Members

Debbie started dancing very early on doing international folk dance. At 16, she began highland dancing with Robert McOwen and continued to dance and compete while attending McGill University in Montreal, studying under Jennifer Stephenson. Debbie took a hiatus when she moved to Poland for a year, but after returning to Boston in 2005 commenced dancing again and continues to study under Karen Mahoney's instruction. She has performed many gigs with HDB as both a dancer and a fiddler. Her tartan is MacDonald Lord of the Isles.

When not dancing, Debbie plays fiddle and occasionally still plays with her Montreal-based Irish pub band, Salty Dog. Debbie also studies Irish step dance with Kieran Jordan and has taken classes in flamenco, hip hop, swing, salsa, and belly-dance among others. She is currently working on her Master's of Arts and Teaching at Boston University.

Karen was raised on international folk dancing. By age 16, she was almost exclusively doing Scottish country dancing where she met Robert McOwen and began taking highland dance. She performed in a private production of Brigadoon while in school at UMass Amherst. Since graduating in 2004, Karen has returned to Boston where she enjoys once again being able to compete as well as perform with HDB. Her tartan is Special Dress Blue Menzies.

When Karen is not dancing, she is often fiddling for Scottish country dance classes. She has been playing the violin since she was eight and Scottish fiddle since age ten. She played as a street musician in Harvard Square with her identical twin sister, Debbie. Karen loves animals and currently works in a neurosurgery research lab at Mass. General Hospital, but she plans to enter medical school in the near future.

Carolyn started dancing at the age of nine under the instruction of Jo Kalat in Cary, NC. She has competed throughout the Southeastern United States and currently around New England at the Premier level. She began assistant teaching younger dancers in 1998 and became an Associate of the BATD in 2000. She had to put Highland Dancing on hold while attending Stanford University, so she picked up Viennese waltz, swing, salsa, and American square dance to try to fill the void. After graduating in 2004, she moved to Boston and came back to Highland dance, taking lessons from Karen Mahoney and Robert McOwen. She especially enjoyed performing in the opening ceremonies of the 2006 World Curling Championships with Highland Dance Boston. Her tartan is Dress Longniddry

While not dancing, Carolyn works as an electrical engineer at MIT's Lincoln Laboratory in Lexington, MA. She can also be found in her garden, spending time with friends, or volunteering at the Boston Museum of Science.

Nicola has been dancing since she was three years old, starting out with ballet and progressing to tap and jazz. In 1999, she began highland dancing with Sylvia Calder and Lezlie Webster, after many years of admiring it. She continues to dance and assistant teach with Sylvia and also takes lessons from Karen Mahoney and Lindsay Page. Nicola has competed throughout the Northeast, Canada and Scotland, receiving many trophies, awards and scholarships. Her mother is from Scotland, and Nicola continues her heritage by visiting Scotland to see her grandparents and family there. She has enjoyed performing in the 2004 Christmas Revels in Cambridge and at numerous other HDB performances.

Nicola lives in Nashua, New Hampshire and her tartan is Dress Blue Wallace.

Seeing a performance of the sword dance at the impressionable age of 12 inspired Darlington to don the plaid of her ancestors and learn how to hop in time to the lilting of bagpipes. Laura Scott helped her navigate through the formative early years. During college Darlington worked with Bridget Boswell in Richmond, VA, exploring choreography and pairing highland steps with less traditional music. Since returning to Boston, Darlington dances with Karen Mahoney and the Boston Highlanders. Her tartan is Quebecoise.

Darlington thrives on traveling to remote corners of the globe, but otherwise remains a contented Cantabridgian, eating tofu, snapping photos, and working at Club Passim.

Margaret began Scottish country and highland dancing in 1981 in the Boston area. Since then she has performed with a variety of groups and venues (including a SRSNH tour of Scotland, many shows directed by Robert McOwen prior to HDB, and several appearances with the San Francisco Scottish Fiddlers). Her particular interest is dances that appear outside of competition including ladies step dancing, folk highland, and Cape Breton & Scottish hard shoe step dancing. Margaret is wearing Dress Baird.

Margaret's other life consuming hobby is Scottish music. She plays fiddle and hammered dulcimer and loves getting together with friends to jam. When work permits she performs with Childsplay. To pay the bills, Margaret works as an image processing scientist, specializing in JPEG 2000.

Bruce was born and raised in Helensburgh, on the west coast of Scotland. He started Scottish Country dancing in his first year at the University of Edinburgh in 1989. He performed with their Demonstration Team at several national and international venues, including a month-long tour of Eastern Europe in 1993. He also danced in the Edinburgh Military Tattoo in 1993 and 1994, appearing in the BBC video of the latter year. After moving to the U.S. in 1996, he became interested in Scottish Highland dancing and started taking lessons from Robert McOwen in 2000. He won four trophies in his first full year of competition in 2002. Bruce continues to perform Scottish Country dancing and became a Preliminary Teacher for the Royal Scottish Dance Society in 2001. His tartan is Ancient Gunn.

Bruce lives in Dorchester, MA, and works as a Project Manager for a commercial construction company.

