Hey Guys

So after posting my last thread “Teams That Revolutionized Bhangra,” got a lot of replies with members posting their thoughts and opinions…as we can see the thread go off topic a little bit which made me bring up this discussion….

Do you feel bhangra is a dance or an art form? Most of the conflicts that I find on BTF argue two styles, but I personally think it depends on what your outlook …….and please this is NOT a modern vs. live discussion…..Is it a dance form which you want to promote, revolutionize, bring some ‘pizzaz’ to OR is it an art form which follows strict ‘guidelines’ and the technique and execution of it should be preserved….I think this may answer a lot of our questions....

So, is bhangra a type of dance or a form of art, your thoughts?
-Bhangra 4 Life

NO ITS not an art form.. stop tryna gay out bhangra.

i'm always done for some "pizzas" but i think PIZZAZ would be better

Umm...art is gay? Being gay is a bad thing? This thread is just stupidity.

Truth.

The question you are actually asking is: Modern or strict Traditional. You're just trying to disguise it with a seemingly different question that honestly barely makes sense. Dance is an art form. Don't add your own definitions to words.

Quote from: HarmanSingh on October 22, 2009, 03:05:41 PM

Umm...art is gay? Being gay is a bad thing? This thread is just stupidity.

being gay is a good thing?

Being gay is neither good nor bad. It just is.

To equate homosexuality with something "soft", "weak", "feminine" or "lame" is inflammatory and ignorant. What if I went around saying "that's Indian", using Indian as a synonym for stupid?

Homophobia isn't cool.

Bhangra's a form of dance, which in turn is an art form.

And the rest of this discussion is super offensive.

Bharatnatyam and Kathak have been classified as art forms which reflect Indian culture. Now if this is the case, I believe Bhangra should definitely be classified as an art form....relax I have reasoning.

Bharatnatyam and Kathak are very clean cut, in the sense that there is not much room for tweaking. It is what it is. Their specific moves are precise and not changeable. Only tweaks you can make is the order of the moves and such in performances.

Art is expressive and helps bring out uniqueness within the performer(s) or creator/authors. So now wouldn't Bhangra definitely fall under this? With Bhangra, we can change moves, tweak them, add our OWN style to it. Traditional or Modern, everyone tweaks moves slightly or alot whether they believe it or not. Reasons for this range from adding "PIZZAZ" to simply looking better or being more comfortable with doing a move a certain way.

Even if this IS a Traditional vs. Modern question... If you're speaking of truly traditional, then it would fall in the same category Bharatnatyam and Kathak do. It's still reflecting culture isn't it? If you're speaking of modern, then it would fall in art as well, because the definition of modern bhangra is simply bhangra which is changed around and tweaked for a variety of reasons such as to possibly look more appealing and/or dancing to music rather than a live band (dhol, chimta, singer)

Bhangra is an art form nontheless. It has nothing to do with making it gay. Not trying to attack anyone, but if you're honestly gonna say things like "Its not an Art form....stop trying to gay it out," you're simply making yourself sound incredibly ignorant. Keep that kind of attitude to yourself, it's for your own good :-/

Armaan why can't there be tweaking in Bharatnatyam and Kathak? Why is that in Bhangra we can change moves? Who set the rules for Kathak and Bharatnatyam that it cannot be tweaked? Afterall aren't Bharatnatyam, Kathak and also Bhangra all Dances of India which reflect India's culture from its respective regions? If you agree with me that Bhangra is also a dance of India that reflects its culture, then how does the so called "Modern Bhangra" reflect our culture? Someone please educate me on this.

If you're really going to say that bhangra reflects Indian culture, then go check out India and how it was when our parents were there and how it is now. It has evolved and will continue to do so. "Modern bhangra" as people are putting it is a deviation from a traditional bhangra set with traditional bhangra elements. That doesn't mean modern bhangra's roots aren't from OG bhangra. Its an evolution, just like India's cultures and traditions evolve through time.