Danny
Member
- Messages
- 698
I had the opportunity to judge Harbour City Bhangra in Sydney,Australia last month (late I know, I’m terrible) and just wanted to share the experience with fellow Bhangraheads. The scene down below is obviously still in its infancy and growing but the potential is definitely there. I have never in my time met young kids so passionate about Bhangra about before. It reminds me so much of when I used to tag along to competitions with my older cousins on Khalsa Junction and how the North American scene was in 2002-2006 (Keep this in mind as you read on)
Milestones from HCB I believe are worth noting:
First time an all-girls team placed in the country
First ever sold-out bhangra competition in Sydney
First judging system of any sort. (Rubric geared towards certain aspects, Proper scoring, Judges with solid Bhangra background, etc.)
First Judges video-conferences leading up to the show to help prepare teams in advance
First Judges deliberation and not going placing teams solely off of the scoreboard
First post-show meeting and set breakdown with Captains on how to improve
You guys are probably rolling your eyes to that part right now, but IIRC, these luxuries really didn’t become norms here in North America until around 2009-2010 (right before our scene blew up...Coincidence?). Before this, a few teams shared that competition placings were a complete crap-shoot. All live teams would win and they were told they weren’t doing Bhangra. Fast forward to the following year, teams that went more traditional didn’t place because they were told it wasn’t entertaining. Or worse: teams would place because an uncle or family member of a team judged and gave 100/100 scores. (again, think N.A. 2002-2006 here)
The Competition:
Firstly, the overall feel of the competition was Very family-friendly. The hosts spoke fluent teht Punjabi throughout the show and the audience of aunties/uncles didn’t miss a single laugh when it came to the jokes. The committee consisted of a joint effort by local teams and young kids who really want to promote Punjabi culture. It did have a few members from competing teams on the board, which at first-glance sounds very sketch, but the group of enthusiastic Bhangraheads in Sydney is so small that it was almost impossible to achieve a successful show without help.
There were a TON of sponsors! There’s so many established businesses by Punjabi’s with money that are willing to throw it towards Bhangra and make it grow. It only adds to the potential of Australian Bhangra. VERY BIG +
The Dancing:
Cleanliness is just not a priority. I wish I had more to add, but everything else that goes on stage is pretty standard: The mixes are outsourced to established Mixers across the world (UK heavy-hitters, Toronto, Sunlite here in LA to note a few) and are on-par with ours, Gimmicks are there and hit hard with the families in the seats, Vaardiyan are beautifully tailored from the same 2-3 vendors we’ve all worked with. Teams just aren’t moving as whole unit and variation amongst dancers is pretty evident. Confidence in dancing ability varies across the stage and it was very obvious which dancers were the core leaders who knew the routine better than others.
The Scene:
The PASSION is just unmatched. I’m sorry to any other part of the world, but these kids ABSOLUTELY LOVE BHANGRA and want it to get bigger on the global scale. I will argue this point with anyone. They are looking to compete overseas (shoutouts to BASS boys at WBBC) and I’ve reached out to my competition connects in NA on getting something going for these kids in Spring/Summer 2016. They have the passion, funding (see Sponsors bit), but just need that umph to hang with everyone else in NA lineups.
Teams are extremely friendly. There’s little to no beef or non-competitive tension between them from what I experienced and it’s actually quite beautiful. There’s so few teams at this point and if I had to take a guess: probably less than 15 in all of Australia and then only 4-5 of those who are really trying to push the envelope and get Bhangra to blow up.
Call-to-Action:
Captains expressed that when a video gets posted on BTF, it gets love but more importantly no one critiques them, leaving teams in the fog. I am going to bump some videos on here and I ask all of you BTF heads to please please please PLEASE dive in and go to town on them. Give these videos a thoughtful look and provide them with critical review. None of that pansy “sick”, “good job”, “Is this mix posted?” one-liner bullshit.
Placings:
1st: Ministry of Bhangra* (All-Guys)
2nd: Haneri Punjab Di (All-Girls)
3rd: Legit Bhangra Crew**
* yes, everyone’s aware there’s a MOB in Chicago too.
**yes, LBC. They are the Tier 2 team of the RPD All-Live Team Academy who dropped a week before the competition and sent these kids instead.
