hardeep_singh
Well-Known Member
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- 1,464
There's been a lot of complaining going on about the state of bhangra these days, but no one has really provided anything constructive to the mix.
1. Stage Markers
Leave the stage markers in kindergarten where they belong. All teams need to learn how to dance on stage without relying on stage markers to hit formations correctly, it's a good skill to have, so learn it and implement it. It also looks kinda dumb when people are pacing off distances to set stage markers before a performance. What bothers me the most is when teams use stage markers to define a smaller dancing area, if you have a 12 person squad you shouldn't be setting a smaller dancing area than most other teams, it's like taking a short cut. It's an obvious method of making the set easier, since formations will take less movement to hit. Teams should be awarded for not using markers and points should be deducted if they dance in a significantly smaller area than the rest of the teams. Stage usage is also important, be as close to the audience as possible, it'll have more impact, it doesn't look as good if a team is dancing 5 feet away from the front of the stage. Own the stage if you want to make an impact on the audience.
2. Extra Dancers
All dancers who do bhangra on stage should be present through the whole set! The gimmick of bringing fresh dancers in from side stage/behind a banner/hidden under something is played out, it's like admitting that you can't finish strong by yourselves and need an extra boost to make the performance hit well. The only exception i see is if you decide to bring in non bhangra dancers as a gimmick, an example would be if you had manpreet and naina pop in and do a segment while everyone does bhangra (don't judge me everyone has a crush on em).
3. Weak Dancers
I've been the weakest dancer on a team and i know how it feels. Being smart enough to admit it is the only way you can get better. People need to not be sensitive and should know when to call someone out if they aren't keeping up; there's a proper way to do this, just talk to the person and point out the flaws, there's also a dickish way to do this, i had a cocky douchebag of a captain tell me to learn how to dance in front of the whole team during a practice once. Everyone knows weak dancers bring down the execution of a set, it's the responsibility of each dancer to know what level they're at and where they need to be, it's the responsibility of the captain(s) to be able to help dancers get better, it's also the responsibility of everyone on the team to help each other out. If a dancer isn't physically fit enough to perform a whole set without slacking, tell them, don't be sensitive about it, the goal is to perform a set you can be proud of, teams shouldn't be proud of sets where they have weak dancers slacking off.
4. Gimmicks
Keep gimmicks quick and well integrated. Use the minimal number of people required for a gimmick. Try to keep gimmicks as simple as possible so not a lot of beats are required for set up/execution. They just look a lot better if they're well integrated into the dancing or if most of the dancers are still dancing while the gimmick is performed. If gimmicks take too long they do mess up the flow of the set and end up looking awkward. I never wanna see another vehicle gimmick ever again, whether it's a truck, car, motorcycle, airplane, or tractor, unless someone decides to ride an actual bail gadda across the stage, in which case the comp is over and they automatically get first place. Also realize that everything is derivative, there is rarely going to be a gimmick that's completely different from everything that's been done before.
5. Dancing
Someone explained something to me when i first started dancing; i was told that they key to doing bhangra is to make it look effortless/relaxed while you're executing energetically. That is how live dancers do bhangra in punjab. They hit everything on point, while executing with high energy, yet their expression never conveys any effort, their motion is always smooth never strained. That is what every dancer should strive towards, bhangra isn't about murdering moves, or doing pataka as if you're being attacked by a swarm of killer bees. Every move has flow, watch live performances and learn how to do the moves correctly, the goal of doing bhangra should be to hit every movement on every beat, stop taking short cuts and not executing moves completely. This is related to dancing speed which is the next topic. People are always going on about nakhra this, grace that, i've never felt that the terms nakhra or grace applied to "proper" bhangra. I prefer the term "chaa" which means passion, or happiness in expressing passion; there are a variety of reasons why people do bhangra, but the main motivation for bhangra should be because it makes you happy and because you have a passion for it. When you dance you should express this chaa and not try to force fake nakhra; doing bhangra isn't about making funny faces when you're doing chaal, or trying to flirt when you're doing jhoomer, or making angry screamo faces when you're doing an ending segment.
6. Speed
Watch saap segment jandhu singha in a music set and in a live set. I absolutely hate how saap jandu singha is done in music sets these days, you can barely tell if people are tapping their feet, they're so caught up in doing it fast and seeing how hard they can clap their saaps. Speed compromises execution, fast moves executed incompletely look so much shittier than slower moves executed completely. But everyone these days thinks that speed=hype, which is wrong, executing moves completely and having impact is what creates hype. I'm not saying dance slow, I'm saying do segments at a proper speed at which all dancers are completing all moves. Proper speed also allows for better extension and better transition from move to move. That transition is key, it's what defines "flow" in a segment, if all the moves are executed in a way that the transitions look effortless/natural.
