4 guys, 4 girls - Thoughts?

[Waleed]

You don't see it very often but I know it has been done before. What do you guys think about a 4-guy 4-girl team?

Even though the total number of performers is the same as an 8 guy team but the dynamics are different. BX Bhangra, Born 2 Bhangra are two teams (among a few others) who I feel have successfully pulled this off.

 

[smehta]

Going 4 guys and 4 girls can be a good and bad thing, just like it is for an 8 guy team. Just the fact that there are only eight people on stage means that there's going to be more room and more space for people in the audience to see people either mess up/look tired/lag/etc. or just kill it. It just gives more responsibility to dancers, but more room to express themselves. Where as larger teams that have lets say 6 boys and 6 girls or even 8 boys and 8 girls have less room and concentrate more on looking like one big unit and alike. Plainly depends on the team and dancers.

 

[sulmoney]

i think its not enough, at least for a coed team. i feel the minimum number a coed team should have are 5 and 5. coed teams have a different mindset, or just a preconception, and i feel by mimicking the move towards 8 as the magic traditional number, it lessens the impact or charm of a coed team.

 

[Saleem]

1 cup?

ps - generally i dont think its enough. only would do it if i couldnt find a decent 5th jori.

 

[Manjot]

i think it just keeps that traditional aspect in it by still having 8 dancers...so you can do the basic formations still.
B2B! =D

 

[faizan]

manjot's=my sentiments exactly.

i enjoy traditional formations, and flavor...

bxb was 10 in the beginning of the semester, but we decided to go 8...a lot of it was because traditional formations are usually easier to clean, and more appealing to judges/us...

but i agree, 10 for a co-ed is the ideal, but if u are traditional, 8 is not a hindrance at all.

 

[Jimmy]

I think u need 10 at least because 8 people might not be able to cover the whole stage, as they may look small.

Even a 8 man guys team looks small if the guys aren't big, like us lol

 

[Andrew]

I agree - With 4 and 4 it becomes extremely difficult to take up the stage and to keep audience attention for a 8 min routine or longer. Not only do formations have to be crisp, but dancers really have to have a sense of center stage with good form and energy. The only group I've recently watched that was able to overcome this was the B2B rehearsal Jason just posted, so much props to them.

Also, I think coed teams should have at least 5 and 5 guys and girls because of sheer difference in costumes. When a guy tilts his head or does a quick movement with his head, its easier to spot because of the paag and instantly draws your attention. Successful guy teams like Sher Foundation really knew how to use the paag to their advantage and it was really entertaining to watch. For this reason, I think you need more girls to balance out energy with grace and clean formations if you're doing coed.

http://www.gabroopunjabis.tv/bruin2006_sherfoundation.html

 

[Kanvar]

As stated above, I think that 4 and 4 can be done, but all the dancers need to be very solid individual as 8 man teams. I think that any co-ed team has that little extra help of being able to do things that all guy or all girls teams can't do with interaction so I don't think it would be a con if a team does decide to do 4 and 4. The only thing I would hope is that the team would be as traditional as an 8 man all guy team would be (or at least should be)

 

[Kaur]

I think 4 n 4 only works with guys teams, at the same time i dont think a guys team should try 10, its takes away from the formations (bhangra circles, chawnkris etc). If its a all guys then 8 and 12 works. If you're co-ed then the only way to pull it off is if you do a guys routine with a co-ed team, jsut like B2B does, I know we tried pulling it off at Showdown, and some thought it worked others didnt like it....

 

[mafzal]

So if you had to decide, which scenario would you choose?

1) Four amazing guys and four amazing girls

2) Five guys but 1 is obviously not as good as the others, five girls but 1 is not as good as the others



*No editing situation 2! Like you can't choose situation 2 but say oh I would work with the last person and make them better. Just choose as they aaare. It's hypothetical anyways, just tryna see what people think is more important

 

[Meistro]

i would go with option one. you want to try and avoid having weak dancers on stage as much as possible. sometimes that is inevitable, but 4 and 4 with crazy expressions, nakrey, formations, energy, grace.....im gung ho about that.

 

[Meistro]

I think having 2 weak dancers out of 10 might not effect the performance too much, that is, to a normal spectator. For me I like to analyze everyone when i watch so at times even those two dancers may down my appreciation for the routine. The whole team can be giving it 110% but if you notice those dancers, personally I cant appreciate it as much as I would if everyone was into it.........but regardless, this is bhangra. it all depends on whether you're a team who is strictly competitive. If thats the case then putting those 2 ppl in probably isnt the best idea. If you like performing for fun, then I think everyone at all skill levels should be able to perform a routine.

 

[mafzal]

After seeing this thread I went on YouTube on watched B2B. I was def impressed, at times I forgot that there were only 4 and 4 on stage. Also I think the color options they chose helped - like red guy/red guy, yellow girl/yellow girl. Basically looked and felt like a traditional 8-guy bhangra, but 4 happened to be short and wore chunnis, lol. The earlier posts on this thread also pointed that out, how it can be pulled off if you do that.

Props to B2B for showing us that 4/4 co-ed CAN be done! I'm really glad I watched them.

I really want to hear more opinions on this, though. What scenario would you guys pick?? [See my post above].

Personally, for competition routines I think it wastes a lot of time and energy trying to make the weaker members stronger, when the rest of the team could spend that time and energy bettering themselves, taking it up to the next level, making the routine more difficult, etc. Though in off-season or at any culture show/non-competitive performances I would want to add in as more people so they can learn and gain experience. Spread virsa.

I love virsa. It's my favorite word. Virsa, virsa, virsaa punjab daaa