Skirts swung and drums pulsed as students danced in concentric circles around a candle in the center of the ballroom.
This is Garba, a traditional Indian form of dance and celebration that the UF Indian Students Association hosted on Friday night in the Reitz Grand Ballroom.
During Garba, participants choose which circle they would like to dance in. The circles are arranged by the complexity of the dance, with easier routines in the outside circles and more complex dances toward the center.
The dance is done during the Hindu festival Navaratri, which lasts nine nights and celebrates the victory of Goddess Durga over the demon king Mahishasura, good over evil.
Maren Thomas, a 19-year-old UF applied physiology and kinesiology sophomore, served as the Garba director this year. While the festival is religious, Thomas wanted to make the event include all UF students, she said.
“We wanted to make sure it was non-religious because, in general, it’s a fun night for us to collectively dance together and help a lot of people that aren’t used to the Indian culture get to know Indian culture,” Thomas said.
Thomas co-directed the event with Jessica Jesurajan, a 19-year-old UF accounting junior and the president of UF’s ISA. Before the festival, they hosted a “Teach Me How to Garba” on Wednesday where students learned how to dance, Jesurajan said.
Jesurajan said it is important to hold ISA events to spread awareness of Indian culture at UF.
“It's important to spread the culture of ISA especially because that is our mission to grow beyond just including Indian students,” Jesurajan said. “We want to include other students as well and be more representative of the UF population.”
The event has been held annually in the fall and attracts between 200 and 400 students each year said Jesurajan.
Anusha Kante, a 20-year-old UF nutritional sciences junior, attended this event for the third time this year.
“I went to it last year and the year before that and, every single year, it's so much fun,” Kante said. “It’s a reason to dress up and take pictures with your friends.”
Rani LaRue, an 18-year-old exploratory major, dances with a group of people Friday night at Garba, an event thrown by the Indian Students Association at the Reitz Union Rion Ballroom.
