Saratoga Dandia

The fifth annual Saratoga Dandia, taking place Oct. 11, will be just the event to relive the night. For the second year in a row, the event will be held at the West Valley College gymnasium. And similar to the Aug. 18 Bollywood dance, much of the evening will be devoted to dancing and eating, said Seema Kumar, the lead on the Saratoga Dandia organizing committee. "The whole idea of starting this w

as to bring the community together," said Kumar. "Everybody who comes participates." A live band will perform traditional music, switching between tunes for dandia and garba, another type of dance that consists of various hand and foot movements. The youth tend to gravitate toward the former type of dance, while garba is the preferred style for their parents, said Kumar. "Dandia is a dance with sticks," explained Kumar. "Most young people like to do the dance with sticks, and traditional folks like to do the hand dance."