ANGELS CAMP — A full length, professional quality production of The Nutcracker Ballet will be performed this holiday season in the Bret Harte Theatre on the high school campus in Angels Camp.

Three performances throughout the weekend of Dec. 18-19 will be presented by over 50 dancers of the Studio 4 Dance Theatre of Murphys. The event kicks off the 2010 Calaveras Arts Council’s Ovations Performing Arts Series which will feature five other topflight concerts from January through March.

Artistic director, choreographer and dance instructor of The Nutcracker is professional ballerina Tammie Lee, whose Studio 4 Dance Theater has presented eight seasons of various performances that have featured children and adults from San Andreas to Sonora. Last year’s three Nutcracker performances, held in the Black Bart Theatre in Murphys, were sold out and many people were unable to attend. Now, the 350-seat Bret Harte Theater will allow many more families to experience this holiday classic and create unforgettable memories to cherish for years.

For the youngest viewers, this production is terrific: swiftly paced, streamlined at just two hours (including a generous intermission with refreshments), and chock-full of eye-popping dazzle, a glittering kickoff to the holiday season.

The performances are at 6 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 18, and at 1 and 6 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 19. Tickets to The Nutcracker cost $15 per adult; youth to 18 cost $7.  Buy them on-line at www.highsierratickets.com or call (209) 296-5495. If not sold out, tickets will be available at the door of “The Bret” at 323 Highway 49 in Angels Camp starting a half-hour before each performance. For any information, call the Calaveras Arts Council at (209)754-1774