AEG @ Boston Bhangra 2018

[Howie Magz]

Hey BTF,

We have posted below our video from Boston Bhangra 2018. We would like to once again congratulate Nachdi Jawani Folk Loverz (NJFL), Apna Bhangra Crew (ABC) and Boston University Bhangra (BU Bhangra) for their respective placings.

AEG has done something different this time around. As we entered into our 11th year, we placed a bigger emphasis on dancing and began to trust our younger generation with the set making. Out of these dancers listed below, 3 of our 12 dancers have never set foot on a competitive stage and 2 out of these 3 are 15 years old who alongside @Kartik Madaan helped create the set. Although we did not get the result we are hoping for, I am still very proud of the younger boys for beginning to take the responsibility of creating the set, filling out registration packets, starching paghs and to let me and the other senior members such as @Sukhi Bring @Arminder Singh @Gagan Mittal take more of a back seat this competition by simply coaching and performing logistical components that are involved in Bhangra.

We understand that we used markers and that we didn’t utilize the stage to its max potential, but feel free to tell us where we went wrong. All comments are welcome and it would really benefit the younger generation to see what the public thinks about our most recent performance. Once again thank you to VSB for all the help this weekend. We really appreciate the bond we share as brothers especially to the coaches Harry, Avi and Dilbagh. Also once again congratulations to all the placing teams especially to NJFL (@Hsingh21 and his coach Sukh) for seeing their hard work pay off at a competition as iconic as Boston. Once again thank you so much to Harjot (H96) for making our fire mix (link below). He has stuck it out with us ever since he began mixing two and a half years ago and has always tended to any mix changes regardless of how bizarre and wild they maybe. Please do not retire as you truly have a gift my man. We now present to you all our Boston Bhangra 2018 performance

Dancers:
Red: Howie Magaro and Arminder Singh
Blue: Sukhi Bring and Yash Desai
Ferozi: Kartik Madaan and Gurinder Singh
Green: Gagan Mittal and Gundeep Singh
Orange: Gursimran Singh and Gaurav Madaan
Purple: Tithi Raval and Paramvir Singh


AEG Boston Bhangra 2018:


AEG Boston Bhangra Mix:

 

[kman58]

This was a beautiful performance, especially to watch live. I, along with many others, wholeheartedly agreed that this is not only the best performance AEG has done to date (and with the strongest dancers), but also had the most heart. I felt a hunger from this performance, to not just go through the motions of a set, but to actually enjoy the dancing and pour your heart into it. The intro was hot (green’s shimmy at 1:12 gives me chills every time it’s so sick), mela was fun, ending got me hype. For me, the minus points were the lighting (I know it’s not always in our control, but the stage was just too dark for too long instead of being brightly lit the whole time), the mirza In sapps (was clean but didn’t do anything for me), and the jhummar (didn’t impact me the way VSB or NJ’s did from an interactive standpoint). I didn’t catch this live as well from the front, but watching the video I can see some dancer laziness in the back. However, it’s not unbearable, and the performance was overall impeccably clean.
This is a new, better AEG. This performance deserved to place. Literally everything the circuit said you guys haven’t done, from not smiling to not lifting knees, y’all did and overdid this weekend. I hope y’all keep putting on shows like this past weekend, and keep putting smiles on people’s faces.

 

[sahab]

Hey Howie,

Set: The beginning of the set was hot. Came out strong and killing it. I didn't like the mirza in the saap segment. It broke the flow. I also think you could've been more creative with it. The mela didn't fit either, it seemed a little out of place. But the idea of the rickshaw was sick. Khundey beginning was hot. The change in the mix really emphasized the dongra in the x. The drop into khundey chaal was underwhelming. More could be done with the counts right before the drop. There is a lot of creative elements in the set, it just needs slight tweaking. Overall after watching the other teams, i can say this is definitely a placing set. One of my favorite AEG sets to date.

Dancing: There was a lot of high points in terms of execution. You guys did a much better job of lifting your legs, and you started off very strong with high level of josh and nakhra, but there was dip though in energy that effected how impactful the set could've been. Ending looked like some dancers were struggling to get through it and cleanliness started to dip. One thing to improve on is posture of your dancers. See a lot of hunching over.

From what you said, the future is bright. The dancers who were performing the first time look prime to make the leap if they improve some of the basics I talked about above. In terms of set design, it needs some tweaks, but it has very solid base of creative elements. Also, sell some moments a little bit more, like what i was talking about with khundey chaal. Improvements in dancing will sell the moments even more. I loved the seeing the moments of high energy and power during your bhangra segments. Looking forward to seeing more of this new group of AEG!

