Celebrate Diwali’s Festival of Light!
*Thank you for your interest in the Diwali Celebration - reservations for this event has reached capacity due to space limitations, and we are no longer accepting new RSVPS as of November 6, 2023!
It’s time to celebrate the Diwali New Year! Experience this festival of light through the traditional music, dance, art and culinary tastes of India during this joyful holiday!
This cultural immersion program of traditional Indian music, dance, arts, foods and more will feature local artists. Kids can paint diyas’-clay pots, lead by Rinal Parikh and create colorful rongoli designs. The extraordinary Iyer family returns to present classical Kathak dance and Garba with sticks performed by Anita Singh and her daughter as well as a lively percussion and interactive demonstration by master musician Sriram Balasubramanian accompanied by his son and more. Young students of the local Naatya Seva School will perform Bharathanatyam style dances as well.
Participants make and take bell anklets and discover the meaning of this holiday that expresses the circle of life and the interconnectedness between people. Everyone can enjoy eating samosas and stuffing naan and paratha breads followed by sweet gulab jamun treats. The celebration culminates with a Bollywood dance party and outside fun lighting up the night with sparklers.
Sri Balasubramanian PhD day job is an Associate Professor at Drexel University’s School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems addressing debilitating pediatric skeletal deformities, traumatic injuries and orthopedic conditions. He
began learning mridangam (classical South Indian percussion / hand drum) from the age of 5, and graduated in Indian classical percussion music at the age of 12. He is also classically trained in the ghatam (South Indian pot drum) and Tabla (North Indian hand drum) and has performed in over 500 classical music concerts and dance performances in India and the US. He also enjoys playing Indian percussion for Kirtan music and Fusion Jazz bands. Sri is also a renowned mridangam teacher in the Greater Philadelphia area.
Anita Singh is a trained classical dancer. She is also a Contemporary, Semi-classical, Indian Folk and Bollywood dancer who has brought her creative fusion performances to prestigious Asian events at the Philadelphia Courthouse and the Cultural Day Celebration at the New York Consulate. She has served as Director of Mira Dance Academy and also as a judge for several Bollywood, Indian Classical and Folk events. Her day job is as Associate Professor at Temple Bioengineering.
Anita and Sri enjoy performing with their children Diya, 12 years old, who has been learning classical Kathak dance for 5 years, and Adi studying the ancient percussion instrument Mridangam for 6 years.
Rinal Parikh's art reflects the heritage and vibrant culture of her native India. She is Bio-Chemist by profession and an Artist by Passion. She draws on a childhood fascination with color and composition, portraying spontaneity and energy with saturated color in various media. Her subjects are influenced by life and she studies many different styles of Indian painting. She made her debut with a solo exhibit at The Creative Living Room in Swarthmore in 2009, and since then, her work has been featured in numerous juried exhibitions around the country, including the Demuth Art Museum, Rittenhouse Fine Art Show and Art Association of Harrisburg. Her important solo shows include celebrating the decade-long “Journey” as an artist at the Community Arts Center, Wallingford, PA – 2019. Rinal has won several awards for her work and has been published nationally and internationally in Philadelphia Stories, Rathalla Review, and The New India Times. Her artwork is highly sought after and can mainly be found in the private collections of several avid art collectors and institutions in USA, Canada, Uruguay, and India. She enjoys serving as a board member at the Rittenhouse Square Fine Art Show and is co-chair for the Dimensions in the Art program at Swarthmore-Rutledge School in Swarthmore and served on the board for the Community Arts Center. Visit www.rinalparikh.com.
Geared for families with kids 2 - 10 – all ages welcome. Reservations requested. Free and Open to the Public. Pay what you wish program. Suggested $20 per family.
Proceeds from this event will go to support PACC’s Youth & Family programming. Thank you for your support. Park Avenue Community Center is a nonprofit organization.