Behavior at Competitions

[Jacquizz Rogers]

I leave the circuit for 8 months and it feels like shit has really hit the fan.

jagjeet singh: the hero bhangra deserves

 

[Shahrukh]

I leave the circuit for 8 months and it feels like shit has really hit the fan.

jagjeet singh: the hero bhangra deserves

but not the one it needs right now. So we'll hunt him, because he can take it. Because hes not our hero. Hes a silent guardian, a btf poster, a dark knight.


^sorry had to


But i have to say this discussion is great and i hope actions are taken from both fronts teams and organizers.

 

[Jashan.S]

.

 

[siddyp]

It's about time the circuit gets a lesson on class. The lack of class is why I left in the first place, and after reading this post, I don't feel bad about leaving the one thing I truly love. Bhangra.

you good sir, need to come hang with us at bhangra fever

 

[rajkaran]

It's about time the circuit gets a lesson on class. The lack of class is why I left in the first place, and after reading this post, I don't feel bad about leaving the one thing I truly love. Bhangra.

You took the words right out of my mouth! I was thinking about going back in next year, but after all the circuit it doesn't seem so appealing anymore. Although I want to stay positive for the future and for the younger generation (that never ceases to amaze me with their talent), I hate to admit that one day, if no serious action is taken, someone might pull out a weapon. God forbid this ever happens!

Dheerja, it goes without saying that what you're doing is AWESOME...and I'm genuinely happy to hear so much support from individuals here on this forum. However, in my opinion, I think you've/we've got to go the extra mile to have competitions implement these plans. Sure, a competition can say "Yup! We got you covered! You're safe with us!"...but who is to say that the appropriate action is being taken? Before we can ban teams, taunt individuals, and hate on the comp, the damage may already be done!

Although somewhat far-fetched, I think competitions should include, as part of their registration packets, a separate form that lists all the safety measures and precautions being taken. If a team is okay with those listed measures, they can go ahead and register (they know what they're getting into and what exactly to expect and how to prepare themselves further). Secondly, being such a tight-knit community, I'm sure one of the members of the competing teams can easily check-in with BTF the night of the mixer and say either, "Yes, competition organizers of XYZ have met their promised safety measures...here's the lineup for tomorrow evening", or, "No, XYZ competition organizers have failed to meet such and such safety measures they promised." We, as dancers and a community of people who are genuinely interested in sharing our culture on stage, deserve to know that we're safe. Isn't this supposed to be a minimum requirement anyways? The fun and prize money should be secondary goals.


Anyways, let me/us know if you need any help, Dheerja. I hope the young lady on your team recovers quickly so she can kick some ass......on stage

 

[Jagga515]

It's about time the circuit gets a lesson on class. The lack of class is why I left in the first place, and after reading this post, I don't feel bad about leaving the one thing I truly love. Bhangra.

you good sir, need to come hang with us at bhangra fever

I'll be MCing so I will see you there but let's not get sidetracked

 

[MotorCityBhangra]

Everyone we would really appreciate if you can take some time off of all this and please write reviews for our competition but apart from which team did what and who should have placed and the whole attitude problems. We as a committee worked really hard to make this show possible and to make sure all the teams had a great time throughtout the weekend and these are some things that no one can control. We can go back and forth regarding this issue and it will never come to a solid conclusions. Through this discussion one good thing that came out that when something like this happen our Bhangra Community comes together as a family against the people who don't deserve to be calling themselves dancers and that what matters the most!!

So we will really appreciate it if you guys can write some reviews as far as how the competition was overall because that will help us grow next year!!

 

[Basim]

Everyone we would really appreciate if you can take some time off of all this and please write reviews for our competition but apart from which team did what and who should have placed and the whole attitude problems. We as a committee worked really hard to make this show possible and to make sure all the teams had a great time throughtout the weekend and these are some things that no one can control. We can go back and forth regarding this issue and it will never come to a solid conclusions. Through this discussion one good thing that came out that when something like this happen our Bhangra Community comes together as a family against the people who don't deserve to be calling themselves dancers and that what matters the most!!

