Bay Area's Bhangra and Giddha Competition; Line Up Release!!

[BABG]

Dear Folk Lovers,
The long anticipation for the lineup release has finally come to an end.
Bay Area’s Bhangra and Giddha Presents:
Bhangra
1. Dub City Bhangra - Seattle, WA
2. Johr Jawani Da – Sacramento, CA
3. Nachde Shokeen Gabroo – Bay Area, CA
4. Surrey Folk Bhangra Club – Surrey, BC
5. Surrey India Arts Club – Surrey, BC
Giddha
1. Dhiyan Punjab Diyan – Washington, DC
2. Giddhe Diyan Shaunkana – Sacramento, CA
3. Majajana – Rocklin, CA
4. Marhak Punjaban Di – Bay Area, CA
5. UC Davis Giddha- Davis, CA
BABG is committed to a standard of performance and we thrive to bring the best out of all the performances. We have taken a pledge to provide a platform that will allow teams to perform to their highest potential. Creativity is promoted and should be on full display.
We want to congratulate all the teams and wish them great luck on their preparations for the competition!!
Judges name/credentials and judging rubrics will be available on June 15th, 2016. Info will be available on our website, social media and BTF.
Exhibitions and special performance will be announced soon. Thank you!!
Bruaaaahh!
BABG Committee
info@giddhabhangra.com
www.giddhabhangra.com

 

[mafzal]

Nice! I'll definitely be watching this show. Are any of the bhangra teams co-ed or all-girls? Was really hoping to see some female presence in the bhangra category

 

[Kaur]

Girls presence would have been great, but I guess judging girls in the same category as guys when it comes to live Bhangra is still something which hasn't been worked on and comps are afraid that teams might not be happy at the end

 

[mafzal]

Were girls not allowed or something??

 

[Kaur]

Was Royal accepted? I know they applied correct?

 

[GreenKnight17]

@HK royal applied but didnt get in either didnt get a reason or any communication back

 

[a.dhillon]

It seemed like recently in the past few years females have been getting more involved in competing in live categories of bhangra competitions, but it doesn't look like there are any in the lineup of this comp? I really hope females will be encouraged to compete as well.

 

[Kaur]

PANJ Girls applied as well and were rejected.

 

[mafzal]

Girls presence would have been great, but I guess judging girls in the same category as guys when it comes to live Bhangra is still something which hasn't been worked on and comps are afraid that teams might not be happy at the end

I don't think that's true. Ive done 3 live comps, 1 coed and 2 all girls, and none of those comps had any hesitation or second thought about the fact that we were girls. TAG did MCB against all guys and won. Anyone who is "afraid" about having girls and guys in the same category shouldn't be hosting a competition in 2016. Hope this isn't the case here!

Comps with girls in the live category:
DDA
MCB
Nachda
Warrior
BSM
GHG
Giant
RPD
Basically all of them lol. And in order for more girls to develop as live dancers I really hope some more opportunities come. Live itself is dying out. Girls have a lot to contribute and should be encouraged to participate. Props to you guys Royal and PANJ for atleast applying... That's disappointing. I sure hope another opportunity comes soon!

 

[hardeep_singh]

would an all male malwai giddha team be judged fairly in a giddha competition? both malwai giddha and traditional giddha are equally legitimate dance forms so would they be judged under the same standards despite their differences?

general statements of fact: girls are capable of dancing better than guys, they're capable of wearing chadre and making it look good, they're capable of dancing live bhangra, there's nothing wrong or improper about girls slapping their patts or even wearing paggs. but if a competition decides that they want to highlight traditional gender roles by limiting live bhangra category to all male teams and limiting giddha category to all female teams, then they have every right to do so.

in this kalyugi bhangra era, where you have teams dancing to songs about sikh fighters seeking retribution for blue star, teams mixing dharmik songs with chamkila songs, teams not having any clue whatsoever about what they're dancing to, teams who have no understanding of punjabi culture beyond bhangra music videos, the topic of girls dancing live has definitely not received the attention it deserves. the only problem i see with female live performances is the fact that a proper live performance is dependent on gender specific boliyan. i don't find the concept of girls dancing live to male-centric boliyan at all appealing, which is why i have no problem with the TAG @ motor city set, the set was well made and performed to either female-centric or gender neutral boliyan. if competitions are going to allow female and male live teams to compete in the same category, the judges need to be qualified to judge such a competition properly and would be fully justified in docking points for girls dancing to male-centric boliyan. a performance is nothing without proper music and lyrics.

