Spira Epstein began studying dance under Ruth St. Denis and Jack Cole, who both incorporated eastern ideas in their works. She also studied with La Meri, founder of the Ethnologic Dance Center of New York, and Nala Najan, the leading Hindu dance scholar in the United States. During the 1939 New York World's Fair, she studied with Javanese dancers who were performing there. She studied dances from the Court of Surakarta and received a teacher's diploma in Javanese dance from Radem Mas Kodrat and Radem Mas Wiradat. She also studied Japanese expressional dance with Kenji Hinoki.