Come Watch The Christmas Story Come Alive At Morgan High School

By Lindsay Harden, a 7th grader at Eliot Middle School and a student in Mrs. Dillon’s English class.

Ahavah, which means ‘love’ in Hebrew, is a story about a young girl’s journey to find the true meaning of Christmas.  

Created, choreographed, and directed by Elisa Schroth, Ahavah, A Christmas Mystere  will send you on a journey along with the main character, Alexandra. This will be the sixth year Ahavah is performed but the third at our town high school, Morgan. It will be performed on Saturday Dec. 3 at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. and also on Sunday Dec. 4 at 4 p.m. Ticket prices are $15 for adults and $12 for children ages 6 to 12 and seniors 65 and older. Children age 5 and under are free. 

Elisa Schroth is a pre-professional dancer and dance instructor. She currently runs Christian Academy of Dance (CAD) at the Living Rock Church in Killingworth, CT. Every year the students of CAD work their hardest from August to December to put on Ahavah. Elisa herself takes part in the annual show.

Six years ago Elisa had the idea for this spectacular ballet come to her.

The first year was rough starting off in a small space and not nearly as many cast members as there are today, but the show went on and has adapted much throughout this six year period.  All of the changes are good changes of course and ones that were beneficial to the show. Some of these changes were adding new scenes, characters, props, and changing the choreography every year. 

This year the role of Alexandra will be played by Sandra Carstensen. Although it is clear that there are roles that seem “bigger” than others, Schroth says, “No role is more important than the other. Each one serves a purpose in putting on this production.”  

There are over 100 roles in this production. Those are only the roles played by dancers. This is a really great event where the whole community comes together to put on this breathtaking performance.

“The first time I saw this show, I thought I was in New York City watching professional dancers,” says Lisa Harden, parent and head of promotion.

That is a reaction we get a lot from people who come to see Ahavah. Someone actually told us that they had a tradition of going to see the Nutcracker every year,  but now they have a tradition of going to Ahavah every year. The crowd grows and grows every year. Last year we had 1,200 people all together! This year we hope to have even more. 

So if you want to see New York-style entertainment, discover the true meaning of Christmas through an amazing cultural arts performance, and watch the community come together  to put on a remarkable show, come to Ahavah, A Christmas Mystere. For more information, check out www.theahavahstory.com/