Aaron Tolson (born Manchester, New Hampshire , United States) has been a tap dancer since 1986. He was the assistant choreographer , co-creator and assistant producer of Imagine Tap ! - a tap show created with Derick Grant . He is currently an associate professor of dance at The Boston Conservatory in Boston, Massachusetts and is the founder, choreographer, and director for the pre-professional tap company Speaking in Taps.
23-642: Tolson is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: Aaron Tolson , American tap dancer Chick Tolson (1898–1965), American baseball player Clyde Tolson (1900–1975), American Associate Director of the FBI Dean Tolson (born 1951), American basketball player Dickon Tolson , British actor Edgar Tolson (1904–1984), American woodcarver Jim Tolson , Scottish politician Joe P. Tolson (1941–2019), American politician John Tolson (academic) (died 1644), English academic administrator at
46-714: A standing ovation . The performance is often considered the most well-known interval act in Eurovision history and is credited with transforming Irish dance from a chaste and reserved traditional dance form into a new, modern form. The original seven-minute version was invited to perform at Dominion Theatre in London at the Royal Variety Performance in the presence of Prince Charles in November 1994. The song "Riverdance", featuring Anúna and
69-501: A contract dispute over creative control led to Riverdance parting ways with Flatley on the eve of reopening for a second sell-out run at The Apollo. He was replaced by Colin Dunne . At the same time, female lead Jean Butler was unable to perform due to an injury. As a result, Dunne paired up with Eileen Martin for the opening night. The initial six weeks at The Apollo was extended twice. During this extended period, Riverdance returned to
92-759: A full-length show. Tickets for the show were released for a five-week run and sold out within three days of going on sale. "Riverdance: The Show" opened at the Point Theatre in Dublin on 9 February 1995. The show starred lead dancers Michael Flatley and Jean Butler . The video of the show topped the Irish and UK charts in 1995. The show moved to London in June 1995, where it had a sell-out four-week run at The Apollo . During its time in London, Riverdance performed at
115-490: A job with Absolut in a national tour called Absolut Tap! He choreographed a piece for their second tour and was a dance captain for all of the teams for two years. Soon after, Tolson accepted a role in the national and international tours of Riverdance . He was a soloist and the captain of the tap dancers during his six-year run with the show and had the opportunities to perform on Broadway , at Radio City Music Hall , on various TV shows, at NBA games, and on stages all over
138-527: A non-profit organization, in May 2007. His goal was to promote the art of tap dance in the community while fostering a sense of individuality in a professional artist. While he was a faculty member at The Boston Conservatory and Plymouth State University , he choreographed, produced, and directed Something to Tap About , Tapped , Tapped In , and Inspired , which all featured performers from New England Tap Ensemble. The youth organization resolved in 2010. Following
161-586: A stage show, which opened in Dublin on 9 February 1995. As of 2023, the show continues to tour the world. Riverdance is rooted in a three-part suite of baroque-influenced traditional music called Timedance . The suite was composed, recorded and performed for the Eurovision Song Contest 1981 , which was held in Ireland. At the time, Bill Whelan and Dónal Lunny composed the music, augmenting
184-511: A total of five episodes, airing the final one in late August 2018. Riverdance Riverdance is a theatrical show that consists mainly of traditional Irish music and dance . With a score composed by Bill Whelan , it originated as an interval act during the Eurovision Song Contest 1994 , featuring Irish dancing champions Jean Butler , Michael Flatley and the vocal ensemble Anúna . Shortly afterwards, husband and wife production team John McColgan and Moya Doherty expanded it into
207-651: The COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the company expanded their platform and added "remote members" which call into rehearsals via Zoom . In 2017, Tolson resumed to his teaching position at The Boston Conservatory as an associate professor of dance. He currently resides in Bedford, NH with his wife and two daughters. In correspondence with Bedford Community Television, Tolson created his own show, The Aaron Tolson Entertainment and Variety Show , in September 2017. It ran for
230-659: The Gershwin Theatre . In 2003, Riverdance featured at the Opening Ceremony of the Special Olympics in Dublin and toured China for the first time. In 2020, Riverdance's 25th Anniversary show began touring. As of 2023, Riverdance has played more than 15,000 performances across 49 countries and six continents. The show has been seen live by more than 30 million people. In 2021, an animated feature film titled Riverdance: The Animated Adventure
253-800: The RTÉ Concert Orchestra, was released as a single and subsequently topped the Irish Singles Chart for a record-setting 18 weeks. As of 2010, it was still the second highest-selling single of all time in Ireland, behind only Elton John 's 1997 double A-side " Candle in the Wind 1997 "/" Something About the Way You Look Tonight ". After witnessing the initial enthusiasm for the interval act performance in Ireland, husband and wife production team John McColgan and Moya Doherty invested over $ 1 million into producing
