Sto­ry and Pho­tos by

Rishi Ra­goonath

An evening of fes­tive mag­ic un­fold­ed on De­cem­ber 9, as stu­dents of Cedar Grove Pri­vate School lit up the stage with their Christ­mas con­cert, “A Christ­mas To Re­mem­ber,” at the South­ern Acad­e­my for the Per­form­ing Arts (SAPA), San Fer­nan­do.

Proud par­ents and de­light­ed guests were treat­ed to a per­for­mance that sparkled with joy, cre­ativ­i­ty and the spir­it of the sea­son.

The stu­dents daz­zled in cos­tumes in­spired by hol­i­day tra­di­tions from around the world.

Through song, dance and dra­ma, they brought the mag­ic of Christ­mas to life, spread­ing cheer and fes­tive spir­it through­out the au­di­to­ri­um.

The night opened with the Se­nior Dance Club per­form­ing a mov­ing ren­di­tion of Ave Maria. This was fol­lowed by the Pre-K 1 stu­dents, whose live­ly per­for­mance of Jin­gle Bells drew smiles and ap­plause. Pre-K 2 kept the en­er­gy high with Mer­ry Christ­mas Every­one, while Grade Four de­light­ed the au­di­ence with their mu­si­cal com­e­dy, A Christ­mas To Re­mem­ber.

De­liv­er­ing an ad­dress, prin­ci­pal Dil­lan Daniel said, “It is tru­ly heart­warm­ing to see this au­di­to­ri­um filled with fam­i­lies and friends who have joined us to cel­e­brate Christ­mas at Cedar Grove Pri­vate School. This evening is a cel­e­bra­tion of joy, to­geth­er­ness, love, and the cher­ished re­mem­brance of the birth of Christ.”

He added, “Over the past sev­er­al weeks, our class­rooms have been alive with cre­ativ­i­ty—filled with dra­ma, mu­sic, laugh­ter, and an­tic­i­pa­tion. Our pupils have worked tire­less­ly, and they are ea­ger to share their tal­ents and hard work with you this evening.”

He con­clud­ed, “As we en­joy tonight’s per­for­mances, let us em­brace the warmth and spir­it that our chil­dren bring to this sea­son. Their smiles, courage, and en­thu­si­asm re­mind us not on­ly of the joy of Christ­mas but al­so of the true mes­sage of Je­sus’ birth—a call to be our neigh­bour’s keep­er.”The fes­tive cel­e­bra­tion con­tin­ued with the Ju­nior Dance Club’s en­er­getic per­for­mance of Car­ol of the Bells, fol­lowed by the Key­board Club’s de­light­ful Christ­mas Med­ley.”Grade Three cap­ti­vat­ed the au­di­ence with a dra­mat­ic pre­sen­ta­tion of The Na­tiv­i­ty: A Christ­mas Nar­ra­tion, while Low­er Kinder­garten brought cheer with their spir­it­ed ren­di­tion of Fe­liz Navi­dad.

Grade One en­gaged the au­di­ence with a dra­mat­ic pre­sen­ta­tion ti­tled Christ­mas Calaloo, and Up­per Kinder­garten con­tin­ued the joy­ful mood with Favourite Things and Laugh­ing Chil­dren.

The Steel­pan Club im­pressed with a soul­ful ren­di­tion of O Holy Night, and Grade Two had every­one tap­ping along to their live­ly So­ca San­ta.

Bring­ing the evening to a joy­ous close, Grade Five de­liv­ered a pow­er­ful fi­nal per­for­mance with Can­tan­do Glo­ria, leav­ing the au­di­ence filled with warmth and the true spir­it of Christ­mas.