Long Island Indian dance schools ready for Holi celebrations

Hamsini Jamboor, artistic director of the Hamsaasya School of Dance, leads... — Hamsini Jamboor, artistic director of the Hamsaasya School of Dance, leads students in a Bollywood dance as they rehearse for upcoming performances for Holi at Levittown Hall in Hicksville. Credit: Linda Rosier

By Valerie KelloggSpecial to NewsdayUpdated March 12, 2025 1:10 pm

As most children celebrating Holi get busy this time of year throwing colorful powder at one another, girls and boys at the Syosset-based Hamsaasya School of Dance are also throwing on colorful garb and dancing, another vibrant part of the annual Indian festival.

The Hindu celebration of Holi, falling this year on March 14, heralds the arrival of spring, say Long Island Indian-Americans. Dance is integral, whether the moves derive from folk or classical moves in Indian dance or from Bollywood-influenced films, they say. Dances for the Festival of Colors, as Holi is known, might incorporate flowers, another ode to the season, says Hamsini Jamboor, 40, artistic director at the school, which holds classes in Syosset, New Hyde Park and Hicksville.

"Dance is a very big part," she says, taking an equally important spot with food, music and other festivities with family members and friends.

What is Holi?

The celebration, which this year begins on March 13 with Chhoti Holi (the night before) and continues on March 14 with the colors, represents the triumph of good versus evil as well as the opportunity to incinerate negativity and face the spring with renewed hope and love.

As previously reported in Newsday coverage.

FEELING 'ENERGIZED'

Middle and high school students at the Hamsaasya School of... — Middle and high school students at the Hamsaasya School of Dance rehearse at Levittown Hall in Hicksville. Credit: Linda Rosier

The Hamsaasya School of Dance will perform this season next on March 23 at Vedic Heritage in Hempstead.

"I love Holi dancing," says Surya Maddipatla, 13, a student who’s in the seventh grade at Candlewood Middle School in Dix Hills. The fast-paced beats in the music, he says, require "a bunch of moves, really quick rapid moves" that help tell Holi stories, including the triumph of light over darkness.

Fellow dancer Nagarishi Rapolu’s favorite part of this year’s Holi choreography is a backbend in one number. Dancing makes the 13-year-old Jericho Middle School student feel "energized," he says.

Hamsaasya School of Dance students from middle and high school... — Hamsaasya School of Dance students from middle and high school rehearse together, as well as Myra Aradhya and the elementary school group, for their upcoming Hempstead performance. Credit: Linda Rosier

For Alyssa Mammoottil, the 12-year-old’s pink and blue Holi outfit is a highlight, she says. But it’s also the routine. "I love the dances because they have so much expression in them," says Mammoottil, who’s in the sixth grade at Candlewood, "and it's kind of like acting."

A DANCE FOR A DEITY

Abha B. Roy from the Srijan Dance Center in Richmond Hills, Queens, commissioned a new song seven of her troupe members will dance to during an April Holi performance at the Long Island Children’s Museum in Uniondale, she says. Roy, 63, the center’s founder and director, says she recently traveled to Delhi, India, to oversee the studio recording of the 16-minute piece.

What is the origin story of Holi?

While different regions and sects have different origin stories for Holi, one of the most widespread is the case of King Hiranyakashipu, who forced his subjects to worship him. The king’s own son, Prince Prahlad, refused and was steadfast in his prayers to Lord Vishnu, a principal deity of Hinduism. So when the king, enraged, tasked his sister, Holika — who happened to be impervious to fire — to feed his own son, her nephew, the prince, to the flames, Lord Vishnu intervened, saved the prince, and reversed Holika’s powers so that she was the one who burned. The message is that good thoughts and actions will triumph and evil will go down in flames.

As previously reported in Newsday coverage.

The expressive Northern Indian dance to poetry and singing, known as Kathak, which she choreographed and directed, tells the story of the god Shri Krishna and tricks he plays on four gopikas, or milkmaids devoted to him. "Because they understand that he is the embodiment of love, they are able to see wisdom and feel delight even when he annoys or irritates them," Roy explains by email.

The Srijan Dance Center will perform other dances as well, some featuring students.

CONTINUING TRADITION

On Long Island, the merrymaking will continue long after Holi is over. Nine tweens from the Nartan Rang Dance Academy, based in New Hyde Park and Hicksville, will perform a Holi dance during its annual show in June at Garden City’s Adelphi University Performing Arts Center. Siddhi Vaishnav, 43, creative head of the school, founded by her mother, Swati, 69, chose a "Bollywood remix" of the 1990s song "Holiyaan" for the girls to dance to. The tune, with Hindi lyrics, is featured on the soundtrack for the 2024 action film "Vedaa." The choreography calls for "a lot of movement of the hips ... and flare in the hands," she says.

Students Lekha Parth, 12, left, and Amaya Quayyum, 13, of the Nartan... — Students Lekha Parth, 12, left, and Amaya Quayyum, 13, of the Nartan Rang Dance Academy rehearse a Holi dance at Christ Lutheran Church in New Hyde Park. Credit: Linda Rosier

Each dancer will be dressed in her own spring color, Vaishnav adds. Attire includes a blouse, a long skirt known as a lehenga and a scarf called a dupatta. Each girl will also wear a tikka, a piece of jewelry with a dangling bauble that sits on the forehead, Vaishnav says.