A Santa in Abu Dhabi

I trained in Performance Studies in Northampton about 25 years ago, and I’ve always worked in the cultural industry in one way or another. For the first ten years, I was a dancer in and around Nottingham. I also did circus-y things as a hobby - I was part of the Fields of Fire at the Rec, and then started getting offers to be paid for it. Through that, I was contacted by some agencies and they realised I had a performance background and that I could be theatrical, so they started to give me that kind of work. That included some gigs around Christmas - when I was younger, I was more often an elf, but I’d played Santa before. One of the agents chatted to me about this and asked if I wanted to be Santa for a shopping mall in Abu Dhabi. So I thought, ‘Yeah, why not?’ 

I arrived late one night and had to start the following morning, so that was tricky with the jetlag. We did sixteen days in a row, and pretty much every day was similar, so we developed a good routine. Myself and a couple of the elves - one of which was from Nottingham as well - would have breakfast in the morning, get to Abu Dhabi Mall at around 10am to get ready to start at 11. We’d get a coffee first - I’d go for an espresso because each stint in the grotto would be four hours, and it took ages to get changed - then finish at around 8pm. We’d then get some food nearby, maybe visit a shisha lounge and have a little walk down the promenade by the sea. But, in general, we didn’t have time to do much more than that. We were definitely running on fumes by our final day, which happened to be Christmas Day. 

It was such an experience, though. I’ve been Santa in Nottingham and you kind of know what to expect. You’re pretty sure of the types of kids you’re going to see, and you can almost predict what they’re going to ask for. Whereas, in Abu Dhabi, you don’t know what to expect. There were so many different people from different countries, with different religious backgrounds, and different expectations from Santa. There were a lot of languages. There were even people without children who just wanted to experience Santa and meet Santa for the first time. That variety was really interesting. 

I can think of a couple of particularly memorable moments. There was a Russian family who suddenly burst into song while I was talking to them. I had no clue what it was but I had to go along with it, so I just started dancing and miming away alongside them. I was also Santa shamed… One guy asked me if I spoke Arabic, which I don’t, so he said he thought Santa knew all of the languages. Point taken. Next time I go back I’m going to try and offer at least one other language. 

I’m actually not a massive Christmas person, myself, so being away from home for Christmas wasn’t too bad. I mean, getting to head over to a different country where the lowest temperature you’ll experience is 27 degrees isn’t bad! It’s fun to jump on a long-haul flight and do something different and exciting. I have a small family, and I don’t have any kids, so the actual day of Christmas is pretty boring, to be honest. Nowadays, I’ll have some whiskey, watch a bit of TV, but I don’t feel like I miss out on much by not being here for it.

Other things that I currently do for a living - like stilt walking - also have a finite life, whereas being Santa can only get better with age, so it’s a useful branch of my career! It’s something I’m looking to try and do every year, including back here in Nottingham. The good thing is, Christmas basically starts in early November in the UK now, so there are loads of opportunities to be Santa on home soil, and then head back out to Abu Dhabi for the main event. That’s my plan this year, and I’m really looking forward to it.