Abbie, a resident of Millis, MA, started dancing at the age of four with ballet, jazz, and tap. Now, years later, her repertoire consists of Highland dancing, Cape Breton step dancing, Irish step dancing, fiddle, and bodhran. She has been competing in Highland dancing since she was eight years old and is now in the Premier class. In 1999, Abbie was recognized by the Eastern Region of the Federation of United States Teachers and Adjudicators (FUSTA) for earning the most points in several pre-selected competitions in the region. She has been the recipient of several dancing scholarships and annually attends the Gaelic College, a Scottish arts program in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. Abbie has been performing for many years, and can frequently be seen dancing in performance with Jerry Holland, Hanneke Cassel, and Alasdair Fraser, or performing with her band, 5AM. Abbie wears the Red Dress McRae.

When Abbie isn't dancing, she can be found majoring in Celtic Studies at the University of Edinburgh.

Karen hails from Kearny, N.J., where she began dancing at the age of 4 under the tutelage of the late Mrs. Mary Stewart. In 1986, she won the U.S. Inter-Regional Highland Dancing Championships. At the Braemar Highland Gathering in Scotland, which is attended annually by members of the royal family, Karen won the Best Overseas Dancer in 1988. At the tender age of 9, Karen danced in a made-for-TV movie starring Bette Davis called "Family Reunion." Her most notable performances were with The Christmas Revels in Cambridge, New York, and Washington, D.C. from 1990-1993. Karen moved to Brookline, MA in 1993, and has been teaching in the Boston area since. She teaches The Boston Highlanders, many of whom are members of Highland Dance Boston. Karen wears the Green Dress McKellar.

She and her husband, Terence, are the proud parents of two children, Cora and Iain, who are not yet old enough to join HDB.

Robert began Scottish country and highland dancing in California in 1973 and moved to the Boston Area in 1979. He has performed highland dancing with many groups and in many venues (including a tour of Scotland with the Strathspey and Reel Society of New Hampshire in 1996), and has directed concerts with featured performers such as Jean Redpath and Alasdair Fraser. Since 1999, Robert has choreographed and danced in Bonnie Rideout's national touring show, A Scottish Christmas, with Jen Schoonover. His tartan is Dress Ancient Campbell of Argylle.

Robert resides in Arlington, MA, with his spouse Barbara, an accomplished fiddler; see their joint website, www.mcowen.net. When he's not performing with HDB, Robert can be found at Northeastern University, where he is a faculty member in the Mathematics Department.

Scottish arts are a family affair for Lindsay, as it was through her father's love of bagpipes that she was first introduced to Highland dancing. She began her dancing career at the age of 6 in the kitchen of a wonderful woman named Winnie Stanley and soon thereafter began training in competitive Highland dancing with Marguerite Reid in Philadelphia, PA. Lindsay has enjoyed competing in the United States, Scotland and Canada; highlights include winning her first championship at the age of 12 at the Grandfather Mountain Games in North Carolina and hanging up her competitive shoes as the 2001 Eastern Region Adult Champion. Lindsay now focuses her dancing energy on performing with Highland Dance Boston; she wears Dress Edinburgh.

A resident of Cambridge, MA, Lindsay is a doctoral student at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Aileen is from the north east of Scotland and began dancing at the age of 5. She grew up in the village of Aboyne and was taught to dance by Robert (Bobby) Watson until his death in 1997. Aileen continued to dance throughout her youth and competed annually at the local highland games. Before leaving high school Aileen passed her teachers exam to qualify her as an associate member of the UKA. After graduating with a masters degree in electrical engineering from Edinburgh University, Aileen has moved to Massachusetts and is taking lessons with Robert McOwen. She has begun competing at highland games in the US and enjoys performing with HDB. Aileen frequently returns to Scotland to visit her family who all remain there.

Aileen resides in Somerville, MA and is currently employed as an electrical engineer in a semi conductor company.

Jen has performed Highland dance at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center and on Good Morning America. Since moving to Boston, Jen has enjoyed dancing with Karen Mahoney and Lindsay Page's Boston Highlanders, Laura Scott's Highland Soles, Maggie Carchrie, and Robert McOwen, with whom she has choreographed numbers for Bonnie Rideout's national tour, A Scottish Christmas. Jen currently competes at premier level, and has her Preliminary Teacher's Certificate from the Royal Scottish Country Dance Society. Jen's favorite color is yellow, and she feels right at home in her new Dress MacLeod tartan.

Also a modern dancer, Jen has choreographed for the Theater Outlet in Allentown, Pennsylvania, The Irondale Ensemble Project and Voice and Vision Theater in New York City, and for Back Porch Dance Company and the Willing Suspension Players in Boston. She currently teaches dance and choreography at Cape Cod Community College and performs with the Peanut Butter and Jelly Dance Company and the Moving Laboratory.

Born in Helensburgh, Scotland, Gregor has been dancing traditional Scottish country dance since his childhood and is currently a member and teacher in the Royal Scottish Country Dance Society. He first started Highland dancing a few years ago at Pinewoods summer dance camp and has studied under Robert McOwen ever since. Gregor wears the Dress Strathclyde tartan.

Gregor lives in Reading, Mass, with his wife Gyna, who also enjoys Scottish dancing. When he is not competing at Highland Games or performing on stage, Gregor works as a business administrator for a broadcast engineering company.