Sue Harrington was on the ground floor during this process, back when Eddie Hoyt was unsure of himself on the stage.
She saw a 9-year-old boy with red hair, skinny and shy, enter Creative Steps School of Dance in Franklin, the studio Harrington opened 20 years ago. She saw a boy with no competitive dance experience, scared and devoid of confidence.
This might seem odd to some who will watch the 19-year-old tap dancer from Boscawen Monday night on FOX’s So You Think You Can Dance. Hoyt has advanced past an initial audition and recently finished the second of three phases, something called the Academy, a series of Los Angeles-based workshops in which dancers scored points based on their ability to adapt to other forms of dance, the styles that are not their forte.
Hoyt might be one of 10 finalists who will perform live on FOX later this summer. No one involved with the show can reveal that list, and that included Hoyt, whom I reached by phone last week at his current residence, in Utah, where he teaches dance.
His newfound celebrity is why Harrington, more than most, can appreciate the evolutionary process here, the remarkable transformation from little boy dipping his toe into the water to a young man who never wants to leave the pool.
“Eddie had some self-doubts in the beginning,” Harrington said. “He sometimes struggled with feelings that he wasn’t good enough. I thought I was going to have to push him out on stage the first time he performed a solo. Now, he can’t wait to get on stage. By the time he was 11 or 12, there was no looking back. Tapping on that stage is where he wanted to be.”
Monday will be his second taped appearance on the show this summer. He told me in a phone interview last week that nerves and butterflies still exist, but you’ll sense none of that if you choose to watch him.
Instead, you’ll see a pair of electric feet, lightning fast, creating that wonderfully attractive clicking sound that somehow has a soothing effect on audiences. This is a crossroads for Hoyt, a spot in his life where a great performance on this show can open all sorts of doors.
That’s what happened last season, when Hoyt was cut early in the process, yet the show’s producers asked him to come back this year, meaning they saw something they liked.
“It didn’t take much convincing to go back,” Hoyt said.
He spoke about the stress he’s felt so far. “Shooting a TV show is insane. There are so many cameras and crew members and lights, and so many people who you want to impress.”
He impressed Harrington, 50, who has immersed herself in dance since she was 5. That’s when she began practicing and learning at her Aunt Pat’s makeshift studio, in Pat’s garage. Soon, the family was on the go, but her love for dance never ended.
“We moved around a lot with my dad’s work, so everywhere we moved I had to find a new studio with new teachers and new things to broaden my horizon,” Harrington said. “I feel I am the dancer I am today because of all of the different teachers I took classes from. I loved and still love all forms of dance.”
She opened Creative Steps School of Dance in 1998 and has run a successful, growing business ever since. Tap dancing was her thing, which only made this bond between teacher and student easier at first and stronger as time moved on.
It didn’t take long for Harrington to notice something special in her new student, butterflies be damned.
“Great rhythm,” Harrington said, referring to those early days when Hoyt was in grade school. “I remember his focus and the fact he was like a little sponge and took and ran with it. I encouraged him to move to more advanced classes after the first year, and he hasn’t stopped since.”
He built his foundation through teaching at Harrington’s place and performing in the team competition once his confidence had grown. At first, Hoyt had no idea about the commitment needed to excel, or the journey that lay ahead of him.
“I didn’t know what I was in for, and it was life-changing,” Hoyt said. “I was on the team with other dancers who I looked up to. I was put in a hard place. I had to work double because they were on the team already, and I had to work hard just to catch up.”
He caught up. Then he passed them. His work ethic and passion spilled onto the dance floors and practice rooms at Harrington’s studio. She gave him his own key. She always saw him there practicing when she’d get in to start her classes.
The kid with the gentle sounds coming from his special shoes had an inner toughness. He just needed some time for that fire to catch.
“He would get feisty,” Harrington told me. “If the other kids were not giving 110 percent, he’d say something and sometimes that created tension. But he was always looking to help people, and there is never a dull moment when Eddie is around.”
Harrington built a winner in Franklin, and she’s got the national championship trophies, displayed in her studio, each nearly 6 feet tall, to prove it. That Franklin offers dance in its downtown is no surprise to members and their families, but did you know that the city, with its sometimes unfair reputation, has this artistic gem available?
“There were a lot of other schools and it was funny we ended up in Franklin,” Hoyt said. “It’s a small town and there’s not much to it, but there is a lot to it once you get to it. My mom looked for a good tap school and we went there. Her (Harrington) love for tap reflected mine.”
Hoyt’s mother, Nicole Hoyt, was unavailable for comment. Eddie said his parents have guided him, encouraged him, supported him, but he added that Nicole is not like those dominating figures – the moms – seen on the reality show Dance Moms.
“I’ve always been very independent and driven myself,” Hoyt told me. “My parents are guiding me, but the decisions are from my gut feelings and what I want as an individual. If anyone is pushing me, it is myself. I want to be the best I can be, and it’s up to me how far I go.”
Monday’s show was taped last month. Hoyt knows if he’s a top-10 finalist. Or does he?
“That info is not available to the public,” he said. “No, I don’t even know. I can’t comment on that.”
He did admit that while performing in front of millions of TV viewers, he was scared. “You can never feel comfortable.”
Really? Watch him Monday on FOX. Those electric feet. The soothing sound coming from those feet. The energy. The confidence.
“There’s been a change,” Harrington said. “He went from this little shy boy to an outgoing kid who wasn’t afraid to step up and steal the limelight.”