 

[SherPunjabi408]

in this kalyugi bhangra era, where you have teams dancing to songs about sikh fighters seeking retribution for blue star, teams mixing dharmik songs with chamkila songs, teams not having any clue whatsoever about what they're dancing to, teams who have no understanding of punjabi culture beyond bhangra music videos,

Soo accurate lmfao

 

[iJatt]

in this kalyugi bhangra era, where you have teams dancing to songs about sikh fighters seeking retribution for blue star, teams mixing dharmik songs with chamkila songs, teams not having any clue whatsoever about what they're dancing to, teams who have no understanding of punjabi culture beyond bhangra music videos,

Soo accurate lmfao

+1 Hardeep back again with the fire

 

[GurpSian]

[SIZE=small]Hello BTF![/SIZE]

[SIZE=small]This is my first post on the site and I’m sad that it is a result of the never-ending “girls doing Bhangra” topic. I don’t dance competitively anymore, but from 2000-2010 I danced first with V.I.B.E. (Vancouver International Bhangra Explosion) and then with United Bhangra. These days I spend my time running South Asian Arts Society, where our focus is more on dance & music education and theatre production.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=small]I remember in the early 2000’s, all-girls teams were regularly discriminated against, simply because of their gender. Just when I thought the Bhangra community had moved past this silly debate, it has reared it’s ugly head once again.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=small]SAA & PANJ have a tight affiliation. PANJ is the official competitive Bhangra team at SAA. Many of our younger students gradually advance to the competitive level and dance on PANJ. As I’m sure many of you know, PANJ is managed and coached by Harkiran. She and I regularly discuss the team and the overall direction we would like to go in. Our most recent idea was to prepare the girls for a competitive live set and we had set our focus on applying to (and hopefully competing in) Bay Area’s Bhangra & Giddha Competition. That idea came to a halt last week when we were informed that PANJ had not been accepted.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=small]I just want to make clear, my post is not a reaction to rejection. We’re all adults and are perfectly capable of handling rejection. But I have a major issue with the process when you’re given a reason to the effect of (and I’m paraphrasing) “We don’t know how to judge a girls team against a boys team for live Bhangra. If a girls team wins, the guys teams will complain. If a guys team wins, the girls teams will say they were discriminated against. So we’re just not going to accept you.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=small]I’ve judged Bhangra competitions. If judges are able to adjudicate a mixture of male and female dancers for music sets, how does it make any sense at all that they can’t do the same for live? In fact, live teams and music teams are often judged against each other. Why does gender need to be brought into the mix? It’s ironic, given that one of the charities that BABG is supporting is a charity that supports women (Sat-Kartar Trust). Yet they can’t figure out how to judge girls doing live Bhangra??? Last I checked, it’s 2016, not 1916!!![/SIZE]

[SIZE=small]And so Mariam, to answer your question: Yes, girls were not allowed...simply because they are girls! It’s ridiculous and I look forward to hearing a response from the organizers. And I would like to remind the organizers, that no response is also a response, so please choose wisely![/SIZE]

 

[Hardeepsinghsahota]

@HK royal applied but didnt get in either didnt get a reason or any communication back

Harkiran,
Sheru applied for 2 teams Royal Folk Nation Boys and SFBC Boys and we know its hard for him to play with 2 teams at same time and manage times. so We decided to have SFBC going there. We never applied for Girls live team!
Thank you

 

[Kaur]

@HK royal applied but didnt get in either didnt get a reason or any communication back

Harkiran,
Sheru applied for 2 teams Royal Folk Nation Boys and SFBC Boys and we know its hard for him to play with 2 teams at same time and manage times. so We decided to have SFBC going there. We never applied for Girls live team!
Thank you

Bhaji we are talking about Royal Bhangra the girls team from California.

