On Oct. 24, 2023, Moorpark College celebrated Navratri on campus for the first time. The event offered food and snacks, a photo booth, a dance performance and a lesson from UC Riverside’s Bollywood dance team.
Navratri, meaning “nine nights” in Sanskrit (नवरात्रि), is a festival observed in India and around the world. There are two main Navratri festivals: Chaitra Navratri in the spring and Sharad Navratri in the autumn.
Tara Pai, the director of constitution & standing rules for the Associated Students of Moorpark College, explained why this festival was important to celebrate on campus.
“Event planning isn’t within my role as part of the board of directors, but I felt that it was important to have this event on campus,” Paj stated. “It’s important to have cultural exposure and teach people a little bit about international holidays.”
Pai emphasized that global cultures are often oversimplified, and she aimed to showcase the richness of these traditions.
“People are only really exposed to Diwali, but Diwali is only one thing. There’s a lot of different Indian festivals, all with fun things like food and dancing, with different meanings. Everything has a history, but they don’t even know why we celebrate it. I wanted to bring it here to help people learn a little about it.”
A significant aspect of Navratri is garba dancing, as part of the worship of the Devi, or the element of divine femininity in Hinduism. During the evenings, groups perform garba dance with dandiya sticks, which, during this celebration, were provided to students by ASMC. These sticks are painted with vibrant colors and are used to tap and wave while dancing.
As part of the event, UC Riverside’s co-ed Bollywood Fusion dance team, Afsana, delivered a captivating performance and interactive lesson. Their showcase was high-energy, set to a mix of traditional and contemporary music, reflecting their modern fusion dance style. Characterized by circular movements, hopping and sweeping gestures, the group’s cohesion and elegance was a mesmerizing sight.
Afsana competes nationally and recently secured first place at a competition in Virginia. Their choreography fuses traditional Bollywood dance with hip-hop and other styles. One of their members, Kairavi Shah, shared why the dance is so important to her.
“Garba is performed to celebrate the goddess Durga. They worship her in India, specifically in Gujarat, but now it’s spread all over the world. It’s to bring in good harvest and fertility. So it’s like worshiping women, in a sense,” Shah stated. “People do garba every day [of the festival], they eat a lot of good food, a lot of sweets, and just dance and have a lot of fun.”
Following their performance, the team hosted an interactive garba lesson, teaching attendees basic steps and how to use their dandiya sticks. As the crowd formed into lines, the team patiently demonstrated the moves in sequence, ensuring everyone could follow along. The event culminated in everyone dancing to music applying what they had learned.
After the lesson, team members hosted a question and answer session. Anusha Nayak, the team’s choreography captain, spoke about the meaning behind the dance movements.
“Garba has a lot of clapping steps, a lot of jumping steps. They do that because they say that when you hit the ground with your feet or that when you clap, you’re attracting good energy, which they want for a good harvest.”
Pai hopes this festival will lead to other cultural events being observed and celebrated on campus.
“We have Diwali coming up, so I definitely want to celebrate that on campus, along with anything else people want to celebrate and share,” Paj stated. “It’s a way for us to all be exposed to new cultures and to have a chance to share and celebrate with each other.”
To find out more about UCR Afsana, click here. Students interested in proposing a cultural event on campus can contact Ethan Gray, director of campus events, at [email protected].
