Aaron Tolson doesn’t have a day job. In fact, he never has. The Manchester tap legend first started tap dancing when he was 10, at a time when many felt like the dance form was on the brink of death. Since he first fell in love with tap, he has been told hundreds, if not thousands, of times that he can’t make a career by just being a tap dancer. Tolson felt otherwise, and with intense passion and drive, the charismatic dancer has done what many thought was impossible. He’s had a wildly successful by “just” being a tap dancer. Throughout his storied career as a dancer and choreographer, Tolson has danced at the Apollo (at age 14), tapped on Broadway, toured worldwide with “Riverdance,” co-
created his own show “Imagine Tap!,” taught at the Boston Conservatory, qualified for
the Olympics in track and more. This year, Tolson finds himself on his newest adventure, as the director of dance at Saint Anselm College’s, appropriately named, Aaron Tolson Institute of Dance. At the end of the day, Tolson is just a tap dancer. And he wouldn’t have it any other way. New Hampshire Magazine: When did you first start dancing? Aaron Tolson: I was a child actor and I kept getting really close to big, big roles. I was one of the last three people for a reoccurring role on “The Cosby Show,” a reoccurring season role on “Sesame Street,” and I was up to play young Michael in a Michael Jackson movie. When I was 10, my mom said to me “you’re going to take a dance class.” For five or six years, I had watched my sister take dance class, and I would have to watch class because I didn’t have anything with me. I started dancing at Broadway Babies in Lawrence, Mass. My first class was ballet (I was in sweatpants and Velcro sneakers) and I was so bad. Like, really bad. Next, I took a jazz class and that was worse. And then, it was tap class, and it made sense. I can’t remember exactly what happened, but what I remember is comfort. I don’t see it happen for people like it happened to me that day. My mother went right out after that class and bought me tap shoes. NHM: Looking at your career as a whole, you do everything big. You start tapping at 10, and by 14 you’re dancing at the Apollo with tap legends. What happened in those four years to get you to that point? AT: When I think of that particular time, there’s a feeling of being full. It was a time of being hungry and being fed. For four years, I was learning all dance styles, but I really honed in on tap. Right before the Apollo, I met this dance teacher in Boston, Julia Boynton, and she says that she doesn’t allow kids in her class, but I can take the beginner class and the intermediate if I wanted, and I could stand in the back of the advanced class. So, I did — and I just killed it. I was just eating the information, and I got moved to the front of the class. (Julia) introduced me to Leon Collins, who is a master of tap dance, and I started to dance at the Leon Collins Dance Studio in Brookline. I was going to Boston and dancing at these two places, and my teacher says “There’s this audition happening with Savion Glover — you should go.” And at 14, I’m a full-on tap dancer, and that’s what I wanted to do. NHM: What was that experience like? Were you ever able to soak it in, or were you too young? AT: Too young. It was a hell of an experience though. At this point, people think tap is
going to die, and it really was. My best friend, Derick Grant and I got to dance with Savion! I still haven’t danced on a better floor than that one. I remember I met Greg, and I can remember finishing the performance and the whole audience standing up. I knew my family was on the second balcony, and I could see them. I got to watch Gregory Hines dance from the side of the stage, and watching him work made me want to be just like him — he was amazing. Those are the things that stuck with me. I didn’t know then that I was in a huge, huge moment of my life. I just had a good time! NHM: What has been your favorite show so far? AT: I get choked up talking about it, but every time I dance with my girls. I can’t believe that they’ve both taken an interest in what I do the way that they have. They both want to be entertainers in their own right, and neither wants to be tap dancers, and I’m OK with that. Performing with them has been my favorite. There’s also no feeling in the world like dancing on Broadway, and you can only take that first step on Broadway once. NHM: What brought you back home to Manchester? AT: I never really thought about why I ended up back here. New Hampshire is home, and I grew up here. The sadder part is that my dad got really sick, and I came home to take care of him. I had just come off tour, and I didn’t have roots anywhere, but I would come home to my dad’s apartment in Manchester. In the short two-month time from when he got sick to