Bhangra Empire @ Bruin Bhangra 2013 (GTV)

[siddyp]

Bhangra Empire @ Bruin Bhangra 2013

 

[Saab]

I am really impressed with this performance. New set of gimmicks, ideas, and a lot more variety in the dancing. All the ideas hit for me, and this is probably the first empire performance in the past few years I've watched all the way through.


This was awesome and fun to watch.

 

[Sawhill69]

I'm so surprised this performance didn't even PLACE at a competition such as Bruin, such an entertaining performance, it was so clean too. Also is it just me or did it seem like this performance besides the gimmicks and all that seemed to have more "bhangra" in it, or like not as modernized than previous Empire performances?

 

[siddyp]

I <3 Empire. gimmicks were SICK.

i agree that this was a performance where empires dancing/choreo was been a bit different, and more fun to watch.. but not as fun as the placing teams... when it comes to impact of the dancing, the choreography, speed, and difficulty, it needed to be turned up one or two more notches to compete with the placing teams.

the placing teams brought gimmicks that hit hard as well... but their dancing hit harder than empires. This also has nothing to do with being co-ed vs all guys. co-ed routines can beat the all male teams. we've seen it time and time again...

 

[ragsonrags]

The saap gimmick at the beginning was sick and that guy rolling was just ridiculously good! Great job with the gimmicks overall! I was really surprised when I saw classical dancing, didn't really know how to feel about that being a part of a bhangra routine. There was too much stopping and starting back up, it killed the flow. Also there were more than a handful of times when just the guys were doing something and the girls stood there or the other way around. Not a big fan of the transition where Kharku comes on for 20 beats and is simply just used to put the khundes away and get back on stage. Regardless, I really enjoyed the performance! Good job empire!

 

[amancheema]

I am glad this performance did not place and did not amplify the wrong message.

There is no bhangra in this whole video. Trust me, I understand and completely agree with the whole notion of "there is no such thing as folk" or "there is no such thing as 'real' bhangra" but this performance was nothing more than a composition of Russian military stomps, stiff-arms, and circus stunts one after another.


Best Regards,
Aman Cheema

 

[yomamajama]

I am glad this performance did not place and did not amplify the wrong message.

There is no bhangra in this whole video. Trust me, I understand and completely agree with the whole notion of "there is no such thing as folk" or "there is no such thing as 'real' bhangra" but this performance was nothing more than a composition of Russian military stomps, stiff-arms, and circus stunts one after another.


Best Regards,
Aman Cheema

+1

 

[Kaur]

Very impressed! No one entertains the audience like you guys do. I would have expected this performance to place. Good job that was sick!

Above all I appreciate that you guys come up with your own creative ideas/ gimmicks and don't rip off/modify stuff that has already been done by other teams.

I guess 20 trophies later its time to give others a chance lol. Keep it up

 

[voxanimus]

I am glad this performance did not place and did not amplify the wrong message.

There is no bhangra in this whole video. Trust me, I understand and completely agree with the whole notion of "there is no such thing as folk" or "there is no such thing as 'real' bhangra" but this performance was nothing more than a composition of Russian military stomps, stiff-arms, and circus stunts one after another.


Best Regards,
Aman Cheema

+1 it's time empire drops the choreo they've been running since the stone age

 

[venividivici]

Definitely worthy of first or second place. Regardless of what others say I can clearly see the bhangra in the routine.

 

[jfried]

Compared to previous Empire performances, I definitely see stronger dancing and a bit more creativity with moves.

Honestly, I would have placed this performance, if I were a judge. Frankly, in my opinion, it would have been close between this and AEG for first, with AEG probably edging it out. Empire always stuns with the gimmicks, but their dancing was on-point here. Sure, they need to ditch some of the older moves in their repertoire, since they're getting old, but they actually added some new choreography.

I would like to see them do a little bit more complex stuff with their props, though. Khunde were a neat gimmick, but the choreo was pretty simple, to be blunt, and their shikke segments are always too simplistic for my tastes. Yeah, it sucks doing shikke at the end of a routine (I think UW was the only other team besides empire to do that this year), but if you nail it, it looks that much cooler.

 

[singhk1]

I mean im going to have to agree with cheema but at the same time this was pretty creative but honestly ive had the same opinion of this team as i did when i watched them First, too much gimmicks less bhangra, just dancing wise it was pretty weak

 

[Rajatin]

This isn't a placing performance as some people feel it should be.


