AEG @ Bhangra in the Burgh (3rd Place)

[Howie Magz]

Hey BTF,

Here is our 3rd place performance last night from Bhangra in the Burgh 2017. It was an amazing experience to compete in such a well rounded and diverse lineup. Huge shoutout to the placing teams (NSG & FCB) and all the competing teams!

This performance was a very special one for Anakh E Gabroo as we celebrated our 10 year anniversary. In our last 20 competitions, we have yielded 17 placings and its all thanks to the circuit for constantly pushing us to do better.

Shout out to Sargam and Harjot for the amazing mix (link is posted below). Huge shout to our seniors Guneet Cheema and Vishal Dholakia for coming back to dance this one and helping make it a memorable set. Thanks to Ankush Vermani for always pushing us to do better and being an amazing Coach to myself and the boys (designed the bomb ass vardiyan!) The Burgh committee was phenomenal as always.

We really hope you enjoy this performance as much as we did performing it. Everyone please watch the video and leave some constructive feedback! We hope to see you all soon, after a short little break

Blue: Howie Magaro and Guneet Cheema
Red: Vishal Dholakia and Akshay Minocha
White: Kartik Madaan and Vikram Arora
Purple: Sukhi Bring and James Shen
Yellow: Arminder Singh and Gurinder Singh
Ferozi: Rohit Batra and Chetan Sridhar
Orange: Ravinder Buttar and Atinder Singh
Green: Janil Jayan and Gagan Mittal
Dholi: Harsh Tevar

 

[amancheema]

I danced for AEG a few times in college... the problems that existed in 2011 still exist today... the focus needs to shift from showing off some supplemental aesthetic element of a set to teaching your dancers fundamentals of bhangra... you could beat these teams you lose to simply by accepting the fact that bhangra is not an assembly line... stop building robots, build dancers

 

[JesseMangat]

Feels weird leaving a review for our former captain Howie at MBT! #ChineseBoleNa Overall I was pleasantly surprised by the performance and enjoyed it a lot! I also saw the video from the Tashan performance a few weeks ago and to see 6 out of 9 segments completely scrapped for new ones and still be crisp was damn impressive. In terms of formations, I think those could have been much more complex to complement the choreo further because lines were heavily used over and over again which are much easier to keep clean than other formations. Loved the vardiyan, song selection, red saaps, red guy's nakhra and swag, and jhummar a lot! Also agree with amancheema above, in the sense if dancers were taught to dance with a lower base, more modhe, more energy, powerful extensions, and higher legs you guys would be able to beat out even more teams. Though it definitely is not easy to be as clean and crisp as AEG always is, which is instrumental in the number of placings and success these guys have had, so huge respect there for level of standardization the team has. Good luck to AEG in the future, can't wait to see the boys back in action!

 

[sahab]

Negative:

1. Repetitive af formations (khundey and saaps started the same way). 2 lines formations were done countless times.
2. The performance looks lazy. Low legs. There are just times that some josh needs to be put into bhangra, and I don't see any of those moments.
3. Set was cookie cutter. Not a single risk was taken nor was anything new. You gotta push it with choreo a little. Trust in your dancers more. They are more capable than you think.

Positive:

1. Jhoomer. It was the only time the team looked like they were enjoying the stage. The choreo was good too.
2. Red saaps looked sick
3. Dholi was good.
4. Danced as a team, and you were clean.
5. Ravi @ 1:25 ripped it. Everyone on your team should dance like that.
6. It was sick the amount the set changed between tashan and burgh.

Overall, the performance looks like you were there to try to get a trophy and not do Bhangra. Dancers should be trained to do Bhangra, not walk formations and do arm motions. I watched this live and felt the same way. However, the performance did give a slightly better impression watching it live. Don't quit or take a break. Push yourselves even further.

