HOTHAM will hopefully be getting a taste of a new and exciting event this season, one that is guaranteed to get the blood and mind pumping – Ecstatic Dance.

Brought to you by full time Hotham resident and identity Damon Eves (Damo to his friends) and his company Inside Out, the concept of Ecstatic Dance has been years in the making.

With a background in festival organisation, having lived and worked at Rainbow Serpent Festival HQ (in Australia) for the better part of a decade, and also having done a brief stint at Bestival in the UK, Damo is effusive when describing the event.

"Ecstatic Dance is the ultimate in fun and exercise – all rolled into one," he said.

"You hear some mind–blowing music and dance your backside off for an hour.

"There's a point one can often reach when you feel the stress evaporate and relaxation takes hold.

"That's when you know the job is done.

"You walk off the dancefloor after an hour, sober as a judge, and feeling like a million bucks.

"The feeling – that's the ultimate reward."

Asked about its evolution, he said the project was born from a love of dancing, and novel experience, which genuinely threw all he knew into chaos.

"Around the turn of the millenium I had an experience on a dance floor, dancing with my eyes closed – which created stories and patterns that morphed into images," he said.

"The sensation was one of excruciating pleasure, and I remember walking off that dance floor – deep in the Victorian bush – with a physiological system bursting with energy.

"It got to a point where I just had to try and impart that sensation onto others.

"Through music and dance it elicited a bona fide religious experience.

"The start of the event is a low–key, slow tempo build – maybe some twisted meditation music – which gently morphs into a chaotic blend of psychedelic rock, dub, and hip–hop before reaching crescendo with some jangled, upbeat, monster tunes.

"It's a new and different style of DJing completely, and that gives us the opportunity to explore a full–range of taste, to evoke the widest possible spectrum of human emotion.

"We don't want to give too much away, but should the stars align we can all but guarantee you a rockin' good time.

"One thing is for sure – we plan to dance up a storm – a proper Antarctic beast."

Part of the Hotham community since childhood, Damo paints the finest of word pictures about his attachment to the mountain.

"As a family, with some family friends, we shared one of the super early houses at Dinner Plain," he said.

"As in, we were there for the opening weekend of Dinner Plain in '86.

"We built a cubby out the back of the Dinner Plain slope which stood until well into the current millennium.

"It was a proper kids chalet, that thing.

"My Dad always used to say Hotham was my spiritual home, and the more time one spends up here the more you realise how sacred the mountain is – and the best definition of the word sacred is 'lucky.'

I have definitely been fortunate in the sense that my skiing trip started at 18 months old.

"You'd think one would have nailed the art by now, but – nope! Am finding I suck a little less these days, however."

Having skied with him on a deliciously snowy day before opening weekend, it is safe to say Damo is an awesome skier with loads of humility and self–deprecation!

Damo says fate has played a huge role in where he is today.

"You know, one of the greatest elements in life is kismet, and there's a brutal sense of satisfaction when you take all the components of your life in reverse chronology – and they suddenly fit," he said.

"That seems to be the case with Inside Out.

"Unused qualifications from 20 years ago suddenly make sense.

"They finally have context when combined with 20,000+ hours of music research.

"Doctors get out of school in six years.

"Music – that stuff – you're in it for life."

The process of application for the events was with RMB and Vail, with both parties being equally helpful.

The space around White Crystal, known as Koala Flat, was recommended as it was central yet out of skiers/harm's way.

"A special shout out must be made to Bronwen Young, formerly of the RMB, who promised a foot in the door, and then proceeded to kick the thing off its hinges," said Damo.

"Without her help it is questionable whether we'd have got it off the ground in 2022."

Ecstatic Dance events are likely to be held on Saturday afternoons in the second half of the ski season in the vicinity of Koala Flat, just behind the White Crystal building at Mt Hotham.

Keep an eye out for details and dates on www.insideout.com