 

[BABG]

Dear Friends,

We would like to comment on the mixed sentiments about BABG’s view on gender. We as an organization believe in equal rights. And it is our focus as a competition to bring judges that can offer a non-bias approach. Its BABG’s vision to be true to the audience, the teams and ourselves.
All team selections were made irrespective of gender. BABG selected teams that would be most fit for this year’s competition. We believe in the evolution of bhangra and understand that it is performed both by men and woman alike. Freedom of expression, creativity, enthusiasm and passion are the pillars we stand upon.

One of the main charities we support is called “Sat Kartar Trust”, which is an organization that helps widows survive in rural parts of Punjab. And we will be the first competition to have a female judge in the Live Bhangra category. Also we took an initiative to provide a platform for Giddha which is a dance performed primarily by females. We have more female members than male members on Norcal Punjabi Youth Foundation, which is our sponsoring entity.

We have no comments for the paraphrasing because that is not our philosophy. Please don’t consider our response as an act of retaliation. BABG intends to spread love by connecting communities through culture locally and globally.
Please feel free to email us at info@giddhabhangra.com with any questions or comments.

We wish you all a blessed day!

BABG Committee
info@giddhabhangra.com

 

[kman58]

If the BABG committee truly believes that their Live lineup was selected purely based on skill of audition video, then it may just be that the chosen teams had stronger videos than the all female teams that applied. Doesn't seem super likely, but it may be the truth, and if so then BABG may have made the most fair decision.
However if this not the case, and for whatever reason the girls never had a chance for Live (whether it be a judging issue, or that the committee simply thought that since they already have so many girls competing in Giddha they don't need additional all girls Live teams competing), BABG should at the very least refund the application fee these all girls live teams paid, in the spirit of fairness that they never had a reasonable shot at getting in anyways.

 

[Jazzy209]

I'm a little confused as to why certain teams such as Royal Bhangra Girls and Panj girls weren't selected over some of the teams you guys did select. No offense to any of the teams but a few of them have not placed that much or at all compared to those two. Dub City has not had a win yet, in fact they lost to Royal at West Coast Bhangra comp. and to Panj at Elite Bhangra, Sfbc has not performed in a while and made a come back at Elite but were beaten by Panj. If the selection was based on past victories or how good these teams are I don't see why Royal and Panj didn't make it, if it was based on videos then it still doesn't really make sense. Royal has done live before at Bruin 2015 and put on a great show, feel like they woulda given the male competition a run for their money, Panj has won five out of their last six competitions, I feel these teams would have made the competition tougher and more fun to watch.
Again, no disrespect to any of the teams, all love, just wondering how the selection was made.

 

[BrownKanye]

I spoke to a few people on a team in this lineup, They NEVER sent in any aspect of the registration. So my question to the committee is, how is that fair to the teams that applied to your comp? How can you guys say you selected the line up fairly,when clearly one team never applied? A verbal registration is not considered registration. Either the team members are lying about never applying or the comp is just being shady towards female teams.


Also you guys are not the first comp to have a female judge in the live category. There was a female judge in the live category at Legacy of bhangra back in December.

 

[iJatt]

Dear Friends,

We would like to comment on the mixed sentiments about BABG’s view on gender. We as an organization believe in equal rights. And it is our focus as a competition to bring judges that can offer a non-bias approach. Its BABG’s vision to be true to the audience, the teams and ourselves.
All team selections were made irrespective of gender. BABG selected teams that would be most fit for this year’s competition. We believe in the evolution of bhangra and understand that it is performed both by men and woman alike. Freedom of expression, creativity, enthusiasm and passion are the pillars we stand upon.

One of the main charities we support is called “Sat Kartar Trust”, which is an organization that helps widows survive in rural parts of Punjab. And we will be the first competition to have a female judge in the Live Bhangra category. Also we took an initiative to provide a platform for Giddha which is a dance performed primarily by females. We have more female members than male members on Norcal Punjabi Youth Foundation, which is our sponsoring entity.

We have no comments for the paraphrasing because that is not our philosophy. Please don’t consider our response as an act of retaliation. BABG intends to spread love by connecting communities through culture locally and globally.
Please feel free to email us at info@giddhabhangra.com with any questions or comments.

We wish you all a blessed day!

BABG Committee
info@giddhabhangra.com

It's hilarious that people think you are doing injustice to women when you clearly have a whole fucking gidha competition lmao.

Thank you