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#1732787763676276-488: The Irish folk band Planxty with a rock rhythm section of electric bass and drums and a four-piece horn section. The piece was performed, with accompanying dancers from Dublin City Ballet, during the interval of the contest, and later released as a Planxty single. Whelan had also produced EastWind , a 1992 album by Planxty member Andy Irvine with Davy Spillane , which fused Irish and Balkan folk music and influenced
299-581: The Royal Gala 50th Anniversary of VE Day celebrations at the invitation of Prince Charles and at the Royal College of Music in the presence of Queen Elizabeth II . The show returned to the Point Theatre in July 1995 for a sell-out six-week run. The show's growing success coincided with lead dancer Michael Flatley clashing with the producers over salary and royalty fees. By early October 1995,
322-863: The Royal Variety Performance at Dominion Theatre. Riverdance travelled to the United States for the first time in March 1996. On 13 March, the show opened at Radio City Music Hall in New York City for the first of eight sold-out performances over five days. Costing about $ 2 million to bring the show from Ireland, Riverdance broke even in its first New York outing. Upon returning from New York, Riverdance went on to have another notable extended run at The Apollo between May 1996 and January 1997. By late 1996, Riverdance had created separate companies in order to tour multiple cities at
345-469: The University of Oxford Max Tolson (born 1945), Australian football (soccer) forward Melvin B. Tolson (1900–1966), American writer Neil Tolson (born 1973), English footballer [REDACTED] Surname list This page lists people with the surname Tolson . If an internal link intending to refer to a specific person led you to this page, you may wish to change that link by adding
368-643: The cast of the movie Tap . Soon after, Tolson met Julia Boynton in Boston , who guided him in the direction of tap as a lifestyle. While attending college at St. Johns University, Tolson was honing his tap technique in Manhattan . His senior year of college led him to the New York Shakespeare Festival tap program, also known as Funk U! Soon Tolson became a company member of Manhattan Tap. Jumping feet-first into choreography, he landed
391-641: The conclusion of the New England Tap Ensemble, Tolson founded Speaking in Taps in 2010. Speaking in Taps, which is commonly abbreviated as "SIT," is a pre-professional youth tap company. Members range in age from 10 to 20-years old and hail from all over New England. In January 2021, the company put on their first show since the pandemic, Something to Tap About . It was the first show the company has put on that only features choreographed dances by Tolson and improv solos by multiple members. Because of
414-521: The event he competed in, including the 55 and 300-meter indoor dashes and the 100 and 200-meter outdoor events. Tolson's times qualified him to compete in the 1992 U.S. Olympic Trials and earned him induction into the Memorial High School and Manchester, NH Halls of Fame. Graduating high school, he earned a full scholarship to St. Johns University, where he once again set records in track. A number of them still stand to this day. In 1996, he
437-482: The genesis of " Riverdance ". After composing "Riverdance", Whelan said, "It was no mistake of mine to call it Riverdance because it connected absolutely to Timedance". Riverdance was first performed during the seven-minute interval of the Eurovision Song Contest 1994 at the Point Theatre in Dublin on 30 April 1994. The performance was transmitted to an estimated 300 million viewers worldwide and earned
460-493: The person's given name (s) to the link. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tolson&oldid=1211080344 " Category : Surnames Hidden categories: Articles with short description Short description is different from Wikidata All set index articles Aaron Tolson At age 14, Tolson joined the track team at Manchester Memorial High School . Throughout his four-year high school career, he set every high school record in
483-633: The same time. The Lee company began a U.S. tour in October 1996. Riverdance toured Australia for the first time in 1997. In 1997, Bill Whelan received a Best Musical Show Album Grammy Award for his recording of 'Riverdance'. A number of notable cast departures occurred around this time, with Anúna leaving in September 1996; Butler leaving in January 1997; and Dunne leaving in June 1998. In 2000, Riverdance performed on Broadway in New York at
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#1732787763676506-542: The world. In 2006, Tolson began working with longtime friend Derick K. Grant on Imagine Tap! , a Chicago -based show whose formation would eventually become the subject of a feature-length documentary, titled Tap or Die . Tolson performed in the show alongside Grant and fellow tap dancers Jason Samuels Smith , Michelle Dorrance , Chloe Arnold , Dormeshia Sumbrey-Edwards , Ayodele Casel , Joseph Wiggin, Jason Janas, Jared Grimes, Jumaane Taylor, Tre Dumas, Brill Barrett, and more. Aaron founded New England Tap Ensemble,
529-612: Was once again invited to compete in the U.S. Olympic Trials. Tolson graduated from St. Johns University in 1997 with a Bachelor of Science degree in communications. Aaron Tolson started dancing at the age of ten in Lawrence, Massachusetts . Four years into his dance career he was performing in the Great Tap Reunion at the Apollo Theater alongside tap legends Derick Grant, Savion Glover , Gregory Hines , and
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