Have you ever wanted to attend a Christmas Artist training program that wasn’t teaching the same old things as every other training? Have you ever wanted to learn from various performance arts to elevate your portrayal of our favorite holiday characters? Then please consider joining us at the ACA for the Academy of Christmas Artists.
The Academy of Christmas Artists was founded with the goal of raising the bar of performance artists in the Christmas market. We found that by using teaching techniques from clowning, magic, movement, mime, business, theatre, and dance we could help Christmas Performing Artists become the ultimate holiday entertainer.
All meals and accommodations are included in your registration price!
Within our Santa Claus School education is a team effort and everyone’s contributions are integral to creative and commercial success.
Our autonomous structure emphasizes accomplishment while minimizing politics.
We don’t clock in and out, just get the job done on time at a consistent level of quality.
Our name, logo and contact info is usable by all of our Gold & Platinum members. Therefore, we have a vested interest in helping to produce EXTRAORDINARY Santa & Mrs. Claus portrayal Artists.
MAPS Annual Red Suit Conclave is held the first weekend in August.
Two days of packed full of learning and fellowship.
Welcome to Santa Gordon Bailey’s North Pole home. From here, Santa coordinates all of his toy-making responsibilities and creates the materials for his Santa school, Santa and the Business of Being Santa.
Since its inaugural year (2014), Santa Gordon’s SATBOBS Santa School has been a rousing success. Now in the midst of his fourth year and to satisfy the needs of an ever-growing count of those who seek to be professional Santas or those that seek to hone their skills, SATBOBS Santa Schools has added four trained, independently franchised instructors to cover Canada to Arizona and New York to Florida. You will find our instructors bio’s here and the school schedule here.
WELCOME
Kick off your season with inspiration from the best instructors in the Christmas community!
~ 4 Days (Thursday-Sunday) of classes
~ All Meals provided (4 dinners & 3 lunches)
~ 2 Branson Theater Shows
~ Cookies & Milk Opening Reception with Raffle, Giveaways, & Branson-style Entertainment
~ Printed 4×6 photo with Keynote Instructors
~ Digital Group Photo
~ Graduation Reception with
Vendors & Stuff for Santa onsite store!
Welcome to the Saint Nicholas Institute!
The Saint Nicholas Institute is dedicated to promoting the ideals and encouraging the example of Saint Nicholas and his modern interpretation, Santa Claus. Founded by Father Joseph Marquis the Institute conducts an annual seminar teaching Santas and Mrs. Clauses how to be Ho-Ho-Holy! as well as holding an annual awards banquet where individuals who have exemplified the Spirit of Saint Nicholas are honored. In addition, the Institute seeks to educate the public about Saint Nicholas through resources and information about the Bishop of Myra.
WHY SANTA SCHOOL?
Continuing education is what industry leaders and professionals do. It is critical to continually build upon your skills, and learn new ones, in order to grow your business and improve your craft. After all, being Santa is a very big responsibility. For centuries, society has relied on Santa to create the magic of Christmas. To accept this responsibility you must be committed to being the best Santa you can be. And what better way to elevate your performance, sharpen your abilities and stay current in the industry than through learning from seasoned instructors and sharing information and networking with your fellow Santas.
WHAT SETS US APART?
As the largest school for holiday performers in the Southeast, we understand that at each school session the experience level and needs for our students varies. As part of our unique and fresh approach to education, we screen pre-registered students to determine what they most want to learn, so that we can tailor each school session to the specific needs of the Santas, Mrs. Claus and Elves who will be in attendance.
We offer classes on a rotating and seasonal basis, rather than following a static curriculum for each school session throughout the year. Simply put, in the spring classes are designed towards education for the purpose of allowing time to utilize and perfect skills learned, while our fall classes focus on inspiring, motivating, polishing and helping performers gear up for the season. We will also continually develop curriculum based on the needs and suggestions of our students. This fluid curriculum format of teaching allows us to help our students to continually develop their talents and perform at their highest levels possible.
Additionally, one of the cornerstone philosophies of the Northern Lights Santa Academy is that diversity in education is important. With that in mind, we will always strive to invite instructors from other Santa educational institutions, as well as guest instructors from arenas outside of the industry who have something to offer our students. We believe that providing our students with a larger knowledge base and diversity of instructors, makes the Northern Lights Santa Academy invaluable to the Santa/Mrs. Claus/Elf community.
Santa Doug Eberhart has been portraying Santa Claus for 42 years. He started his acting career in Massillon, Ohio at Washington High School and began as Santa when he was 14 years old. His mother Sandy made his first Santa suit out of an XL men’s pajama pattern. Doug began by doing “Santa gigs” for friends and neighbors and worked his way into doing home visits. Being a large football player, (offensive center) Doug continued his passion for playing Old Saint Nick through his college years at Princeton University where he graduated in 1985.
Upon graduation, Santa Doug moved to Charlotte, NC and continued his portrayal up until this day. He has entertained over 20,000 children and adults. He is a member of IBRBS, Santa USA and prefers to use a designer beard due to his work in the medical field. Being a Designer Bearded Santa has not slowed down Santa Doug’s business. He has been Santa Claus for TV commercials, The Carolina Panthers, Department stores, Grocery Chains, numerous corporate parties and hundreds of home visits.
Santa Doug has gone to numerous Santa schools and classes including the C.W. Howard school. He fills his schedule with about 75 gigs per season. Santa Doug is known for wearing numerous Santa outfits that are beyond the traditional. Many of his outfits are based on vintage postcards and drawings. You can see some of his collection at rentasanta.com under the photo section, his personal website.
In May of 2018, Santa Doug started Prosantashop.com which specializes in products for the PROFESSIONAL Santa. Products include custom made Santa Suits, shirts, vests, waistcoats, belts, buckles, bells, santa bling etc. You can reach him at doug@prosantashop.com
In June of 2019 he founded with Santa Stephen P Price, Charlotte Area Christmas performers, a group of local Santas, Mrs. Clauses and Christmas performers.
He has taught Santa Fashion 101 at the Northern Lights Santa Academy and in 2021 plans on teaching his own school at Prosanta.school May 1-2 in Charlotte, NC
At Santa Family Reunion we are……FAMILY. In this family unit we are all individuals, but with the same goal – to keep the spirit and love of Christmas alive in hearts worldwide. Our goal is to provide an opportunity to learn and share openly with each other and pass on our collective knowledge within our community. We strive to create a family bond celebrating the spirit of Christmas.
It’s Magical and Memorable – FAMILY!
Taking It To The Next Level
Christmas Performing is a unique art. Few performers will have their audience climb into their lap one moment and be as big as a parade route the next. As our profession grows and develops, there will be a demand for Christmas Performers who can bring a variety of entertaining skills: storytelling, singing, acting, improv, mime, character work, and so much more.
Christmas Performer Workshops (CPW) is about helping you bring it to next level, to help you develop your own unique offerings, and save you time on your journey as an “A-List” Performer.
How Do We Do That?
The truth is that no weekend workshop is going to help you develop amazing performing skills. Like any art form, these skills take investment, time, and practice to develop. That said, your average performing arts teacher is not going to know the idiosyncrasies of our Art Form. CPW has a big advantage. We start from a Reenactor / Storytelling background and add the experience as a Christmas Performer. This is probably the best fit when we look at the variety of skills it takes to make a Christmas Character come to life!
When you book one of our workshops, classes, or sessions, we help you save time, money, and help you find the specific resources, knowledge, and training you need.
