Santa's Getting Fit For Christmas

With all the emphasis these days on fitness and healthy eating, we thought it was high time Santa got in on the act. Making wise choices about diet is an important part of feeling and doing one's best. In Santa's case, it's a matter of being able to fulfill his Christmas Eve duties, as this song expresses in a lighthearted way.

This two-beat, Broadway-style presentation encourages a healthy lifestyle – for Santa, and for us! With full rhythm, percussion, strings, woodwinds, and brass, the recorded orchestration provides an energetic undercurrent to a peppy two-part vocal arrangement. The second part only appears briefly, first at measure 34 and again at the coda. It's optional, but easy enough to add quickly with even just a few singers. (As brief as these are, we still isolated them for you and put them on our web site for rehearsal purposes. Check out the chart on page 77 for details.) You might even want to separate the "Ho Ho Ho's" and "No No No's" into a third part using a small group or soloist.

The key here is energy. The performance must be enthusiastic. And the melody is just tricky enough that they'll need to know it well enough to pull off the pep. Using our recording to learn the song really helps.

Santa isn't the only one moving! - Another thing that would help with the energy is movement. And it fits perfectly with the tone of the song, so why not? Once again, our choreographer, Melissa Schott, has created a fun and clever way to get your performers into the spirit. Watch her teaching video to learn her steps or just to inspire your own ideas. See details on accessing the video on page 77.

Of course, you will also want to use the subject as a cross curricular springboard to discussions about health and fitness. Especially during the holiday season!