when he died, I had rooted myself around here and started renting a room in my friend’s apartment. When I was finally done with “Riverdance,” Derick and I did a show called “Imagine Tap!” in Chicago. After that, I was offered a job at Plymouth State University, and then I was offered a job at the Boston Conservatory. I met my wife and was ready to be off the road after that. I was ready to be married and have a family, and New Hampshire was the place for that. NHM: So how did the Aaron Tolson Institute of Dance come about? AT: It’s so humbling! In around 2018-2019, I was getting tagged in a Facebook post for the Buzz Ball (an annual entertainment fundraiser at the Capitol Center for the Arts in Concord.) They had made a post asking who the best tap dancer in New Hampshire was, and people started tagging me! They reached out and asked if I wanted to perform at the Buzz Ball, and of course I did. Joe Deleaut, the director of the Dana Center was the music director for that night, and we really hit it off and had a great performance together. He said I should start doing shows at the Dana Center, and I did! My buddy Derick and I did a really big show here called “What is this Thing Called Love,” and Saint Anselm really took note of the show, and asked if I would be interested in being a part of the team. There was a desire to have a dance program at the school, and I fit the bill. I feel good, humbled and excited. I love it, because I’m just a tap dancer. NHM: What is the impact you’re hoping to have with the Institute? AT: My one of the things that I wanted to do is make sure that my dance majors get to dance in a professional show before they graduate — we have a show on November 17. I want to put the dancers on stage as much as I can. I would like Saint Anselm to become a hub of dance in New Hampshire. I would like this to become a hub of dance, and I want people to come here to major and minor in dance. I’m also hoping to start working with the Manchester School District to teach afternoons afterschool, so kids know that being a dancer is a viable option. If I can do it, they can too. NHM: Were you still auditioning for acting roles after you started dancing at that higher level? AT: Acting got completely put aside. I wanted to be Gregory Hines, and I just wanted to tap dance. It’s the story of my career… I wanted to be a tap dancer. I wanted to be Gregory Hines, I wanted to be Savion Glover. The constant words given have always been “You will never make it as just a tap dancer.” I would even say three years ago people were still saying this to me and I said, “OK, let me show you what this just tap dancer can do.” I’ve done commercials and things since, but people always find me through dancing.
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created his own show “Imagine Tap!,” taught at the Boston Conservatory, qualified for
the Olympics in track and more. This year, Tolson finds himself on his newest adventure, as the director of dance at Saint Anselm College’s, appropriately named, Aaron Tolson Institute of Dance. At the end of the day, Tolson is just a tap dancer. And he wouldn’t have it any other way. New Hampshire Magazine: When did you first start dancing? Aaron Tolson: I was a child actor and I kept getting really close to big, big roles. I was one of the last three people for a reoccurring role on “The Cosby Show,” a reoccurring season role on “Sesame Street,” and I was up to play young Michael in a Michael Jackson movie. When I was 10, my mom said to me “you’re going to take a dance class.” For five or six years, I had watched my sister take dance class, and I would have to watch class because I didn’t have anything with me. I started dancing at Broadway Babies in Lawrence, Mass. My first class was ballet (I was in sweatpants and Velcro sneakers) and I was so bad. Like, really bad. Next, I took a jazz class and that was worse. And then, it was tap class, and it made sense. I can’t remember exactly what happened, but what I remember is comfort. I don’t see it happen for people like it happened to me that day. My mother went right out after that class and bought me tap shoes. NHM: Looking at your career as a whole, you do everything big. You start tapping at 10, and by 14 you’re dancing at the Apollo with tap legends. What happened in those four years to get you to that point? AT: When I think of that particular time, there’s a feeling of being full. It was a time of being hungry and being fed. For four years, I was learning all dance styles, but I really honed in on tap. Right before the Apollo, I met this dance teacher in Boston, Julia Boynton, and she says that she doesn’t allow kids in her class, but I can take the beginner class and the intermediate if I wanted, and I could stand in the back of the advanced class. So, I did — and I just killed it. I was just eating the information, and I got moved to the front of the class. (Julia) introduced me to Leon Collins, who is a master of tap dance, and I started to dance at the Leon Collins Dance Studio in Brookline. I was going to Boston and dancing at these two places, and my teacher says “There’s this audition happening with Savion Glover — you should go.” And at 14, I’m a full-on tap dancer, and that’s what I wanted to do. NHM: What was that experience like? Were you ever able to soak it in, or were you too young? AT: Too young. It was a hell of an experience though. At this point, people think tap is
