Profile of a Highland Dancer: GARETH MITCHELSON
GARETH
is a talented Scottish Highland Dancer who has achieved great success both on
and off the competition platform.
Gareth, a competitor, in the most unmitigated sense, is a member of the formidable
all-dancing Mitchelson
clan, from Monifieth and he can trace his competitive ancestry back to beyond
that of his grandparents. Competitive accomplishments include successes at Highland
Games and Championships the length and breadth of Scotland, and also at the
occasional North American contest that he attended, culminating with 4 Adult
World Championship titles, which together with the 6 titles won by his brother
Deryck and that of their mother Wilma Tolmie make a family total of 11!
Since retiring from competition Gareth has become more involved as an examiner
and adjudicator and in the last few years alone has acted in this capacity throughout
Scotland, and in Canada and the US. He is also involved in the administrative
side of Highland Dancing through membership of various dance organisations and
associations where he is continually trying to focus attention on preserving
and maintaining the traditional aspects of Scottish dance, but at the same time
trying to make sure that it evolves to meet the demands of our ever changing
society.
The evolution of technology in Highland Dancing can be demonstrated by the success
the teaching videos produced by Deryck &
Gareth and of toeandheel.com
a website created by a small group of individuals, led by Deryck & Gareth,
to bring Highland Dancing to the dancing community by providing an information
resource centre for SOBHD enthusiasts. The website contains a great amount of
detail for dancers including Championship dates, venues and entry forms from
around the world, discussion area, dress code, championship steps and more.
Dancing, however, is what Gareth's loves best and he has said that as long as
his legs are capable of moving then he will be dancing. Well, still dancing
he certainly is. For many years he has been in great demand in theatre and Scottish
shows dancing solo or with Deryck and their dance company CelticSpirit
where the focus is switched from competition to performance - using lyrical
highland traditions with a fresh twist. Gareth does not restrict performance
to purely Highland but instead picks up from the many and varied Scottish (and
sometimes not Scottish) dance styles in which he has an interest.
A visible demonstration of this 'blending' was the creation of "Generating
Heat" - a dance project sponsored by the Scottish Traditions of Dance Trust
comprising a fiddler, 3 Scottish Step dancers, 2 contemporary dancers and Gareth
- the result of which was a rather unique and exhilarating dance piece where
different disciplines acted to contrast and then complement each other in their
own peculiar way.
In another project, Gareth has been involved in the creation of a Scottish Step
dance syllabus (another dance style in which Gareth is a qualified examiner).
The purpose of this project was again the preservation of a traditional dance
form with the hope that the existence of a properly structured syllabus will
encourage participation and then through this increase awareness of this aspect
of Scottish dance.
What then of the future? Dancing is a way of life
for Gareth (it was though dancing that he met his wife Donna, who is also an
adjudicator) and I believe that the Mitchelson name may be here for some time
to come.
Melanie Henderson
Scotland-on-line
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