7. Flow
As stated above flow is defined as how smoothly each move transitions to the next move in a segment. The other type of flow is set flow, how well segments transition from one to another. I like to use live bhangra as a standard for this, except for transitions from prop segments in live sets there's a huge emphasis on minimizing the down time during transitions from one segment to the next, they try to keep the whole set flowing, which is probably easier when the dancing is controlled by a live dhol beat, but there's no reason why music sets shouldn't flow just as well.
8. Style
There are a number of different variations for every bhangra move, these variations, leg motions, arm motions, posture, stance, hand motions, rigidity, softness, are all factors in what we define as style. Every team is entitled to develop their own style, it shows the personality of a team, but no matter what style you have you should still try to do justice to bhangra (see sections 5, 6, and 7). If your style prohibits you from executing moves in a way that transitions don't look awkward, you might want to consider making changes to your style, it's a matter of understanding how you dance and how it'll look on stage.
9. Alcohol
Most people in the circuit drink, most people in the circuit enjoy drinking. Some people in the circuit don't drink and have no interest in ever doing so, the reasons might be personal or religious or they might just not find the thought of being tipsy or drunk very appealing. No matter what the situation don't bug people if they don't drink, don't try to convince them to try it, there's no place for peer pressure bull shit in the bhangra circuit, and don't try to justify alcohol consumption with cultural reasons.
10. Criticism
There's too much fanboy-ism these days, everyone sucks up to everyone else. The more popular you are the less likely you are to be criticized. Everyone's fake or too afraid to call people out or just trying too hard to be friends with everyone. Bhangra is a dance, it's not a tool to be used to develop your ego, if you get compliments, be humble, if you get hated on, don't worry about it because it's probably the product of insecurity. Be appreciative that you get a chance to dance on stage, some of us don't have that luxury. Don't be afraid to criticize people who do a disservice to punjabi culture in any way, whether it's someone disrespecting a pagg on stage or someone yelling out a jakara in a bus full of drunk people after an afterparty. Be smart with criticism, if you feel the need to criticize publicly on btf, realize that you will be called out for it and be prepared to defend yourself.
These are my opinions, there might be some value in them, or they might just be the clueless rantings of someone who doesn't really know anything about bhangra.
Addendum
11. Mixes
Be aware of what you're dancing to. I've learned a lot from listening to punjabi music, especially listening to folk songs and learning about old stories, but even non punjabi speakers should try to understand what is described in the songs they use for mixes. Just as a set should have proper "flow" so should a mix, there should be an effort put into matching themes of the songs you use in a mix, instead of being all over the place.
1. Stage Markers
Leave the stage markers in kindergarten where they belong. All teams need to learn how to dance on stage without relying on stage markers to hit formations correctly, it's a good skill to have, so learn it and implement it. It also looks kinda dumb when people are pacing off distances to set stage markers before a performance. What bothers me the most is when teams use stage markers to define a smaller dancing area, if you have a 12 person squad you shouldn't be setting a smaller dancing area than most other teams, it's like taking a short cut. It's an obvious method of making the set easier, since formations will take less movement to hit. Teams should be awarded for not using markers and points should be deducted if they dance in a significantly smaller area than the rest of the teams. Stage usage is also important, be as close to the audience as possible, it'll have more impact, it doesn't look as good if a team is dancing 5 feet away from the front of the stage. Own the stage if you want to make an impact on the audience.
2. Extra Dancers
All dancers who do bhangra on stage should be present through the whole set! The gimmick of bringing fresh dancers in from side stage/behind a banner/hidden under something is played out, it's like admitting that you can't finish strong by yourselves and need an extra boost to make the performance hit well. The only exception i see is if you decide to bring in non bhangra dancers as a gimmick, an example would be if you had manpreet and naina pop in and do a segment while everyone does bhangra (don't judge me everyone has a crush on em).
3. Weak Dancers
I've been the weakest dancer on a team and i know how it feels. Being smart enough to admit it is the only way you can get better. People need to not be sensitive and should know when to call someone out if they aren't keeping up; there's a proper way to do this, just talk to the person and point out the flaws, there's also a dickish way to do this, i had a cocky douchebag of a captain tell me to learn how to dance in front of the whole team during a practice once. Everyone knows weak dancers bring down the execution of a set, it's the responsibility of each dancer to know what level they're at and where they need to be, it's the responsibility of the captain(s) to be able to help dancers get better, it's also the responsibility of everyone on the team to help each other out. If a dancer isn't physically fit enough to perform a whole set without slacking, tell them, don't be sensitive about it, the goal is to perform a set you can be proud of, teams shouldn't be proud of sets where they have weak dancers slacking off.
