ISU students can learn a storied Indian dance this Saturday, when the Indian Students’ Association will host Dandiya Night.

The event, to be held from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. in the Memorial Union, will feature instruction in Dandiya Raas, a communal dance celebrating the Hindu goddess Durga’s victory over the demon king Mahishasura.

The word “Dandiya” in the dance’s name is the Hindi word for “sticks.” It denotes the lengths of bamboo, meant to represent swords, that dancers traditionally wield while performing it.

Sticks in hand, dancers form two circles, one rotating clockwise and the other counterclockwise. As they pass one another, they strike their sticks together, playfully recreating Durga’s battle with the demon king.

“She fights evil,” said Rucha Agnihotri, senior in community and regional planning. “It’s a kind of folk dance to depict how she wins over the evil.”

Agnihotri said modern-day Indians, though aware of the dance’s religious significance, tend to treat it as a social occasion.

“It’s kind of an Indian version of going to a discotheque,” she said.

Priyanka Nandi, ISA public relations officer and graduate student in architecture, said event organizers would dispense with some of the dance’s traditions during Dandiya Night.

Men and women customarily segregate themselves during the dance, with women forming one circle and men the other. It’s also customary for a drummer to occupy the inner circle during the dance, controlling its tempo with his drumbeat. But on Saturday there will be no live drumming or separation by sex.

“The contemporary Dandiya is all about the dance form,” Nandi said. “You just go and dance to the beat and enjoy your time.”

On Saturday, prerecorded music will set that beat.

As Agnihotri notes, Dandiya Raas has long been subject to this kind of change and adaptation.

“There used to be no dancing at first,” she said. “There used to be just a drummer, and then the people gathered. “

Agnihotri added that the formation modern Dandiya dancers assume deviates from the original one.

“They didn’t used to be in two circles. There used to be just one circle, and people used to gather just to pray,” she said. “And they usually used to sing the songs that were devoted songs to different lords.”

Agnihotri is from Gujarat, the Indian state where Dandiya Raas originated. Though the coming event will be far less elaborate than the performances she’s used to, she still expects to enjoy it.

“The students here are very interested in learning,” she said. “I guess it’s fun in a different way.”