Creativeness is always amazing with Empire, usually mind boggling as to how they come up with a unique ideas and gimmicks, but its too typical of a performance; Gimmick, Empire style Bhangra, Formation Change, Empire style Bhangra, Gimmick, Empire style Bhangra, Formation Change, etc etc.



In my opinion IF they adapted their style to that of "folk" bhangra and kept everything they same they would destroy/obliterate most teams, like VCU did from 2008-2011. IT is time to change things up Empire, evolution is a good thing in the bhangra circuit, and Empire evolved bhangra to have crazy insane gimmicks but now time to change the bhangra style aspect as well.

 

[siddyp]

i dont think they need to "change their style." If their dancing choreography was on par with the teams that placed its hard to argue they don't win it all

 

[py335]

as mentioned before, i also feel that the way the gimmicks were executed kinda took away from the flow of the whole routine, but nonetheless i thought the gimmicks itself were awesome and i was really smiling throughout certain parts of it! entertaining performance guys. also i needdd that version of that 'dua na koi hor mangdi' song!

 

[mithu]

I am glad this performance did not place and did not amplify the wrong message.

There is no bhangra in this whole video. Trust me, I understand and completely agree with the whole notion of "there is no such thing as folk" or "there is no such thing as 'real' bhangra" but this performance was nothing more than a composition of Russian military stomps, stiff-arms, and circus stunts one after another.


Best Regards,
Aman Cheema

+1 it's time empire drops the choreo they've been running since the stone age

+1


The intro was unreal....but when they started actually dancing....I got bored.
They really need to change their way of dancing. If this set was more "folk" it would have been a killer set. the robotic form is just boring to watch.

 

[Archana]

I am glad this performance did not place and did not amplify the wrong message.

There is no bhangra in this whole video. Trust me, I understand and completely agree with the whole notion of "there is no such thing as folk" or "there is no such thing as 'real' bhangra" but this performance was nothing more than a composition of Russian military stomps, stiff-arms, and circus stunts one after another.


Best Regards,
Aman Cheema

+1 I loved the gimmicks, especially the intro, but the dancing wasn't up to par with the other teams'. In the end, its a bhangra competition not a gimmicks' comp. The khunde gimmick I think (gotta go back and check) was done already by Texas Bhangra at Jashan. So technically not a unique gimmick, but definitely executed cleanly. Overall, it was the first empire vid that was actually entertaining to watch for me.

 

[faizan]

I am glad this performance did not place and did not amplify the wrong message.

This is just snobby. The wrong message, or a message that is different than what YOU want out there? Empire bought a solid set to bruin, they did the exact right things. If this won at DDA, then maybe that would be the wrong message you allude to.

I think over the years, as Empire's roster has changed, the talent has diminished about 25%. They need better dancers, not a new or different style. It's hard enough to win with their style, but if you add weak dancers to that equation, they are destined to lag behind other teams.

Also, I thought your gimmicks were good, not great. The opening was great, as was the jump rope. But, otherwise nothing really hit for me. You guys used a lot of banners, but I thought you could have done a lot more. The giant head could have been utilized much better. I think you guys had clean gimmicks, but they weren't "smart" enough. I can see why this did not place, but I also wouldn't have been shocked if this placed as high as second.

 

[jfried]

On a second viewing, it's actually quite impressive to me how markedly better the dancing was in this performance than in past years. Yeah, Empire has its own style, but in past performances (last year's Bruin comes to mind), the dancing felt way too stilted, even for the more rigidly up and down moves Empire sometimes does. It was almost jerky in spots, and definitely felt robotic. This year was much more fluid, there was definitely more creativity in the moves, and the routine seemed to flow very well between segments. Shikke segment could still improve, though.

Honestly, I'm stunned this didn't place, but I guess this makes up for last year, where I didn't think they should have placed higher than third, if they'd placed (I picked 1. BK, 2. AEG, 3. ABC/BE tossup). And I'm still pissed that BK didn't win it last year, lol.

 

[vibsterrr]

as mentioned before, i also feel that the way the gimmicks were executed kinda took away from the flow of the whole routine, but nonetheless i thought the gimmicks itself were awesome and i was really smiling throughout certain parts of it! entertaining performance guys. also i needdd that version of that 'dua na koi hor mangdi' song!

This version is awesome.