 

[scaplash]

@sahab & @JesseMangat took the words out right of my mouth. Set was very clean, mad props on that Spacing looked a bit tight on stage and formations didn't hit, it seems like given the quick time frame between Tashan and Burgh, you guys might have had to keep formations simpler for the sake of cleanliness. I imagine with more time you guys will put together more complex formations/choreo-so no need for an additional comment on that. I personally didn't like the vardi as much-it seemed to mask and diminish the colors- but I'm also looking at them with a side angle video and not live, so not sure how it looked during the actual performance.
I saw some choreo variation in ending song, but the variation wasn't to a level that I felt hit.
I think what stood out the most was the dichotomy between more experienced and less experienced dancers. Not even from an execution stand point, just simply on the level of stage presence and stage comfort you could see easily who the more veteran dancers were. Getting everyone to start actively showing how much they enjoy stage and building their stage presence (which I do not think mean going buck wild to the point where you lose standardization with your team when in the front, but simply adding a personal touch with expression/nachra).
Can't wait to see what you guys bring next

 

[desi99]

2:13 slowed down was fire, and the Black chadreh are dope
having 16 dancers seemed like a disadvantage imo, and limited the teams ability to hit formations, and
execution was decent but could have definitely been better if you maybe removed 2 of the weakest dancers.
other than that, energy, choreo , were all good, Mix was really good too..
Ive always been a fan of AEG and seen the team perform for over a decade now, and also many times in Toronto, back in the days..
No lie, they have been breaking barriers before 80% of today's bhangra circuit even existed, and always managed to keep their Originality consistent for so many years.

Edit: the stage is too small for a 16 mans to execute properly

 

[Basim]

Tell @sargam627 to get back on BTF.

~ Basim

 

[VD]

Negative:

1. Repetitive af formations (khundey and saaps started the same way). 2 lines formations were done countless times.
2. The performance looks lazy. Low legs. There are just times that some josh needs to be put into bhangra, and I don't see any of those moments.
3. Set was cookie cutter. Not a single risk was taken nor was anything new. You gotta push it with choreo a little. Trust in your dancers more. They are more capable than you think.

Positive:

1. Jhoomer. It was the only time the team looked like they were enjoying the stage. The choreo was good too.
2. Red saaps looked sick
3. Dholi was good.
4. Danced as a team, and you were clean.
5. Ravi @ 1:25 ripped it. Everyone on your team should dance like that.
6. It was sick the amount the set changed between tashan and burgh.

Overall, the performance looks like you were there to try to get a trophy and not do Bhangra. Dancers should be trained to do Bhangra, not walk formations and do arm motions. I watched this live and felt the same way. However, the performance did give a slightly better impression watching it live. Don't quit or take a break. Push yourselves even further.

If we wanted to make a set where we were trying to get a trophy and not do Bhangra, we would have made a set like the ones you claimed as "Category 3" in the other post. Those sets are made to just try and get a trophy. Putting khunda segment randomly towards the end of the set, having all these filler segments, putting in hip hop moves and effects in the mix to "enhance" the choreography, and gimmicks here and there.

 

[VickG]

I mean...doesn't every team at the end of the day go to a competition to get a trophy? Don't really see the problem with bringing a set that caters to the competition's rubric/style.

Of course, there were some pros and cons about the set, and the critiques here are warranted. Footwork and overall form needs to be worked on throughout the roster, which will help with execution. Formations, well, everyone above pretty much covered it. My personal favorite segment choreo wise was jhummar, it was smoooooooooooth, but modeh could have been way better. If you guys are trying to go easy on your feet and legs during jhummar, which seemed like that was the case here, then you have to make up for it with your upper body and sell it through your smile, nakhra, and modeh. Overall, it was a pretty solid set. Good shit.

 

[sahab]

If we wanted to make a set where we were trying to get a trophy and not do Bhangra, we would have made a set like the ones you claimed as "Category 3" in the other post. Those sets are made to just try and get a trophy. Putting khunda segment randomly towards the end of the set, having all these filler segments, putting in hip hop moves and effects in the mix to "enhance" the choreography, and gimmicks here and there.

VD, I respect what you said. Everyone has their own preferences. As an audience member, it is the impression I received.

@VickG you right.

 

[sargam627]

Tell @sargam627 to get back on BTF.

~ Basim

Daddy is always watching...

 

[mithu]

Overall: Boring.
Seems like AEG has turned into a "newly formed" Uni team.
Before the captain changes, when AEG didn't place, it was fun to watch.

First major mistake: Having Sargam make the mix.
Get Karan Dhillon to make you mixes. I've pointed this out multiple times. Karan may not have the technical skills, he has creativity. Sargarm has neither.

 

[baljot]

Sick set. Folkest I've ever seen AEG dance and I️ really enjoyed it.

