Bhangra Showdown Videos

[rajpreet]

yah when I asked before hand if our team could watch the other teams, I was told that the venue was sold out (even though initially they were supposed to have reserved seats for competitors). I asked how we're supposed to compare ourselves to the other teams and see for ourselves who deserved to be placed or not, and I was told to watch on youtube. lol

lmfao

wow! One would think that they would give teams the best treatment since they are the ones putting on the show!


on a lighter note i like the accents <3

 

[Hand of Godard]

It didn't even feel like a competition. More like a dress rehearsal with crowd noise.

 

[Gurnak]

yah when I asked before hand if our team could watch the other teams, I was told that the venue was sold out (even though initially they were supposed to have reserved seats for competitors). I asked how we're supposed to compare ourselves to the other teams and see for ourselves who deserved to be placed or not, and I was told to watch on youtube. lol

lmfao

wow! One would think that they would give teams the best treatment since they are the ones putting on the show!


on a lighter note i like the accents <3

I agree with you rajpreet the teams are sometimes slightly neglected. - A couple of years ago we had to go one 40 mins early because one of the "artists" performing on the night didnt show up on time. But like I said each year the event seems to improve! Imperial uni have always done a good job and it takes a lot of hard work and effort to put an event like this and they are improving year on year, but I think it would be handy for NA teams to share what happens at their events so that we can be inspired here in the UK.

 

[Yankee Saini]

but I think it would be handy for NA teams to share what happens at their events so that we can be inspired here in the UK. ???

- we never leave our dancers in a bus ;D , unless it concerns a privacy


- Are such words as "judges / judge ", mentioned in any of UK's dictionary? just curious :-\ if not, please get in touch with any of the NA teams, they' will provide an American dictionary for those who are throwing a competition, without any hesitation and ya'll can thank them later.


- bas innha bahut aa ajj layi, meri angreji bahut jaldi khatam ho jaundi aa; I hope my fellow americans and canadians will provide better answers to you fellas' so y'all can be really inspired. 8)


p.s. my apologies for any uninspired knowledge about bhangra :

 

[naujawanidotcom]

Naujawani.com was the main sponsor of The Bhangra Showdown 2011 and the videos that instigated this thread were filmed by us - apologies that they aren't Gabroo TV standard (talk about a bad time to send our pocket HD camera to Punjab )

I'd like to add to the conversation already in flow about the gap between teams from North America and the UK. Essentially that gap is not widening, the UK is catching up - this is evident from the performances we saw on Saturday. Now whilst many of the performances, might not be traditional or appropriate, or are subsidised with gimmicks, I would point to the increasingly improving selection of music, immensely improved costumes and greater levels of synchronicity that weren't evident a few years ago. Some of the teams work extremely hard to ensure that they are choreographing the dance in a way that is appropriate to the music that is being played. Whilst it might not always be accurate or executed effectively, that intent should be recognised in what is still a competition in its infancy.

It certainly is wrong to write off the whole competition as a 'joke'. I find that highly insulting to the dedicated students who alongside their studies put in a great deal of time to make the competition happen. There are some clear mistakes for the organising committee to learn from as they have done in previous years - and students outside on buses is a major one in anyone's book - but these issues will only improve if advice is offered constructively and talked about openly. Raam and Mahipal, the presidents of Imperial Punjabi soc were dedicated to this year's competition as were the likes of Gurdeep (secretary), Gurnaaz (previous president) and Pavandeep (VP) all of whom I met personally this year in our role as main sponsors. We offered them advice and support where possible and where needed they took it I'm sure, but generally this is a student-organised and run competition. Many North American competitions used to have a lot of help, advice and support from post-graduates, community organisations and even Gurdwara/Sikh-elders in their early days a decade and more ago. These guys have had none.

Why is nobody helping them? In my personal experience in the UK, both Sikhs and Punjabis here don't want to get behind any initiative unless it benefits them financially, or in terms of power, especially something like a student bhangra competition. In fact, I have had my name slandered around the Sikh world in the UK for supporting this competition - all manner of accusations made about me and Naujawani.com as early as last summer. But we believe in what they are doing, saw our commitment through and if anything have gained even more encouragement to help these students in the future. One thing we have been saying for a long time though - we definitely need more competitions, one simply isn't enough. Prospective student Punjabi societies feel free to contact us!

 

[yraparla]

It certainly is wrong to write off the whole competition as a 'joke'. I find that highly insulting to the dedicated students who alongside their studies put in a great deal of time to make the competition happen.