So we will really appreciate it if you guys can write some reviews as far as how the competition was overall because that will help us grow next year!!

No need to spam BTF! The topic of this thread goes beyond just your competition.

Please be more careful where you are copy-pasting information to.

~ Basim

 

[dheerja]

Hey guys apologize for the duplicate, but wanted to post here since this is a direct follow-up to my original post.


Sulman and I are hosting a new Bhangra Pulse episode tomorrow night streaming LIVE on YouTube! Details:


What: LIVE Bhangra Pulse episode, focusing on competition behavior, sportsmanship, and where the bhangra scene is headed
When: Saturday (tomorrow!) 1/26 at 9pm EST/6pm PST
Where: YouTube - link to the broadcast will be posted here, or you can go to our Bhangra Pulse channel http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCadMJBvAGTn7vykq_fQ40lw
How to Participate: Tweet us at @bhangrapulse or email us at bhangrapulse@gmail.com with any topics, questions, thoughts, or stories you want to share. We'll also be checking these live during the broadcast and answering questions as we go!




See you soon!


- Dheerja & Sulman

 

[HarmohitC]

I remember learning bhangra when I was little and then when team selections began my dad stopped by classes. When I asked him why I couldn't join the team he said he didn't want me joining the "janglee janta"... Guess he wasn't joking

 

[mandeep90]

I have been having thoughts about starting a committee from a while in which all the teams and competitions needs to be registered with the committee (federation). A team that has not been registered with the committee simply cannot compete at a competition. There will be rules and guidelines listed that a team will have to follow and the same goes for the competitions.


How this can help the competitions:
We often see having positive and negative feedback about the competitions simply because some competitions simply have a better approach to resolving issues like hotels, parties, after parties (e.g. boston bhangra). Being at different competitions all over North America, every team knows that they have learned some positive things from that competition (be it hospitality, free hotel rooms, security etc.). If we put all of those things into one package, it will be so easier for competitions to follow guidelines and raise the standards and professionalism of the competition.


Now, for the teams:
Also, there will be rules and guidelines for the teams. We have seen some teams that have a better discipline and never have any complaints. On the other side, there are teams which regularly give problems to the committee. None of the teams want to have bad name (especially the team leaders). If all the teams can come together, and talk about approaches they use in their team to help create guidelines for the team leaders to follow. It's usually the team leaders in every team that have to go through all the stress of registering into competition, making routines, handling transportation and there are individuals who just show up to practices and take bhangra as a get away from home to go visit different cities and party it up. It's these individuals who usually create problems as they haven't gone through any of the stress and are only in the bhangra scene to party. If they all know that if their team doesn't meet the expectations required to compete at competitions, they simply won't be accepted into any other competition after that or maybe a ban for a year or something. This will encourage teams to stick to the guidelines.


This is all just off the top of my head, I'm sure we can work together to come up with something legitimate that will help the whole bhangra scene. As easy as this looks like, it will take a lot of time to organize everything professionally to create standards for the bhangra community. And, I don't see any reasons for a team or competition to not register with the committee (federation).


Just my two cents, Apologies for any typos.

 

[yraparla]

I started on this project almost two years, but I didn't have the resources or network at the time to work it out. Faizan, Saleem and others might remember it. I called it the Bhangra Competition Collaborative. It was essentially a committee whose purpose was to provide a continuing means of communication and arbitration between teams, judges and competitions. After an event was completed, the idea is to have a means to continue to interact so that people can't disappear (i.e. competitions not paying money, judges not providing feedback, and teams continuing to act poorly without people realizing it). I haven't paid much attention to it recently but here's the Google doc I made at that time explaining some fo the ideas


https://docs.google.com/document/d/1b0uZ5HO6fDByUbzih4tAAL1dTq0XbIn4WtnROBZqu3c/edit?authkey=CKzh080J&authkey=CKzh080J


The point is that EVERYONE has an idea for a federation, or a committee. Where I got stuck was in wondering who runs it? Who's in charge? Even if you trust the initial people, how do you handle transfer of responsibility. It's not an easy solution when done ad hoc. It requires a lot of forethought and careful consideration. I think a 'federation' is the wrong way to go and will stifle the circuit's ability to evolve. What we need is support, and accountability (support so that quality is maintained and accountability so that order is maintained).