4. Gimmicks
Keep gimmicks quick and well integrated. Use the minimal number of people required for a gimmick. Try to keep gimmicks as simple as possible so not a lot of beats are required for set up/execution. They just look a lot better if they're well integrated into the dancing or if most of the dancers are still dancing while the gimmick is performed. If gimmicks take too long they do mess up the flow of the set and end up looking awkward. I never wanna see another vehicle gimmick ever again, whether it's a truck, car, motorcycle, airplane, or tractor, unless someone decides to ride an actual bail gadda across the stage, in which case the comp is over and they automatically get first place. Also realize that everything is derivative, there is rarely going to be a gimmick that's completely different from everything that's been done before.
5. Dancing
Someone explained something to me when i first started dancing; i was told that they key to doing bhangra is to make it look effortless/relaxed while you're executing energetically. That is how live dancers do bhangra in punjab. They hit everything on point, while executing with high energy, yet their expression never conveys any effort, their motion is always smooth never strained. That is what every dancer should strive towards, bhangra isn't about murdering moves, or doing pataka as if you're being attacked by a swarm of killer bees. Every move has flow, watch live performances and learn how to do the moves correctly, the goal of doing bhangra should be to hit every movement on every beat, stop taking short cuts and not executing moves completely. This is related to dancing speed which is the next topic. People are always going on about nakhra this, grace that, i've never felt that the terms nakhra or grace applied to "proper" bhangra. I prefer the term "chaa" which means passion, or happiness in expressing passion; there are a variety of reasons why people do bhangra, but the main motivation for bhangra should be because it makes you happy and because you have a passion for it. When you dance you should express this chaa and not try to force fake nakhra; doing bhangra isn't about making funny faces when you're doing chaal, or trying to flirt when you're doing jhoomer, or making angry screamo faces when you're doing an ending segment.
6. Speed
Watch saap segment jandhu singha in a music set and in a live set. I absolutely hate how saap jandu singha is done in music sets these days, you can barely tell if people are tapping their feet, they're so caught up in doing it fast and seeing how hard they can clap their saaps. Speed compromises execution, fast moves executed incompletely look so much shittier than slower moves executed completely. But everyone these days thinks that speed=hype, which is wrong, executing moves completely and having impact is what creates hype. I'm not saying dance slow, I'm saying do segments at a proper speed at which all dancers are completing all moves. Proper speed also allows for better extension and better transition from move to move. That transition is key, it's what defines "flow" in a segment, if all the moves are executed in a way that the transitions look effortless/natural.
7. Flow
As stated above flow is defined as how smoothly each move transitions to the next move in a segment. The other type of flow is set flow, how well segments transition from one to another. I like to use live bhangra as a standard for this, except for transitions from prop segments in live sets there's a huge emphasis on minimizing the down time during transitions from one segment to the next, they try to keep the whole set flowing, which is probably easier when the dancing is controlled by a live dhol beat, but there's no reason why music sets shouldn't flow just as well.
8. Style
There are a number of different variations for every bhangra move, these variations, leg motions, arm motions, posture, stance, hand motions, rigidity, softness, are all factors in what we define as style. Every team is entitled to develop their own style, it shows the personality of a team, but no matter what style you have you should still try to do justice to bhangra (see sections 5, 6, and 7). If your style prohibits you from executing moves in a way that transitions don't look awkward, you might want to consider making changes to your style, it's a matter of understanding how you dance and how it'll look on stage.
9. Alcohol
Most people in the circuit drink, most people in the circuit enjoy drinking. Some people in the circuit don't drink and have no interest in ever doing so, the reasons might be personal or religious or they might just not find the thought of being tipsy or drunk very appealing. No matter what the situation don't bug people if they don't drink, don't try to convince them to try it, there's no place for peer pressure bull shit in the bhangra circuit, and don't try to justify alcohol consumption with cultural reasons.
10. Criticism
There's too much fanboy-ism these days, everyone sucks up to everyone else. The more popular you are the less likely you are to be criticized. Everyone's fake or too afraid to call people out or just trying too hard to be friends with everyone. Bhangra is a dance, it's not a tool to be used to develop your ego, if you get compliments, be humble, if you get hated on, don't worry about it because it's probably the product of insecurity. Be appreciative that you get a chance to dance on stage, some of us don't have that luxury. Don't be afraid to criticize people who do a disservice to punjabi culture in any way, whether it's someone disrespecting a pagg on stage or someone yelling out a jakara in a bus full of drunk people after an afterparty. Be smart with criticism, if you feel the need to criticize publicly on btf, realize that you will be called out for it and be prepared to defend yourself.
These are my opinions, there might be some value in them, or they might just be the clueless rantings of someone who doesn't really know anything about bhangra.
Addendum
11. Mixes
Be aware of what you're dancing to. I've learned a lot from listening to punjabi music, especially listening to folk songs and learning about old stories, but even non punjabi speakers should try to understand what is described in the songs they use for mixes. Just as a set should have proper "flow" so should a mix, there should be an effort put into matching themes of the songs you use in a mix, instead of being all over the place.