----
Thank you so much to The Bhangra Project committee for having my wife and I in Sydney.The event was stellar and I am confident its only uphill from here! Sydney is a beautiful city with some of the most fun yet politest people I have ever met!
EDIT: formatting
Milestones from HCB I believe are worth noting:
First time an all-girls team placed in the country
First ever sold-out bhangra competition in Sydney
First judging system of any sort. (Rubric geared towards certain aspects, Proper scoring, Judges with solid Bhangra background, etc.)
First Judges video-conferences leading up to the show to help prepare teams in advance
First Judges deliberation and not going placing teams solely off of the scoreboard
First post-show meeting and set breakdown with Captains on how to improve
You guys are probably rolling your eyes to that part right now, but IIRC, these luxuries really didn’t become norms here in North America until around 2009-2010 (right before our scene blew up...Coincidence?). Before this, a few teams shared that competition placings were a complete crap-shoot. All live teams would win and they were told they weren’t doing Bhangra. Fast forward to the following year, teams that went more traditional didn’t place because they were told it wasn’t entertaining. Or worse: teams would place because an uncle or family member of a team judged and gave 100/100 scores. (again, think N.A. 2002-2006 here)
The Competition:
Firstly, the overall feel of the competition was Very family-friendly. The hosts spoke fluent teht Punjabi throughout the show and the audience of aunties/uncles didn’t miss a single laugh when it came to the jokes. The committee consisted of a joint effort by local teams and young kids who really want to promote Punjabi culture. It did have a few members from competing teams on the board, which at first-glance sounds very sketch, but the group of enthusiastic Bhangraheads in Sydney is so small that it was almost impossible to achieve a successful show without help.
There were a TON of sponsors! There’s so many established businesses by Punjabi’s with money that are willing to throw it towards Bhangra and make it grow. It only adds to the potential of Australian Bhangra. VERY BIG +
The Dancing:
Cleanliness is just not a priority. I wish I had more to add, but everything else that goes on stage is pretty standard: The mixes are outsourced to established Mixers across the world (UK heavy-hitters, Toronto, Sunlite here in LA to note a few) and are on-par with ours, Gimmicks are there and hit hard with the families in the seats, Vaardiyan are beautifully tailored from the same 2-3 vendors we’ve all worked with. Teams just aren’t moving as whole unit and variation amongst dancers is pretty evident. Confidence in dancing ability varies across the stage and it was very obvious which dancers were the core leaders who knew the routine better than others.
The Scene:
The PASSION is just unmatched. I’m sorry to any other part of the world, but these kids ABSOLUTELY LOVE BHANGRA and want it to get bigger on the global scale. I will argue this point with anyone. They are looking to compete overseas (shoutouts to BASS boys at WBBC) and I’ve reached out to my competition connects in NA on getting something going for these kids in Spring/Summer 2016. They have the passion, funding (see Sponsors bit), but just need that umph to hang with everyone else in NA lineups.
Teams are extremely friendly. There’s little to no beef or non-competitive tension between them from what I experienced and it’s actually quite beautiful. There’s so few teams at this point and if I had to take a guess: probably less than 15 in all of Australia and then only 4-5 of those who are really trying to push the envelope and get Bhangra to blow up.
Call-to-Action:
Captains expressed that when a video gets posted on BTF, it gets love but more importantly no one critiques them, leaving teams in the fog. I am going to bump some videos on here and I ask all of you BTF heads to please please please PLEASE dive in and go to town on them. Give these videos a thoughtful look and provide them with critical review. None of that pansy “sick”, “good job”, “Is this mix posted?” one-liner bullshit.
Placings:
1st: Ministry of Bhangra* (All-Guys)
2nd: Haneri Punjab Di (All-Girls)
3rd: Legit Bhangra Crew**
* yes, everyone’s aware there’s a MOB in Chicago too.
**yes, LBC. They are the Tier 2 team of the RPD All-Live Team Academy who dropped a week before the competition and sent these kids instead.
----
Thank you so much to The Bhangra Project committee for having my wife and I in Sydney.The event was stellar and I am confident its only uphill from here! Sydney is a beautiful city with some of the most fun yet politest people I have ever met!
EDIT: formatting