I think with a majority of the 05-09 dancers getting older and taking on more roles such as coaches, organizers, and judges, there will be more opportunity to get something going. I started bhangrajudging.com as the first phase of putting this together. I'm actually rewriting the site from scratch and hoping to unveil it pretty soon. People should focus on one small chunk of the problem and all the efforts will eventually collaborate, at least that's my opinion.

 

[faizan]

still remember it.


it's a huge undertaking, and requires a lot of time and energy. both of which I don't have right now.


If we could get about half a dozen dedicated individuals, it could get some traction.


I will try to incorporate a lot of thoughts and ideas from the past few days of threads into WBBC's approach and structure. All I can do from here.

 

[Rip]

Honestly, I have to respectfully agree. I know the intentions are great, but I really don't see an umbrella organization or collaborative effort being effective at all (unless I'm missing something). Post-competition communications are possible via BTF, thats what this is for. It's up to the committee/judging panel at the time of competition to work out whatever issues need to be resolved. If a competition doesn't pay up, blacklist the competition or (with less reparations) at least warn future applicants with an editable doc on BTF, which features competitions and their nuances. Judges don't provide feedback? Same idea, let those judges be known. The point isn't to harass these individuals, its to call them out if they are not being effective at what they are called on to do (again, calling people out plain and simple plays a role here...needs to be done). Same thing applies to teams, more heavily in my eyes. As I see it, making a suggested guideline for competition rules would be great. Making it a rule to abide by certain standards for all schools, organizations, and individuals throwing a competition, is not practical. Everyone won't agree on some rule or the other, and is it fair to not have that competition "registered with the committee" because of that? Will they be any less official? New startup comps may even be scared away from actually starting up!

Now the IDEA, that competition organizers should make rules to engage in communicative efforts to resolve these issues and actually penalize teams/individuals that don't abide by strict guidelines, is great. I fully agree that competitions should create these rules, advertise these rules, and then enact these rules. BTF is inherently the committee we need. These talks about changes are amazing, and I'm happy they are happening. Its now up to competition organizers and individuals to change and make efforts to improve.

Lastly, Swi sorry didn't mean to contradict all your points in a bad way, just good examples so I built off of them!

 

[Rip]

I will try to incorporate a lot of thoughts and ideas from the past few days of threads into WBBC's approach and structure. All I can do from here.

^ That's the attitude that will change the bhangra community for the better. We need more of that.

 

[yraparla]

Lastly, Swi sorry didn't mean to contradict all your points in a bad way, just good examples so I built off of them!

Np Rip, but i would advise you to re-read the document because I do think you're missing the point. It's purposefully NOT an umbrella organization and no one is required to participate...The whole point is think of it as a separate entity that is focused on deficiencies in the process (i.e. judge selection, new competition organization, and team behavior).

 

[Rip]

Yeah I definitely didn't take a look at it yet, was just giving my thoughts based on what you and the poster before you (I think) said

 

[RsKderpu]

This violence and misbehavior is a great way to set an example for the young future dancers who will eventually be replacing us (sarcasm). If this behavior continues, the bhangra world will eventually diminish because dancers/parents will see it as a violent hobby that only create problems. I think more strict rulings, guidelines, and punishments should be set when misbehavior occurs. All dancers and spectators need to grow up and be mature about a situation. Dheerja, I support what you are doing and give you a +1 for this because in my opinion, as bhangra competitions come and go; dancers are starting to become more and more immature (from what I have read and seen in the past).

 

[dheerja]

Sorry guys technical difficulties - we'll be live in a few with the link

 

[dheerja]

LIVE NOW! Sorry for the delays Bhangra Pulse - Competition Behavior