a few "technical elements" notes for teams

[Govind]

i just thought i'd pen down a few notes/words of advice for teams (more useful for newer teams but def established teams too!) that i've thought about from competition to competition...

1. a quick thing on timing of a performance. i've had this debate w/ a few other judges who disagree, but i think that if you're given 8 minutes to perform, it's a problem if you're under 7 minutes (especially if you had a sher or long intro song piece when you were not dancing...effectively reducing your dancing time to 6:15-6:30) even if technically there are no real "deductions". If placings are close, I would definitely be inclined to give a team that danced longer and carried their performance through for an extra minute (esp if that was all DANCING time) but may have had a mistake or two that set them back a bit in terms of strictly assigned scores (that i don't believe truly capture differences between teams anyway...but that's a whole different issue). My opinion on this timing thing is definitely subjective so I'm not arguing that point at all .

also if a team is over 8 minutes, judges' hands are tied...it's basically shooting yourself in the foot before a performance to make your mix over 8 minutes :/

2. Props. Too many times I have seen teams use props incorrectly. The most recent example was at Burgh...Not a single team or individual for that matter...over the course of the entire night...used katos properly. What i suspect is that teams don't practice with them, and more often than not they just leave practicing with katos for a few days before the show (or they are borrowing katos from other teams). Khundey holding, chimta use by the dancers...all were kind of shabby at the show. Bottom line, if you're going to use props like katos then please use them to enhance your performance, and not detract from it

3. chimta players. these people too should be used to ENHANCE your performance, not take away from it. a chimta player can be so much more than just an extra person on the team hanging out on the side. it's always nice to see chimta players who know the choreography and are really into the performance.

4. dhol taals and tuning. i'm no expert here at all...but quite often you can tell when a dhol hasn't been tuned properly or when a team is doing dhamaal and the dholi (who may not have really practiced much with the team) is playing jhummar...if dholis need some advice about proper tuning, i would recommend that you speak to Pashi b/c he's good with this stuff!

5. sapps locking up...this is quite distracting when it happens and you're left flinging the sapp off to the side to get it out of the way...really looks awful especially b/c this tends to happen in the beginning of your performance. they key here i guess is not to use them in an overzealous way...

6. actually USING your sapps, hitting them so they clack on each count, so that the audience can actually hear it. don't mean to call anyone out but i'm just using a recent example to illustrate my point...i think DCBC was the only team at burgh that actually hit their sapps on every count so that you could hear it. people get in the habit of not doing this, b/c at practices sapps make too much noise and they drown out our ipod speakers or whatever...

7. walking or running to your spots during transitions...sometimes lighting is to blame b/c you planned on having the lights out but they didn't do it...but you should choreo your transitions so that they are smooth and flow naturally, and not depend on lighting.

a lot of these things seem like minor points in the grand scheme of evaluating a performance, but at the end of the day please do realize that little things like this add up in one's evaluation of a team. the best teams pay attention to these little details . finally, this is NOT a review of burgh so before any of you call me out on "being a judge and publicly commenting on teams' performances" please realize that these are just some thoughts that have come up over and over again when i've been going to comps...that i thought i'd share for the benefit of all

my 2 cents...feel free to pitch in with any other things you've picked up on that would help teams improve!

govind

 

[Rajbir]

appreciate you taking time out to help the teams. respect

 

[RAJ22]

smallest things make the biggest difference

 

[Gurbir23]

5. sapps locking up...this is quite distracting when it happens and you're left flinging the sapp off to the side to get it out of the way...really looks awful especially b/c this tends to happen in the beginning of your performance. they key here i guess is not to use them in an overzealous way...

If the dancers are opening the saaps fully (which looks much better than opening them halfway or three quarters of the way) this is bound to happen; no matter how hard you try to prevent it.

 

[Govind]

Thanks Rajbir any time...


as far as the sapps thing goes, all it shows when you end up locking up a sapp is a lack of control. full extensions are always great and that is also another thing i do look out for...

 

[Gurbir23]

Thanks Rajbir any time...


as far as the sapps thing goes, all it shows when you end up locking up a sapp is a lack of control. full extensions are always great and that is also another thing i do look out for...

Most saaps are not locked into just one plane though. In theory, the sapp is to be only moving in the x plane but due to the flexibility of the joint, it moves in the z plane as well. Usualy the sapps that lock up, are the looser ones that have greater movement back and forth in the z plane. What this does is create a very fine line between full extensions and the sapp locking up. For example, just doing something as simple as punjab while clapping the sapp horizontally can cause it to lock up when trying to get a full extension from the sapp. I think what dancers should focus more on is not worrying about preventing the lock-up of the sapp but rather, putting/throwing/sliding the sapp to the side/front/back in a way that doesnt take away from the performance. Ideally, what you're saying is right, but in reality, its hard to prevent it from EVER happening. Although, I believe the better you are or the more experienced you are with a sapp, the chances of them locking up decreases, but it does happen to the best of em.

 

[rajkaran]

6. actually USING your sapps, hitting them so they clack on each count, so that the audience can actually hear it. don't mean to call anyone out but i'm just using a recent example to illustrate my point...i think DCBC was the only team at burgh that actually hit their sapps on every count so that you could hear it. people get in the habit of not doing this, b/c at practices sapps make too much noise and they drown out our ipod speakers or whatever...

Thanks for the advice. It helps a lot.

However, sometimes the judges are just too far from the stage to hear the saaps, when they are actually clearly being hit. We, for example, did hit our saaps (and made a point to do so during practice)...and can be heard in our recently posted Burgh video.

 

[Govind]

point taken. thanks rajkaran yea sometimes we are far from the stage which makes it a bit harder to hear...

 

[HMalhi]

Sometimes it not even how you use the sapp that matters. Some teams take the time and effort to buy the proper sapps. I know there are certain sapps that I can extend as far as my wingspan and still wont lock, and i'm 6'1. These sapps tend to also be heavier, but teams should be rewarded for taking the time to find proper sapps and use these heavier sapps on stage (which will in the end lead to your arms being more tired). I think with a combo of the right amount of practice, and proper sapps, locking can definitely be prevented. If it does happen, or your sapp breaks, getting rid of it in a way that doesn't cause you to go off beat is essential.