A flashing strobe light illuminated dancers swinging their arms in beat to traditional Bhangra music Saturday night.

About 100 people attended the South Asian Student Association's (SASA) "Bhangra/Hip-Hop Nite" this weekend in Pollock Rec Room, where they blended customary heritage with contemporary music.

"[Bhangra is] a really energetic dance that originated from the northern part of India. [It's] often used to celebrate different occasions," Shebani Pahwa (freshman-premedicine) said.

The dance, an annual event, was held to encourage students to become involved with South Asian culture.

SASA, formerly known as the Indian Student Association (ISA), changed its name in an effort to include more people, and Bhangra/Hip-Hop Nite was the first event to try to unify South Asian students.

SASA Cultural Chairman Herit Vachhani (sophomore-biology) said Bhangra is a dance celebrated in different parts of India.

Bhangra is a dance that combines "a lot of leg movement and jumping," Pahwa said. "Your hands are basically up in the air the whole time, and you're hopping on your feet," she said.

Both Pahwa and Vachhani danced barefoot so they wouldn't slip on the floor.

Vachhani wore a traditional shirt called a kurta, a long-sleeved black shirt with blue embroidery around the neck. Though the shirt is traditional, it's not really a bhangra outfit, Vachhani said. He made the outfit more contemporary by wearing the shirt with jeans.

Vachhani and Pahwa said they are interested in restarting a bhangra team at Penn State. The university had a bhangra team last year, which competed in a major intercollegiate competition in Washington, D.C.

But not every dancer was a pro at this weekend's event.

For Jake Kimble (freshman-finance), this was his first bhangra event. Though he said the dance was a little difficult to learn, he said it was fun.

"I'm just getting started," Kimble said.

For many dancers, the evening was a night of heritage. "[Bhangra is] a dance that's very important to our culture," Dan Shah (senior-finance) said. "It's rooted into our traditions."