The sounds of a beating dholi drum and dozens of feet purposefully falling onto the floor are drowned by the thick walls and doors of the dance floor in SF State's Fine Arts building.

The Golden Gate Bhangra dance club formed last year after SF State student and captain Suniti Parmar, sophomore, noticed the lack of Bhangra dance teams in San Francisco. Parmar, originally from the Southern SF Bay area, danced Bhangra in her hometown with her co-captain, USF student Leah Noble-Bartlett.

"We really wanted to continue our passion for dancing through our college career," says Parmar.

Golden Gate Bhangra is a multi-university club, with members coming from other universities in the bay area, including USF, and CSU East Bay.

According to Parmar and Sandhu, Bhangra dance started in Punjab, a state in India, by farmworkers. Punjab farmers would pass the time with music and dance and it eventually became a part of the cultural. A drum called a dholi is used to create a beat for the dance. Traditional Indian music is used, however some of the tunes now have a more modern twist.

Some members of Golden Gate Bhangra club are also affiliated with SF State's Indian Student Association. The club hopes to perform in ISA's events such as Holi and Bhangra Blast.

"It's sort of like a happy dance," says dholi player and USF student Ravi Sandhu. "It's always played at festive gatherings. Anyone can dance to it," Sandhu said. "You don't have to understand the words, it's just high energy."

The number of members for the team is steady at six men and six women, however, they hope that more will join.

"Hopefully this year there's a lot more participation and dedication to the team so we can go compete at a national or state level," said team member Rishabh Desai.