Polish up the set and I️ think you boys can take first anywhere. Vardiyan are absolute crack!!

 

[sargam627]

Overall: Boring.
Seems like AEG has turned into a "newly formed" Uni team.
Before the captain changes, when AEG didn't place, it was fun to watch.

First major mistake: Having Sargam make the mix.
Get Karan Dhillon to make you mixes. I've pointed this out multiple times. Karan may not have the technical skills, he has creativity. Sargarm has neither.

Thanks, mithu! Maybe one day I'll be qualified enough to take advice from a guy who has 245 SoundCloud followers

 

[Saab]

Hey BTF,

Here is our 3rd place performance last night from Bhangra in the Burgh 2017. It was an amazing experience to compete in such a well rounded and diverse lineup. Huge shoutout to the placing teams (NSG & FCB) and all the competing teams!

This performance was a very special one for Anakh E Gabroo as we celebrated our 10 year anniversary. In our last 20 competitions, we have yielded 17 placings and its all thanks to the circuit for constantly pushing us to do better.

Shout out to Sargam and Harjot for the amazing mix (will be posted soon!). Huge shout to our seniors Guneet Cheema and Vishal Dholakia for coming back to dance this one and helping make it a memorable set. Thanks to Ankush Vermani for always pushing us to do better and being an amazing Coach to myself and the boys (designed the bomb ass vardiyan!) The Burgh committee was phenomenal as always.

We really hope you enjoy this performance as much as we did performing it. Everyone please watch the video and leave some constructive feedback! We hope to see you all soon, after a short little break

Blue: Howie Magaro and Guneet Cheema
Red: Vishal Dholakia and Akshay Minocha
White: Kartik Madaan and Vikram Arora
Purple: Sukhi Bring and James Shen
Yellow: Arminder Singh and Gurinder Singh
Ferozi: Rohit Batra and Chetan Sridhar
Orange: Ravinder Buttar and Atinder Singh
Green: Janil Jayan and Gagan Mittal
Dholi: Harsh Tevar

Just a few points- don't want to rehash what's been said:

1) vardiyaan look great, but it's so much easier to see mistakes, angles off, lack of range in saaps, etc when you wear colored vardiyaan like that. Just a comment (I think they look great), but I easily noticed lack of extension of saaps on some Jodi's, whenever spins/arms were off, etc through the set

2) Spacing on the stage was poor - it felt cramped watching you perform live for both saaps/khunde. Set really was good during jhoomer, honestly was a blast watching that part of the set.

3) I know comments were made in another thread about AEGs status in bhangra, but I just want to contrast last year's burgh performance and this year's (I think it's just worth doing at this point). I personally thought the belt idea + the way the set was built and spaced showed innovative set design and dancing without sacrificing dancing execution. If you take out the belt/gimmicky concept, I still think the set lacked the flow and spacing to highlight dancers and individual dancing ability like last years set. With the tightness on stage, it just seemed like you were dancing at 60-70% of your capability - so I'd work on how to better incorporate and hash out movement with 6 dancers and better incorporate set moments to highlight dancers talent. There were few times in the set where I felt you highlighted dancing quality and ability at a high level (jhoomer was a notable exception) in really memorable or impactful ways (and I would say this is why nsg won)

Best of luck in the future - always great to see AEG competing!

 

[mithu]

Thanks, mithu! Maybe one day I'll be qualified enough to take advice from a guy who has 245 SoundCloud followers

View attachment 16914

Nice to know that I hurt your ego so much that you had to actually look at my SC followers.

 

[BhangraSUCKS]

Thanks, mithu! Maybe one day I'll be qualified enough to take advice from a guy who has 245 SoundCloud followers

View attachment 16914

Sargam, do you have a business card? Can you make a personal gym mix for me? Can I try out for AEG?

 

[hardeep_singh]

Sargam, do you have a business card? Can you make a personal gym mix for me? Can I try out for AEG?

do you even lift?

 

[hardeep_singh]

Nice to know that I hurt your ego so much that you had to actually look at my SC followers.

....the soundcloud link is right there!!!!!!!

Nice to know that I hurt your ego so much that you had to actually look at my SC followers.

you obviously don't even lift.

 

[BhangraSUCKS]

do you even lift?

No but I'm trying to get into it.