Ria riding the wave of success

She is queen in her own right. She steps out royally commanding the respect of the villages in Trinidad and Tobago.

She is the beautiful Ria Reshma Soodeen, 24, of Vessigny Village, La Brea. Ria has been riding the waves of success as the reigning La Reine Rive, Best Village Queen, having taken the crown in September, 2002. Ria represented the Friends Creative Theatre of Point Fortin for the competition. She won Most Original Costume, Best Talent and Best Gown. And her group placed fifth overall. Ria did an East Indian classical dance adapted from the film Takshak in Kuchipuri and Bharat Natyam styles.

After this national win, Ria began a whirlwind of activities traveling to many villages and representing the country in many overseas performances. Speaking from her home in Point Fortin, the pleasant-looking Ria took her time with her words as she spoke about her life. “Ever since I could remember, my life has been centred around dance. My home was always filled with East Indian music and I grew up loving the music and of course the dances. My mother will agree that I began to dance even before I could walk. My dedication to this art form has brought me tremendous success. More than I could ever imagine,” she said.  As a child she attended the Vesssigny Government Secondary School. While at school she was always eager to return home where she would look at her elder sister Lisa Soodeen do East Indian dancing. Lisa was the leader of the Sri Devi Dance Company, a group that entered Mastana Bahar and many other competitions.

When she was just eight years old, she started dance classes with highly acclaimed tutor, Indira Mahatoo at the Point Fortin Hindu Mandir. She learnt Bharat Natyam and Folk Dancing. She later attended classes held at the Naparima Bowl, San Fernando conducted by Sri Pradeep Shankar of India. She was trained in the ancient art of Khatak dancing. During her teenage years Ria accompanied her sister to many venues and occupied the back row of the dance group. Then in 1993 Ria had no choice but to lead the group when her sister received a scholarship to study dance in India. Ria was ready for the position. “At least that is what I thought. I would get off my bed as early as 4 am and start my devotions to Lord Shiva the Hindu God of dance. Then I would do all my routine dances and I would set about creating new steps to incorporate the dances for the group to do. This was a difficult time in my life and I know I must have crossed a lot of people but I learnt from my mistakes as I went along. I know I was forgiven because I was young and inexperienced,” she said. Ria noted that the art of dance dominated her very being and she had little time to even eat food. “Even today my mother would quarrel with me to eat properly. “It is not that I don’t want to eat but it is that the art takes over and there is not room for anything else,” she said. She believes that one must allows oneself  the opportunity to enjoy the great things in life, then you are on the road to success. “Great things like the art of dance, the art of music. Get involved and lose yourself. Then if there is any pain or sorrow, the art comforts you,” she said.

Through the art of dance, Ria swears that she learnt to be patient and understanding to people — even the most annoying individual does not irritate her. She has learnt also to apply herself, concentrating on a goal until it is realised. Among the many achievements that Ria has to her credit is the title of Best Dancer in the 2001 series of Scouting for Talent. She was selected to dance in the movie that was filmed in TT, The Mystic Masseur. While in New York she was selected to perform a romantic dance duet with India’s Film star Rahul Roy in the movie Ashiqi. This put Ria in a great position as many promoters from the USA started contracting her for performances on a regular basis. Ria noted that her success came from the fact that she was brought up in a humble home, where prayer was the order of the day and where she had to show respect for everyone around her. “Many children today grow up getting everything they request. Their parents love them to death. They never have to work hard for what they want and this is a major problem because they can only cherish their achievement if they work hard for it. I mean the many kids who study hard through exams — this is admirable — but I believe that parents should not be so eager to buy everything their kids request. “They should give the opportunity to seek the things that money cannot buy. Like working in the temples and the churches or helping the less fortunate,” she said.Ria’s passion for dance landed her in the arms of African drumming. “I got the African moves as easy as that. I only looked at the Malick Folk Performers and started enjoying the dance moves. It is extremely beautiful,” she said.

Ria praised her parents, Krishna and Radha Soodeen for supporting her and sister through the years of dancing. Dance has been a way of life for both Soodeen girls but Ria has accomplished many goals from learning East Indian dancing. She has not stopped there. Instead, she has taken up classes with qualified tutor Rajesh Seenath. She pursues the art of Kuchipuri dancing as she pursues the art of dance and all it has to offer her. Being a devout Hindu, she also sticks to her devotions, attending the temple on a regular basis and also doing devotions at home.