Gainesville residents traded in their jeans and T-shirts for saris and kurtas at Friday’s Diwali Dance Festival.
Pink, turquoise, purple and gold saris draped women’s bodies as men wore embroidered kurta shirts in subtler hues. Guests were as colorful as the Indian culture they came to see.
The festival, hosted by UF’s Hindu Cultural Society, was held in celebration of Diwali, which is considered the New Year to some parts of India, and showcased Indian culture to 225 guests through dancing, singing and beat boxing performances.
For $1 to $3, guests could satisfy their appetites with traditional homemade Indian food such as samosas, gulab jamun and pav bhaji. Pizza was available for those less daring to sample the spicy dishes.
Onstage performances were broken up by 45-minute intermissions in which guests and members of the Hindu Cultural Society took to the center of the auditorium to dance to blaring Indian music.
The lights were turned off, the music turned up and only multi-colored Christmas lights illuminated the room.
People of all cultures and ages, from children with pacifiers in their mouths to men with gray in their hair, were stomping their feet, swaying their bodies and waving their arms in coordination with the music.
Wearing a bright pink lehnga dress and a big smile, Gainesville resident Maghan McDowell followed the dance moves everyone around her was doing.
“I don’t know Indian dances,” McDowell said. “I’m just copying people.”
McDowell loved the food and music, but her favorite part was the outfit, a traditional Indian dress her friend lent her, and getting to put on cool Indian makeup.
At $3 a ticket, the event raised about $1,000, all of which will be donated. Some will go to help Seva Bharathi flood victims, some will go to the Gainesville Indian Cultural and Education Center and the rest will go to charities for education.
“We really wanted to do something for the flood victims,” Dipnarine said. “Forty-five rupees is $1, so you get an idea of how much we can help."
