Also known as Dr. Jerry Gardner

…Lama Thupten Gyaltsen Dorje Rinpoche is the resident teacher of Urgyen Samten Ling Gonpa and has studied and practiced the Buddhadharma for over 45 years. He was ordained as Lama in 1997 by the late Khenchen Thupten Ozer and Khenpo Konchok Monlam Rinpoche and was given the title of Rinpoche in 2013. 

He holds a Ph.D. in Buddhist Studies with an emphasis in ritual and meditation from the Ngagyur Samten Chockhorling Institute, located in the city of Manali in Himachal Pradesh, India, and is Associate Professor Emeritus at the University of Utah Department of Theater. He performs and teaches numerous movement systems including Butoh, Viewpoints, Noh Theatre, illusionary and corporeal mime, mask work, ballet and contemporary dance, Pilates, Laban/Barteneiff, and the martial arts of karate, kung fu, and tai chi.

A founder and master instructor of Red Lotus School of Movement where he taught advanced courses in Wing Chun Kung Fu and Tai Chi Chu’an, he has earned the titles of Seventh Level Black Sash in Wing Chun Kung Fu under Master Sifu Duncan Leung, a direct disciple of Grandmaster Yip Man; Fourth Dan Black Belt in Neisi Goju under Master Chaka Zulu; and Fifth Dan Black Belt under Master Ronald Van Cleif. In Tai Chi Chu’an, Rinpoche studied Yang Style with disciples of Master Cheng Man Ch’ing (Jonathan Gaines, Maggie Newman, Ed Young, Lou Kleinsmith, and Jane and Batan Fargo), Tung Style with Master Bing Lee, and Chi Quiong with Master Chan.

Lama Thupten Rinpoche is an accomplished teacher and dancer of Butoh. He studied in Japan with the co-founder of this unique art form, Kazuo Ohno; Yukio Waguri, a disciple of Tatsumi Hijikata; and Yushito Ohno, the late Kazuo Ohno’s son and current director of the Kazuo Ohno Dance Studio. He has also studied with Diego Piῆon of Butoh Ritual Mexicano. He is the co-founder and Artistic Director of Allen Gardner Dance Theater, a company dedicated to the integration of numerous movement and dance forms to create engaging theatrical performances.