Inside a small dance studio on the third floor of a little building tucked next to the Coates Theatre at University of Incarnate Word, about 15 dancers huddled together Saturday afternoon after Thanksgiving for an advanced workshop led by Eliotte Woodford.

The girls could already pirouette like professionals. Their graceful yet strong jumps looked like they would break through the mirror in front of them.

But Woodford, 31, urged them to go bigger.

Imagine youre on a big stage, super big, like a stadium and 100,000 people are watching you, Woodford said. Imagine theyre in the last seat in the stadium. Youre this big to them, she said while squeezing her fingers together as if she picked up an ant.

The San Antonio native knows from experience how to perform for that fan in the nosebleed section of the worlds biggest stadiums. Eliotte Nicole, as she goes by in the entertainment world, has performed before 100,000 people in sold out concerts all over the world.

Woodfords rsum includes a long list of stars she has performed with including Cher, Pitbull and Meghan Trainor. But most notably, Woodford has sang and danced backup to super star Taylor Swift for the singers last three world stadium tours: Red, 1989 and Reputation. Woodford is currently promoting Swifts latest album, Lover, and performed with Swift on the American Music Awards stage in Los Angeles last Sunday, where Swift was awarded Artist of the Decade.

But before all of that, Woodford sang and danced at San Antonios Reagan High School, in the North East Independent School District, from where she graduated in 2006.

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You know technically you danced for me first, Woodfords longtime friend, Amanda Jeffries sometimes tells Woodford, who gets a kick out of it. Its true, Woodford says. She was in Jeffries performance at the high schools annual, much anticipated Pop Show.

Woodford got the singing gene from her mother, Juli Henderson, who owns and operates her own private voice studio, JH Voice Studio. But her venture into dancing was a fluke, Henderson said.

Woodford was a tomboy and an athlete while was attending Bush Middle School and dreamed of swimming in the Olympics. But an injury sidelined her, and people around her suggested she take up dancing as movement therapy. She at first rejected the notion of a girly girl activity, but later decided to give it a try. It was the beginning of what would be a years-long conversation about the direction of her life.

In high school, she participated in Charmers Pep Squad, Silver Stars Drill and the Diamond Dancers teams. She also sang in the choir and twice made the coveted Texas All-State Choir. It was with the choir that she first traveled to New York and attended Broadway shows that left a mark on her.

I was just like Holy moly this is awesome just seeing the magic of New York, Woodford said.

All the while, she was taking advanced-placement classes and was inducted to the National Honor Society.

Her choir teacher, Jo Scurlock-Dillard, was amazed by Woodfords concentration. In faculty group meetings, Woodfords teachers would marvel at how much Woodford exceeded in.

I would go to her counselor and say, I dont think she ever sleeps, Scurlock-Dillard recalled.

Though she was talented in performing arts, Scurlock-Dillard thought Woodford would go on to become a doctor, like her father.

Woodford did, too. She went to Washington University in St. Louis because it is known as a good school for pre-medicine students. She started studying dance and biology, but she had a nagging feeling that a medical career was not what she was supposed to do with her life. She changed her majors to dance and marketing, with it in the back of her mind that she might go into the entertainment business. She recorded and toured with an a capella ensemble and danced for a professional dance company.

I was slowly falling in love with this idea of performing. I dont think I was really able to admit it for real until I was maybe in college, in my freshman or sophomore year, Woodford said.

Her dream of performing was solidified the summer before her junior year in college when she interned at the Broadway Dance Center in New York. She said she went hoping to discover how she stacked up against top tier performers. She finished the summer signed with an agent.

I was like, Ok, were going to do this, Woodford said. She graduated with her bachelors degree in 2010 and persuaded her parents to let her go to L.A. in pursuit of a different career.

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There, she worked the early morning shift at a Starbucks which allowed her to go to auditions in the afternoons and work as a bartender in the evenings until she regularly booked performing gigs.

Back in the San Antonio studio Saturday, Woodford told the girls to pretend a camera was inches from their face.

This is what I want to see. I want to see your personality. Its your own show, she said.

Your personality is what will set you apart from the hundreds of other girls in the audition room who have the same skill set, Woodford told her students. Casting directors will observe how they engage one another before they ever begin to perform, she said.

Watching her daughter never gets old, said Henderson who stood against a side wall in the studio. Woodfords parents have traveled the world following their daughter, like groupies, Henderson said with a laugh.

The first time Woodford returned home for a performance was in 2013 during Swifts Red tour. Coincidentally, it was the last of Swifts tours to travel to San Antonio.

The show coincided with the San Antonio Spurs playoff run against the Miami Heat. Still a devout Spurs fan, Woodford paraded the stage wearing a Tim Duncan jersey over her costume for the final bow.

No matter where Woodford goes, shes a San Antonian at heart. A Lyft driver recently shared that his daughter was contemplating a move to San Antonio.

Its the best city, Woodford recalled telling him.

It is where Woodford married her husband, Ryan Woodford. Swift flew in to attend the wedding at Trinity Universitys Parker Chapel and the reception at the Pearl Stable. It was a no-brainer, Woodford said, to marry in her hometown.

And she always tries to give back to her community. Last year, during Swifts Reputation tour, Woodford took a detour between concerts in Houston and Arlington to visit her alma mater and talk to students at Reagan High School. Her message that lessons learned in dance and choir are true across career paths inspired students, said Jeffries, who is now an assistant choir director there.

The workshop on Saturday benefited the San Antonio Ballet School and Youth Ballets outreach program that teaches kids in South San Antonio and San Antonio independent school districts.

Woodford credits San Antonio in part for her success. Southern hospitality that Texas is known for influenced her personality and her motto: Work hard and be kind.

If you work hard and just be nice to people, youll be OK, she said. Youll make it.

Krista Torralva covers several school districts and public universities in the San Antonio and Bexar County area. Read her on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | Krista.Torralva@express-news.net | Twitter: @KMTorralva

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San Antonio woman, a singer and dancer with Taylor Swift, gives back to communitys performing arts - San Antonio Express-News

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