Lily Booker will be leading a “one-woman show” on Sunday February 15, 2026 at the Dana Center. Called Lily’s Pad Tap Dance Show. This is dance and jazz and a lesson in how to create a successful and satisfying career in the arts.
This coming Sunday the program will include several friends on stage and a story of growth:
Lily Booker Presents Her One Woman Show!
On February 15, tap dancer and improvisation artist Lily Booker will present a one-woman show with the CJ Poole Trio, blending live jazz, tap improvisation, and personal storytelling. Through a curated mix of jazz tunes, Lily will trace her journey into professional tap dance in a dynamic musical conversation. – From the program ad
I’ve attended rehearsals and have seen a wonderful example of behind the scenes preparation, marketing, and networking taking place that will culminate in a great performance. I got involved because CJ asked me to check out this tap dancer who had been part of his Swingin to Victory show last year. So, the first thing I did was go back to check my photos from last year. I found Lily Booker. I remembered the shoes and I went to her newly launched website. A great home base from which to build.
COLLABORATION IS KEY TO SUCCESS. Nobody has to go it alone.
CJ and I began to collaborate a few years ago when our paths kept crossing because we both advocate for and help the next generation of artists launch their careers. Opportunity in the arts means new and exciting ways to grow as a community. Art speaks directly to the human joys and fears in each of us.
With Lily Booker, we are taking a look at a lifelong dance professional building a program and acquiring mentors and guides to help her along the way. She started dancing at age 3.
She was at the Goffstown Y when she saw and heard her first tap dance performance. By age 10, she had already met up with Aaron Tolson who encouraged her to audition for his dance company. She did and began her journey in earnest 10 years ago. She trained extensively under Tolson and formerly served as dance captain of his pre-professional tap company, Speaking in Taps. Lily is also an alum of the 2023 Tap Dance Program at Jacob’s Pillow, where she “deepened her artistry, style, and knowledge working with many of the best tap dancers in the business.”
She’s been to Pembroke City Limits for Sunday jazz and has performed with a trio before, so she is coming into this performance with a lot of experience and a clear vision of what she wants to accomplish. Her dream is to connect an audience to the music and the music to jazz. She sees music and dance as interwoven rather than dance layered on top of music. She sees a symbiotic relationship that’s very obvious as I sat through the first rehearsal.
“The intention behind “Lily’s Pad” is to showcase the energetic and creative world of tap dance paired with jazz music. There will be featured guests like vocalists, a tap collective from Boston, and my mentor, professional tap dancer Aaron Tolson. It is going to be a really exciting performance as I use movement, sound, and storytelling to take the audience through my journey of being a tap dancer and how I got to where I am today.” Lily Booker
Lily Booker is not new to solo performances.
She has been on stage as a solo dancer for years. She’s amazingly composed performing as lead or solo.
The first rehearsal was tight – two hours – a serious exchange of experience and directions. She got tips from the musicians. She shared exactly what she was looking for in delivery. Throughout the rehearsal, there was a sense of interaction and playfulness that I find refreshing and powerful.
The musicians and the dancer explored both the choreography and athletics of tap dance and jazz presentation. They worked through the pacing of the piano solo, then just tap, just drums. They nailed the choices of sticks or brushes and when to hold the moment. There was the constant trading of measures and phrases. Within minutes the musicians are flying and the dancer is sailing across the practice space.
Performance tips are exchanged in the language of music and dance. “Remember the slides and find that pause that draws in the audience. Listen to Nat King Cole sing Stardust.”
What I saw and heard was a wonderful gifting of generational experience taking place and an exchange of energy.
Sunday, Lily Booker will be making a bold statement as producer and director. She’s been working with dance friends in the Boston dance community who are close to her age.
Together they are transforming how we can look at jazz music and tap dance in a powerful human experience.
Lily Pad’s Tap Dance show includes:
- The CJ Poole Jazz Trio with CJ Poole on bass, Joe Mulholland on piano, and Jim Lattini on drums.
- Pistachio Groove Tap Collective: William Wims, Ashton Carter, and Luke Nonas-Hunter.
- Aaron Tolson – Tap dancer and founder of the Saint Anselm College Dance Program.
- Rebecca Solomons – Singer
You can buy tickets by clicking here.
