For a country that prides itself on being a melting pot of cultures and traditions, America and it’s citizens have fostered an unfortunate reputation of lacking worldliness. For many of us, our closest brushes with Indian culture came from watching “Slumdog Millionaire.”

Luckily, the India Students Association provides the perfect remedy tonight with their fall cultural show titled “Nightmare on State Street.” Premiering free of charge at the Orpheum Theatre, ISA’s fall show will focus on bringing the exciting spectacle of Indian dance culture in an entertaining and contemporary package.

“We want to show students that Indian culture has transformed,” said ISA president Riju Narayan. “Basically, we’re trying to emulate Bollywood culture with this dance show. It’ll be rooted in Indian culture, of course, but it’s also a good representation of current India and its more positive, uplifting aspects. Hopefully students realize that Indian dance isn’t just limited to Indian culture — it’s a way for all students to enjoy themselves.”

The ISA puts on several cultural shows during the year, including two larger productions in the spring and one in the fall. While previous shows focused on singing acts and instrumentation, this show sets itself apart by the sheer number and creativity of its dance numbers.

“We want to represent all different aspects of Indian dance — we’re going to have participation from the UW School of Bhangra as well as the Surma Fusion Dance Team,” Narayan said. “Traditional Indian dances will be presented with more hip-hop-orientated forms — it’ll be exciting to see how all these different kinds of dances work together, and we think students will really enjoy the change of pace from what they likely think Indian dance is. We’re even including a Michael Jackson dance tribute.”

Unlike past shows, the fall show hopes to distinguish itself with a skit that plays between the dance numbers. Written by members of the ISA, the skit adds the one critical element missing from Indian dance — a humorous story of campers being killed off by a mysterious villain. Based on campy horror clich?s, the skit brings a bit of levity to the cultural experience and even pokes a bit of fun at itself. The skit promises to avoid the common cultural show trap of lacking self-awareness and thus boring the audience with its seriousness.

“One of the big things we wanted to do with the skit was bring in a little self-deprecating humor,” Narayan said. “Throughout the skit we address a lot of Indian stereotypes like ‘all Indians go to med school’ and the generic relationship between Indian parents and their children. In a way we’ll also be deflating these myths though, because we’re showing that, obviously, they aren’t necessarily true or accurate at all. Really, the skit shows that the ISA isn’t out of touch with how Indian culture is perceived these days.”

Students will want to make sure to take full advantage of the early 6:30 p.m. open time; the show has been a staple of fall events for some time and has a history of filling up extremely quickly.

“We’re always amazed at the level of enthusiasm for the show,” Narayan said. “During musical numbers in the past, the audience is always participating whether they are clapping or singing along. There’s really a sense of community participation that goes on and it’ll definitely be even more pronounced this time since we’re presenting in a much larger venue. I don’t think we’ve ever heard a negative review in any of the past shows we’ve put on.”

But with all this storyline and dancing, what will happen to the characters? Who will survive at the end?

Said Narayan, “You’ll have to come to the show to find out!”

“Nightmare on State Street” will take place tonight at Orpheum Theatre at 7 p.m. The doors open at 6:30 p.m.