#LegsLifted #NeverRetire

 

[JesseMangat]

What's up Howie & AEG, this was a great performance and I think dancing wise y'all exceeded most people's expectation so nothing to get down about or ask where y'all went wrong, AEG improved a ton this year. This was a stacked lineup and every performance was so enjoyable to watch, each team brought their own style. Keshav and Sahab already nailed most of the points, energy + legs are there now just add more grace, modhe, and fix posture on the younger dancers. The prop segments and ending definitely were hot, but there were some parts of the set that I just didn't enjoy very much though. I thought the bhangra segment after saaps was a little boring and didn't really entertain me as much as some past AEG segments, even though choreo was a little more creative, overall it didn't leave an impact. The mela was cool but being in the midst of the set like that really interrupted the flow and there were like 16 counts of y'all not doing anything then a 8-16 count blackout afterwards which kind of left me confused as to what happened, so could have put this at the beginning or end, or even blended it into the set better like NJFL did when they spun their khunde. Lighting could have definitely helped the set hit harder too, there might have been some flaws there. In my opinion, the hard part for this new generation of AEG is over, clearly the work was put in to dance at a much higher level. I think you guys just need to hit the drawing board once more with the set to really sell your own unique OG AEG style and implement this new dancing. Trust your squad with a more difficult and impactful set and y'all will be golden, looking forward to seeing AEG compete very soon hopefully!

 

[bgala]

Watched it live. Great set and performance. Plenty of full enjoyment dancing. Opening was great, gimmick was fun, dancers were smiling and owning the set.

One thing: get rid of stage markers. Completely takes away from your crispness

 

[sdadoo15]

coming from one of the biggest critics of AEG over the past few years, this performance was amazing. I haven't seen AEG dance this hard and with this much passion in a longgg time, and especially with this squad being newer than others, it was extremely refreshing to see. i'm excited to see where this team goes in the future, as the newer guys keep improving on their set design and execution. unfortunate about the placing (I personally would have placed you guys), but it is what it is - you guys have the talent and creativity to be an even bigger force than you already are. S/O to the green jodi, I enjoyed watching you guys dance/interact on stage a lot!

couple quick thoughts:
- agree with the above, wasn't a fan of the saap mirza and thought it broke the flow. idea could hit harder either at the end of the saap segment or later in the set. but 40 seconds into your set, you guys were still building hype and the idea destroyed that
- babbu maan segment was probably my favorite in the set. not sure what it was but just a combination of the song, some nice variations, and a hype drop made it for me
- y'all gotta work on jhummar execution as a team. I could barely see anyone's knees lifting up. choreo was hot and had the potential to sell but the execution ruined it for me
- the way you started power jhummar was hype af

like I said earlier, I'm excited to see where AEG is headed with the new talent and drive you guys have. im sure you guys took this loss hard, but use that to fuel the fire even more for the spring. the potential to be the greatest is there.

 

[UmerQureshi96]

Saaps- Intro was really cool, dug the concept but I think you can push it a little further. Maybe add some kind of cascade or other kind of effect to it. Cut the mirja in the middle, broke the flow and momentum y'all had. Work on your dancers' posture especially on beitke, two peeps broke the line because they were hunced over and tryna keep their balance at 2:00. Also idk if the lighting was your fault but I couldn't see shit.

Phum: The bicep hit opening was cool, I think using a different formation than bunching up in the corner would work better. Or if you do start in the corner maybe occupy more of the stage when coming out of it to make it hit harder. Here it was really clear that y'all had a bunch of new dancers cuz y'all had a LOT of energy whichh is nice to see from y'all. But it was also really sloppy. Peeps getting too into each step but also getting really flaily with their arms.

Jhoomer: choreo was solid, but here execution was lackin hard. Posture, too many bobblin heads, very poppy motions, etc.

Khunde: execution of formations and steps was much much better here. Loved the triangles moving around especially when the movement was so clean allows the viewer to really appreciate the formation.

Rickshaw stuff: Clever clever lolol I dug ittttt. And then putting the props inside it was also smart. Although it def was kinda weird that they were just kinda sitting there for the rest of the seg hahah. Was not a fan of the mela, was obvious you put it in there for a break. I liked the sitting phum shit y'all did Burgh 10 cuz it was creative, but this was a lil to blatant.

End: End def punched hard, came out with great energy. With just that extra bit of refined execution would have pushed it over the edge for sure.

Overall: Loved the energy that y'all brought to the set. I could feel the josh and excitement from the dancers and it was awesome. Set was well made andt definitely had its moments to be remembered. I think all those moments just kinda lacked because of the all the new kids that just need some more polished execution. I know the struggle of getting a bunch of new people stage ready fast and I commend y'all on getting so many peeps up, takes balls to not just drop the comp. With some more time, you got a new core squad to last you the next few years. Can't wait to see what y'all bring.