The 20th annual India Nite brought together students and members of the Columbia community for an evening of Indian dance and music.

The Saturday night event featured traditional Indian dance and music as well as more modern Bollywood selections.

India Nite was sponsored by the Cultural Association of India, the oldest organization at MU. The CAI was founded in 1957, and this event is one of the highlights of the organization’s year.

Sophomore Sapna Khatri participated in India Nite last year. This year, she choreographed a dance for her dance group, KAOTIX.

“(Choreographing for India Nite) was different because I don’t like to copy choreography,” she said.

The group paid homage to India Nite’s 20th anniversary and performed dances inspired by Bollywood films throughout the past 20 years.

Some of the acts fused American- and Indian-style dance.

For the act “Hip Hop meets Bhangra,” MU students performed traditional Indian dances with an updated hip-hop twist.

“This event is open to everyone,” Khatri said. “It caters to everyone and we encourage everyone to come.”

The event was in Jesse Hall and brought in a packed audience. Many local Indian families attended the event and many of the acts even featured young Indian dance students from Columbia.

Priyanka Patel, age 12, performed at India Nite with her friends.

“We’ve been doing these dances since 2008,” she said about the traditional Indian folk dance she and her friends performed.

Priyanka Patel said she was excited for India Nite.

“We get to dance with our friends and our family,” she said.

India Nite brings together MU students with diverse dance backgrounds.

“I don’t have background with dance and neither do most of the people in our group,” sophomore Evan Townsend said.

Townsend said he learned Indian dance last spring when KAOTIX performed at International Night.

“It was difficult (to learn) because the dance is from a different culture,” he said. “Some of the moves don’t feel natural.”

Freshman Shantanu Patel also performed with KAOTIX. It was his first experience with India Nite as well as Indian dance.

“I was nervous,” he said. “When we first walked on stage, that’s when I got nervous.”

Shantanu Patel said he felt comfortable after the dance began, and he really enjoyed the experience.

“I never thought dance would be this fun,” he said. “I’m doing it again for sure.”

Townsend said he enjoyed performing in front of an audience.

“It was so much fun,” he said. “I love the feeling before we go on, those pre-performance jitters.”

KAOTIX was the last act before the intermission, so the group danced out into the audience to end its performance. Afterward, the crew gathered in the back of the auditorium.

“We all knew that we had just nailed it,” Townsend said.

Khatri said she was glad to have India Nite as a venue for KAOTIX.

“I just think India Nite is a great outlet for us to perform,” she said.

Khatri said she hopes to get KAOTIX recognized as an official organization by the university soon.