Bhangra Fest 2018- London

[Prabhzy]

Bhangra Fest is back this year. Organised by Folk Stars Limited.

Location- Sadlers Wells Theatre, London
Date- 8th September 2018

Ten teams go head to head in the UK's premier independent team competition

 

[Prabhzy]

Placings
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1. Gabru Chel Chabileh

2. Vasda Punjab

3. Ankhi Jawan Boys

 

[Gsimz]

Congrats!

 

[HdBrar]

Videos up?

 

[angeblah]

There are some home videos of GCC and Vasda Punjab's performances on Youtube. Fireeeee. Love all the personality in the choreo, and holy formation mechanisms wauuu.

 

[HdBrar]

Sweet. Hope these mixes drop soon! Need some new fire

 

[Prabhzy]

Disclaimer- This is just an observation rather than a personal opinion.

In the last couple of years Ive seen a noticeable amount of team hopping by dancers. Apart from a core group of dancers from each team everyone else seems to change teams at an alarming rate. Is this the case in US/Canada too?

( Saying that I have also seen a lot of new dancers being picked on teams in the independent circuit following on from TBS/Capital Bhangra, which was never the case before- This is an indication that new dancers in the UK have a much faster transition into pro circuit much quicker now as compared to 4/5 years ago)

 

[angeblah]

( Saying that I have also seen a lot of new dancers being picked on teams in the independent circuit following on from TBS/Capital Bhangra, which was never the case before- This is an indication that new dancers in the UK have a much faster transition into pro circuit much quicker now as compared to 4/5 years ago)

I don't know much about how independent teams recruit in the UK-- what has that transition into the "pro circuit" previously been?

 

[Prabhzy]

I don't know much about how independent teams recruit in the UK-- what has that transition into the "pro circuit" previously been?

Previously comps like Bhangra Fest were far and between and and teams used to have the same group of dancers which danced for their respective TBS teams too. Thats why the quality of dancers at comps like Capital Bhangra was not very good ( this was during my time) and not many dancers from there got picked. Even though we only have one independent comp a year, the quality of dancers at Capital is now maybe on par with TBS thats why independent teams have a much bigger pool of people too chose from. Plus all teams are congregated in London and Birmingham rather than spread about in the country, which I think has made it easy for people swap teams every year. The concept of rivalries which existed a few years ago doesnt seem to be seen now as much.

 

[bhangrabhangra2019]

Would love to see some vids of the event

 

[Howie Magz]

Disclaimer- This is just an observation rather than a personal opinion.

In the last couple of years Ive seen a noticeable amount of team hopping by dancers. Apart from a core group of dancers from each team everyone else seems to change teams at an alarming rate. Is this the case in US/Canada too?

( Saying that I have also seen a lot of new dancers being picked on teams in the independent circuit following on from TBS/Capital Bhangra, which was never the case before- This is an indication that new dancers in the UK have a much faster transition into pro circuit much quicker now as compared to 4/5 years ago)

In terms of guest dancing, this has become a prevalent theme in the US dance circuit especially. You have dancers who have guest danced with over 10 teams and the idea of team loyalty isn't really there anymore. People hop onto different teams for competitions that they personally want to dance at (Bruin, Burgh, Boston, and Blowout as examples of competitions where you see a prevalence of guest dancers). Rivalries use to stem from the whole idea of loyalty in which you stuck to your team and didn't guest dance with anyone else following that. That's why in the US circuit today you really don't know who is truly loyal to who anymore lmao.

The other issue with guest dancers is they come in for 1 or 2 practice and probably will have a much different style than what your team is accustomed to so it is difficult for them to pick that style up in a short amount of time. This tends to teams looking sloppy and discrepancies in style and form which is prevalent in a lot of competitions. My opinion on guest dancing is that if people are to guest dance for you, they need to come all the practices from day one in order for them to fit in perfectly. That way you avoid this idea of lack of dancer quality or uniformity as a team.

However, there is always a benefit side too to guest dancing. These include an improvement in your dancing ability in a short amount of time depending on which team you dance on. For example, if you are a part of a sub par bhangra team and all of a sudden guest dance for some of the top teams in the US circuit (Ex: FCB, BDS, Furteelay, BK, FAUJ) your dancing ability jumps a significant amount due to the fact that you are asked to perform on a higher level. When I use to guest dance my dancing ability significantly improved as I was challenged on a higher level.