time attendees.
After the huge success of our inaugural year with a live orchestra, Creative Arts Guild looked to take the arts engagement a step further and received funding from Georgia Council for the Arts to support bringing our chamber orchestra into our school field trips for 960 students. Creative Arts Guild reached out to Dalton High School Drama department to partner with us to write and perform a script in conjunction with an abbreviated version of the performance incorporating several of the new arts standards.
The Snow Queen is seen as a treasured work of art in the Dalton community and a crown jewel of the Creative Arts Guild.
THE SNOW QUEEN SYNOPSIS
Act I
Scene I, Opening: We are introduced to the four royal sisters, Spring Princess (a kind but lonely woman); Summer Princess (playful but selfish); Fall Princess (a wild wanderer) and the Snow Queen (beautiful, but cold and conniving). Here, we look back to when the Queen of the Sprites and her little Sprites made a magic mirror that controls the seasons of the four sisters. The Snow Queen decides that she wants to possess the mirror alone and steals it with the Sprites’ help. When stolen, the mirror shatters into a million pieces and one shard lands in the eye of a village girl, Kay. Snow Queen begins her search to find Kay and get the shard back.
Scene II, The Village: Dawn breaks over the bustling marketplace as the townspeople greet one another and prepare to sell their wares. Among them are an Old Crone with a magical secret, a mysterious Doll Maker who brings a doll to life, and two loving sisters, Kay and Gerda. The villagers dance joyfully in the morning light—until a Fortune Teller arrives, casting a shadow of foreboding. She warns of the Snow Queen’s approach, though only the Old Crone seems to listen! With the Fortune Teller’s guidance, the Crone’s secret is revealed—she is not old at all, but a magical Raven, destined to become Gerda’s spirit guide. As the village prepares for the day, the Seamstress gifts Kay a beautiful, embroidered handkerchief, which she proudly shows to Gerda. Suddenly, the Snow Queen sweeps in, freezing the sisters in place and kidnapping Kay to reclaim the final shard of her icy mirror. Unbeknownst to The Snow Queen, the Raven watches every move. When the Queen departs, Kay leaves her handkerchief behind. The Raven summons the Aurora Borealis to light the night sky, calling forth the Queen of the Sprites and the Enchantress, who awaken Gerda and show her the lost handkerchief. With the northern lights to guide her, Gerda begins her journey through the four seasons to rescue her sister and bring her home.
Act II
Scene I, The Journey Through Spring: We are introduced to the Spring Princess, a kind but lonely woman who welcomes Gerda with open arms and wishes more than anything that she will stay. Knowing that Gerda needs rest, Spring Princess tells Gerda to sleep, hoping that she will forget her journey. However, the Whispering Roses, with the help of the Raven, wake Gerda up and remind her to think of her sister and encourage her to continue on to the next season.
Scene II, The Journey Through Summer: Here we are introduced to the lovely but arrogant Summer Princess who dances merrily to a very impressed Gerda. However, once Gerda realizes the Princess’ intentions for her – to make Gerda a servant – she escapes from Summer’s palace and continues on to Fall. Summer sends her Pages after her but to no avail. With the Raven’s protection, Gerda is already gone.
Scene III, The Journey Through Fall: Gerda is scared and tired now as her journey has been long. As the temperature begins to drop, the Enchantress leads her into the Fall Season. Here, she is introduced to a woman she hopes will lead Gerda safely through Fall. Unfortunately, the woman double crosses both the Queen of the Sprites and Gerda, and sells her to the Fall Princess, the wild and fearsome leader. Fall Princess’ daughter, Robber Girl, enters and begs her mother to give her Gerda as a plaything because she has no friends her own age. The Princess finally agrees. In time, Gerda realizes that she must leave because her sister is the most important thing to her. With the help of the Raven, Gerda tricks the Robber Girl into letting her go and her mother, the Fall Princess, reveals her disappointment with her child.
Scene IV, The Journey Into Winter: Shivering from cold, Gerda, again with the help of the Queen of the Sprites, finds her sister Kay with the Snow Queen. Icicles, Frost, and Snow Storms dance around them trying to keep them under the control of the Snow Queen. Eventually, the other royal sisters…Spring, Summer, and Fall, along with the Queen of the Sprites and the Raven…come to the rescue and help Gerda and Kay escape. Kay puts the final shard of glass back in the mirror and returns the mirror to the Queen of the Sprites to be taken away for good. Kay and Gerda rejoice in their reunion!
Thank You to our 2025 Sponsors:
Diamond Level
Ken and Myra White
Engineered Floors
Finley Family Charitable Foundation
h2b Creative
Marketing Alliance Group
Mohawk Industries
Shaw Industries
Textile Rubber & Chemical Co.
Platinum Level
Georgia United Credit Union
Gold Level
Here Local Media
Geiger Legal Group
Reginald Sherrill, MD / Dalton Plastic Surgery
Silver Level
Animal Hospital of Whitfield County
Dalton Utilities / Optilink
Jack & Aggie Bandy Foundation
Pearle Vision Dalton & The Malerbi Family
Bronze Level
Anonymous
Barbara Adamson Interiors
Barton Family Dentistry
Coldwell Banker Kinard Realty
Dalton CARSTAR South
Dalton Funeral Home
Dalton’s Mr. Real Estate
Rodger H. Eidson
James & Delyn Ellis
Maryville Jewelers
Myers Flooring
Peds Care, PC
The Pine Needle
Rebecca Fleisher Dance Scholarship & Morris Fleisher Visual Art Scholarship
Steve & Cathy Snyder
Wayne’s Meat Market
Additional Sponsors
A Friend
Blake & Jill Adcock
Mike & Pricilla Brown
Marc & Penny Carpenter
Marvin & Joanne Lewis
The Minor Firm
Raspberry Row