Douglas has done a solo performance twice since we’ve been here, one for each of the international festivals. Incorporating his incredible prowess with Yoga, they have been performed wonderfully, and have been very well received.
In addition to being a kind and considerate person, Douglas Ridings is a Yoga teacher, dancer, actor, and singer based in Seattle. On his website, he discusses Odissi dance, and his relationship to it. He states:
“Odissi is one of the 8 officially recognized classical dance-forms of India. It originated in the eastern state of Orissa. The date of its origin is a matter of contention among scholars, but some place it as far back as 2000 b.c.e. . It is the dance of the Maharis or Devadasi, Tantrik priestesses “married” to the presiding deity of the temple. It was nearly lost during British rule and had to be reconstructed from the remnants of existing traditions, analysis of Sanskrit texts like the Natya Shastra and the Abhinaya Darpanam, and study of the thousands of temple sculptures throughout Orissa, especially those at the Surya Temple at Konark. Perhaps due to its Tantrik origins, it is the most sensuous and lyrical of all the Indian classical dances. Since 2005 I have studied in the Mahari style of Odissi dance under Dr. Ratna Roy in the parampara of Guru Pankaj Charan Das. I perform regularly with her company Urvasi and I danced with her at the Kharavela Festival in Bhubaneswar, India in January of 2010. My relationship to Odissi is one of sweat, calluses and transcendent bliss. It seems to me the next logical progression in my studies of both dance and yoga and perhaps their culmination. As my understanding of this form deepens, so does my awe and gratitude.” (http://douglasridings.com/?page_id=50)
I hope you enjoy these additional images of Douglas’ solo performance.
sarvanidance 