About the Director
Saint Anselm College is pleased to welcome Aaron Tolson to our community as the director of dance at the Aaron Tolson Institute of Dance. A Manchester, N.H. native, Aaron Tolson started dancing at the age of 10 and has since danced his way across five continents. At 14, he was invited to perform in the Great Tap Reunion at the Apollo Theater alongside tap legends Derick Grant, Savion Glover, and Gregory Hines, as well as the rest of the cast of the movie TAP!
During his four years at Memorial High School, the track records he set qualified him to compete in the 1992 US Olympic Trials, earned him induction into the Memorial High School and Manchester, N.H. Halls of Fame, as well as a full scholarship to St. John’s University where he again set records in track and was invited to compete in the 1996 U.S. Olympic Trials.
During his senior year at the university, he was accepted into the New York Shakespeare Festival tap program, Funk U!, and soon after became a company member with Manhattan Tap.
Jumping feet first into choreography, he landed a job with Absolut, dancing for their second tour of Absolut Tap! and serving as the all-team dance captain for two years.
In 2005, Tolson completed a six-year run as a featured soloist and tap dance captain with Riverdance, a tour that took him from Broadway, Radio City Music Hall to performances at NBA games and on stages the world over. From Montana to Moscow, Tolson has also performed, choreographed, and taught at numerous festivals including the Beantown Tap Festival, LA Tap Festival, Chicago Human Rhythm Project, Tap Unlimited, Tampa Bay Tap Festival, Tap Kids Brazil International Tap Festival, FeetxFeet, and with Brookline Chorus’ Duke Ellington Sacred Concert. He has also made television appearances on The Late Show with Liam O’Connor, in Dublin, Ireland and on Live! With Kelly and Michael.
In 2007, Tolson formed New England Tap Ensemble, a non-profit organization which promotes the art of tap in the community while fostering a sense of individuality for professional artists. Alongside longtime friend Derick Grant, Aaron is the co-creator, assistant choreographer, and assistant producer of Imagine Tap!. He has worked as a consultant and writer for Dance Spirit Magazine, and as a professor of dance at Plymouth State University. Prior to joining the Saint Anselm College community, Tolson resumed teaching in 2017 as the associate professor of theater at the Boston Conservatory at Berklee.
Tolson currently resides in Bedford, N.H., where he directs the pre-professional tap company Speaking in Taps. He is also the national spokesperson for So Danca, an industry leader for dance attire and dance shoes.
Tolson is also a published author of a successful children’s book series Tiny Tap Shoes, hosts his own TV show, The Aaron Tolson Entertainment and Variety Show, and continues to travel internationally to teach and share his love of the art of tap dance.