100% agree, and I think that point has been made in multiple threads on the site. The real issue is that with 1 competition there's no ability for evolution (note: not just 'improvement' per se, but simply any change). With only one competition, how can you limit to only 12 people when so many are interested? What's the point in drilling for 6 months instead of just 4 weeks? etc etc

The point is, there is no circuit in the UK and that's the biggest issue. How do we maintain one here? For one, we have a communities willing to pay to see shows and make no mistake, that is why competitions happen. In a smaller population/area like the UK, it's a lot harder to pool together resources to bring multiple competitions because people don't want to pay to see the same show 3 times...plus year after year it's basically same teams. It's not an easy situation to fix, especially if the population doesn't care for 'freshie'/'pindoo' steps as someone earlier said. They can evolve the bhangra aesthetics but if the audience doesn't care for it then the competitions won't happen

 

[Tuckerrrr]

In a smaller population/area like the UK, it's a lot harder to pool together resources to bring multiple competitions because people don't want to pay to see the same show 3 times...plus year after year it's basically same teams. It's not an easy situation to fix, especially if the population doesn't care for 'freshie'/'pindoo' steps as someone earlier said. They can evolve the bhangra aesthetics but if the audience doesn't care for it then the competitions won't happen

Dude, there is a MUCH larger concentration of Punjabis and South Asians in general in the UK. And they are wealthy. They have the resources, they just aren't united and willing to support one another. The competition was packed (somewhere it said over 3000 people in attendance). The audience isn't the issue. It's just the will to actually setup a competition. If they did one in Birmingham or another one in London it would be profitable. All the Bhangra events I've been to in London have been sold out.

Maybe do one that isn't limited to just University teams? And get some Bhangra judges?

 

[Hand of Godard]

It certainly is wrong to write off the whole competition as a 'joke'. I find that highly insulting to the dedicated students who alongside their studies put in a great deal of time to make the competition happen. There are some clear mistakes for the organising committee to learn from as they have done in previous years - and students outside on buses is a major one in anyone's book - but these issues will only improve if advice is offered constructively and talked about openly. Raam and Mahipal, the presidents of Imperial Punjabi soc were dedicated to this year's competition as were the likes of Gurdeep (secretary), Gurnaaz (previous president) and Pavandeep (VP) all of whom I met personally this year in our role as main sponsors. We offered them advice and support where possible and where needed they took it I'm sure, but generally this is a student-organised and run competition. Many North American competitions used to have a lot of help, advice and support from post-graduates, community organisations and even Gurdwara/Sikh-elders in their early days a decade and more ago. These guys have had none.

Paaji, please don’t mistake my following comments as a sign of hostility, but I need to get this off my chest. A large number of those same dedicated students were also highly insulted by the way they were treated on Saturday evening. I’ll leave it to the audience to decide if they felt our performances were a collective joke, but certainly from a dancer’s perspective the “competition” most definitely was. Denying us the opportunity to witness other teams in action, whether for comparison’s sake or for personal enjoyment, really cheapened our experience. In a previous post I mentioned that, to me, it effectively felt like a dress rehearsal with crowd noise.

I am a very reserved person and it really does take a lot for something to bother me (and even more for me to speak up), but I was (and still am) absolutely disgusted with what went down. Was the revenue from selling an extra 150-200 tickets minus the cost of renting how ever many coaches really more important than extending the courtesy of allowing your performers, arguably the people most responsible for putting people in those seats in the first place, to actually feel they were a part of a competition? And then to be so flippant as to say “You can just watch it on Youtube”… ???

I can forgive the results fiasco as a genuine mistake. To be fair that is the only one I remember so well done to the organising committee on that note. But surely this coach business was a calculated decision and not something that can be written off as simply being disorganised. I’ll leave it to IPS to choose to justify that decision on economic grounds…but on moral grounds, it just isn’t on.

 

[sgrewal30]

The Bhangra Showdown 2011 - Imperial College

LOL

 

[naujawanidotcom]

Paaji, please don’t mistake my following comments as a sign of hostility, but I need to get this off my chest. A large number of those same dedicated students were also highly insulted by the way they were treated on Saturday evening. I’ll leave it to the audience to decide if they felt our performances were a collective joke, but certainly from a dancer’s perspective the “competition” most definitely was. Denying us the opportunity to witness other teams in action, whether for comparison’s sake or for personal enjoyment, really cheapened our experience. In a previous post I mentioned that, to me, it effectively felt like a dress rehearsal with crowd noise.

