Celebrate Diwali with this all-ages festival and dance party, featuring Kathak classical dancer Abha Roy and bharatanatyam dancer Ishita Mili! Learn folk, Bollywood, and Kathak dance moves infused with hip hop and contemporary dance with Abha and Ishita, explore rangoli design with Anju Gupta, taste Indian foods with Queens Curry Kitchen, discover ayurvedic treatments with Shweta Parmar and more. Abha Roy, master teaching artist and artistic director of the Srijan Dance Company, shares the stage with IMGE: Ishita Mili Global Exposé, a performance company rooted in Indian classical, hip hop, and contemporary dance. At the event, Flushing Town Hall will present the artwork of the winners of its rangoli design competition. Anyone can purchase tickets to attend between 11 AM and 1 PM or between 2 PM and 4 PM. Tickets must be purchased in advance. 

Abha Roy, the artistic director of Srijan Dance Center, has led the Flushing Town Hall Diwali Festival since its beginnings.  A master of Kathak dance, she studied  under the guidance of late great Guru Kundan Lal Gangani and attained professional precision under the training of Pt. Durgalal when she completed her specialization in Kathak Kendra, New Delhi. She represented the Indian Council of Cultural Relations and has taught and performed in South America, Guyana, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago. She has also performed throughout Europe and  venues such as Lincoln Center, Flushing Town Hall, the Queens Museum, NYC Cultural Festival, and many more. 

IMGE Dance: Ishita Mili Global Exposé, founded by Ishita Mili is a dance company using Indian classical, hip hop, and contemporary dance vocabularies to tell global stories.  The use of these different dance vocabularies allows for a new and colorful way of storytelling with Indian classical hand gestures (mudras) and powerful body language. IMGE uses this new form to transcend regional and cultural boundaries by creating an encompassing dance language that can speak to anyone. 

This program is generously sponsored by the Guru Krupa Foundation.