The curtain opened to reveal a parade of costumed dancers and singers while the music blaring from the speakers excited the audience.

It was the beginning of Vasant Mahatsov, the Indian festival of spring, held Sunday in the Great Hall of the Memorial Union.

The celebration, which was organized by the India Student Association, began with three Indian pop music selections accompanied by a synthesizer, violins and a tabla, a percussion instrument native to India.

The next number was composed of a series of six different dances from different seasons of the Indian calendar.

Before a crowd of about 400 people, dancers with pink, purple and green sashes strutted their stuff to techno music during the first dance, Baisakhi, which commemorates the harvest.

The next dance, which was called Id, is a Muslim tradition celebrating the return of the crescent moon, which signals the end of the month of fasting known as Ramadan.

The third dance, Janmashtami, featured eight dancers and their efforts to build a human pyramid to reach a pot suspended over the stage. After three unsuccessful attempts, the man on top of the tower grabbed the pot and confetti streamed out of it as the crowd cheered.

The next dance in the series was called Onam, a southern Indian celebration of the return of goodness to earth.

Diwali and Holi, the festivals of Light and Color, were the last dances.

Raucous music seemed to propel the flashlight-carrying dancers of the Diwali, who flowed across the Great Hall stage with their snake-like movements.

In the Holi, colored powder tinted the air as five sets of dancers in flashy robes and veils swung their partners in circles.

The program closed with a song called “Mile Sur Mera Tumhara” that represented the unification of India by having each line sung in a different Indian dialect.

After the lights came back on, members of the India Student Association helped serve pav bhaji, a chunky mash of carrots, onions, potatoes and peas seasoned with special Indian spices.

The pav bhaji was complemented by a sweet powdered coconut dessert and lemonade.