Holi Celebration & Indian Dance

As a benefit for Brattleboro Planned Parenthood, and in celebration of the Indian festival of Holi and Spring, kathak dancer Veronica Simas de Souza and cellist Jake Charkey will present an evening of Indian classical dance and music.

Suggested donation $10, but no one turned away for lack of funds.

Holi! A Celebration of Color

By Veronica Simas de Souza

Holi: The Festival of Colors & An Evening of Indian Classical Dance and Music, a benefit for Brattleboro Planned Parenthood, celebrates Holi and Spring with kathak dancer Veronica Simas de Souza and cellist Jake Charkey on Thursday, March 21, 7:00 pm at 118 Elliot, 118 Elliot Street, Brattleboro, VT 05301. Suggested donation is $10 but no one will be turned away for lack of funds.

Springtime in Chuim Village, Mumbai, India. Fresh out of bed, I stepped out of my house and into the alley when—WHACK! A slimy, purple-pink paste hit me in the face and started running down my neck. Shouts and jeers of excitement pierced my ears: “Happy Holi!”

Holi, or ‘the festival of colors’, is India’s most vibrant holiday. It marks the start of spring when we celebrate the blossoming of nature and welcome the warmth of love spreading around us. And while my first contact with Holi was a playful little surprise, I was not prepared for the magnitude of the celebration.

It was my first year in Mumbai, formerly known as Bombay, home of the world’s biggest film industry and India’s financial epicenter, as well as Asia’s biggest slums and the largest tropical forest in an urban zone. Mumbai isn’t a threatening place, but it has a fierce energy, like New York on steroids.

I had been advised to leave the house that day wearing old white clothes, so that the colors would show, and to protect my hair with coconut oil. Outside, I started wiping the slime off my face when I noticed the neighborhood kids and elderly ladies smirking at me. When my local rickshaw driver appeared at the end of the alley, I thought I had been saved. “Chalo Andheri!” I screamed as I ran to him. But no such luck. We drove through clouds of pink powder, following the thumping music vibrating through the streets. Not even cows, dogs and cats were safe from the explosions of color that filled the streets.

When we entered the grounds of a friend’s building, there were hundreds of people, young and old, women and men, smeared head to toe with the same purple-pink paste I had tried to avoid. Everyone was dancing in and out of a giant rain machine to Bollywood hits. At the sight of my friends I sighed, and I told myself: “The only way out is in… surrender!”  “Surrender” was one of the lessons that stayed with me throughout the 12 years I lived in India. Soaked in color and water I danced my heart out all day long. I realized then that Holi is for making memories.

I had come to India to study a North Indian classical dance tradition that uses eyes, hand

and facial expressions to narrate a story using the art of gesture along with rhythmic foot patterns, lyrical arms and rapid spins. The word Katha means “story” and Kathakar means “the one who tells a story.” The form is passed down orally from generation to generation.  I had come from Chile to study under the tutelage of a 15th generation Kathak dancer named Sunayana Hazarilal.

In 2009, I debuted as a Kathak dancer performing in the National Center for Performing in Mumbai. I was invited to teach at Whistling Woods International Film School, an opportunity that would lead me to train Indian film celebrities.

During this time, I established a dance school and company, Veve Dance, which toured China, Turkey, and Egypt, and at its height had more than 700 students. Besides being a dance school, Veve Dance was also an important vehicle for empowering women, creating a safe space, and building community for women to be comfortable with their bodies and exchange ideas across boundaries of class and caste.

Working with Indian musicians brought me together with my husband, Jake Charkey, whose family is from Brattleboro. We live now in Brooklyn and Brattleboro, and Jake teaches at Marlboro College. I came back to the US determined to share this incredible art form with the community, and to share the warmth and love of the Indian culture wherever I can.  I am excited to perform for the first time in Brattleboro with Jake at a celebration of Holi and Spring as a benefit for Planned Parenthood Brattleboro. I promise no purple paste in the face, but lots of fun sharing of this unique holiday with Indian classical dance and music traditions.

Veronica Simas de Souza, a native of Peru, lived in India for 12 years and studied Kathak, a graceful North Indian classical dance form that emphasizes storytelling, complex rhythmic footwork, fast spins, and pantomime.