going to die, and it really was. My best friend, Derick Grant and I got to dance with Savion! I still haven’t danced on a better floor than that one. I remember I met Greg, and I can remember finishing the performance and the whole audience standing up. I knew my family was on the second balcony, and I could see them. I got to watch Gregory Hines dance from the side of the stage, and watching him work made me want to be just like him — he was amazing. Those are the things that stuck with me. I didn’t know then that I was in a huge, huge moment of my life. I just had a good time! NHM: What has been your favorite show so far? AT: I get choked up talking about it, but every time I dance with my girls. I can’t believe that they’ve both taken an interest in what I do the way that they have. They both want to be entertainers in their own right, and neither wants to be tap dancers, and I’m OK with that. Performing with them has been my favorite. There’s also no feeling in the world like dancing on Broadway, and you can only take that first step on Broadway once. NHM: What brought you back home to Manchester? AT: I never really thought about why I ended up back here. New Hampshire is home, and I grew up here. The sadder part is that my dad got really sick, and I came home to take care of him. I had just come off tour, and I didn’t have roots anywhere, but I would come home to my dad’s apartment in Manchester. In the short two-month time from when he got sick to when he died, I had rooted myself around here and started renting a room in my friend’s apartment. When I was finally done with “Riverdance,” Derick and I did a show called “Imagine Tap!” in Chicago. After that, I was offered a job at Plymouth State University, and then I was offered a job at the Boston Conservatory. I met my wife and was ready to be off the road after that. I was ready to be married and have a family, and New Hampshire was the place for that. NHM: So how did the Aaron Tolson Institute of Dance come about? AT: It’s so humbling! In around 2018-2019, I was getting tagged in a Facebook post for the Buzz Ball (an annual entertainment fundraiser at the Capitol Center for the Arts in Concord.) They had made a post asking who the best tap dancer in New Hampshire was, and people started tagging me! They reached out and asked if I wanted to perform at the Buzz Ball, and of course I did. Joe Deleaut, the director of the Dana Center was the music director for that night, and we really hit it off and had a great performance together. He said I should start doing shows at the Dana Center, and I did! My buddy Derick and I did a really big show here called “What is this Thing Called Love,” and Saint Anselm really took note of the show, and asked if I would be interested in being a part of the team. There was a desire to have a dance program at the school, and I fit the bill. I feel good, humbled and excited. I love it, because I’m just a tap dancer. NHM: What is the impact you’re hoping to have with the Institute? AT: My one of the things that I wanted to do is make sure that my dance majors get to dance in a professional show before they graduate — we have a show on November 17. I want to put the dancers on stage as much as I can. I would like Saint Anselm to become a hub of dance in New Hampshire. I would like this to become a hub of dance, and I want people to come here to major and minor in dance. I’m also hoping to start working with the Manchester School District to teach afternoons afterschool, so kids know that being a dancer is a viable option. If I can do it, they can too. NHM: Were you still auditioning for acting roles after you started dancing at that higher level? AT: Acting got completely put aside. I wanted to be Gregory Hines, and I just wanted to tap dance. It’s the story of my career… I wanted to be a tap dancer. I wanted to be Gregory Hines, I wanted to be Savion Glover. The constant words given have always been “You will never make it as just a tap dancer.” I would even say three years ago people were still saying this to me and I said, “OK, let me show you what this just tap dancer can do.” I’ve done commercials and things since, but people always find me through dancing.