I am a very reserved person and it really does take a lot for something to bother me (and even more for me to speak up), but I was (and still am) absolutely disgusted with what went down. Was the revenue from selling an extra 150-200 tickets minus the cost of renting how ever many coaches really more important than extending the courtesy of allowing your performers, arguably the people most responsible for putting people in those seats in the first place, to actually feel they were a part of a competition? And then to be so flippant as to say “You can just watch it on Youtube”… ???

I can forgive the results fiasco as a genuine mistake. To be fair that is the only one I remember so well done to the organising committee on that note. But surely this coach business was a calculated decision and not something that can be written off as simply being disorganised. I’ll leave it to IPS to choose to justify that decision on economic grounds…but on moral grounds, it just isn’t on.

I understand your sentiments and I agree it was not on. However, I think terming the whole show 'a joke' as a result of this one mistake is overblown simply due to the fact that in previous years the participants have not been able to watch either - this is a recurring issue unfortunately, one that I raised as early as last March. I wholeheartedly agree with what you have articulated and am sure the Imperial Punjabi soc will not be making the same mistake again. If we are the main sponsors next year, I guarantee there will be provision for participating teams to watch the show either in the comfort of their dressing rooms or with the audience - you can hold me to it. The former will of course depend on their being enough dressing rooms(!)


I echo your concerns about this issue. Please email me so I can have more than my own testimony to take back to the Imperial Punjabi soc. Anyone who we have supported this year (Birmingham, Kingston, Manchester, Imperial) will tell you that we were always concerned for student's welfare above all else and that although we aren't brimming with cash, we were not shy to offer more money for the purposes of comfortability. Agreed, these seats should not have been sold whilst students were kept in coaches. Let's learn from it and ensure it doesn't happen again.

 

[yraparla]

In a smaller population/area like the UK, it's a lot harder to pool together resources to bring multiple competitions because people don't want to pay to see the same show 3 times...plus year after year it's basically same teams. It's not an easy situation to fix, especially if the population doesn't care for 'freshie'/'pindoo' steps as someone earlier said. They can evolve the bhangra aesthetics but if the audience doesn't care for it then the competitions won't happen

Dude, there is a MUCH larger concentration of Punjabis and South Asians in general in the UK. And they are wealthy. They have the resources, they just aren't united and willing to support one another. The competition was packed (somewhere it said over 3000 people in attendance). The audience isn't the issue. It's just the will to actually setup a competition. If they did one in Birmingham or another one in London it would be profitable. All the Bhangra events I've been to in London have been sold out.

Maybe do one that isn't limited to just University teams? And get some Bhangra judges?

Very interesting, but what about the audience and they're feelings towards more traditional bhangra? It's awesome to have NA people in UK and give us a real perspective on the scene rather than drawing conclusions tell us more

 

[GSingh]

In a smaller population/area like the UK, it's a lot harder to pool together resources to bring multiple competitions because people don't want to pay to see the same show 3 times...plus year after year it's basically same teams. It's not an easy situation to fix, especially if the population doesn't care for 'freshie'/'pindoo' steps as someone earlier said. They can evolve the bhangra aesthetics but if the audience doesn't care for it then the competitions won't happen

Dude, there is a MUCH larger concentration of Punjabis and South Asians in general in the UK. And they are wealthy. They have the resources, they just aren't united and willing to support one another. The competition was packed (somewhere it said over 3000 people in attendance). The audience isn't the issue. It's just the will to actually setup a competition. If they did one in Birmingham or another one in London it would be profitable. All the Bhangra events I've been to in London have been sold out.

Maybe do one that isn't limited to just University teams? And get some Bhangra judges?

Very interesting, but what about the audience and they're feelings towards more traditional bhangra? It's awesome to have NA people in UK and give us a real perspective on the scene rather than drawing conclusions tell us more

TBH, I think the whole "uk audience doesn't like traditional bhangra" argument is bullshit. Look at when the NA scene was catching fire in the early 2000's, how much traditional bhangra was being done....... and now, where every thread is an argument of not being traditional enough etc.. The scene evolved by people changing the way they dance and the audience adapted to it accordingly and accepted it.

If the UK scene simply alters the way bhangra is perceived by adopting a more traditional and less gimmicky style, then the audience will follow suit. They pay their money to watch a show and be entertained. A bhangra competition without real bhangra steps just doesn't make sense to me and if the audience sees traditional bhangra more and more then that will become the norm.

 

[sahibmc]

The Bhangra Showdown 2011 - Imperial College

LOL

LOL i agreee.... east meets west would be a better comp.

 

[faysal]

just wanted to say a big well done to everyone who performed I don't think anyone would argue with the first placing, but second seems a little inconsistent since the winners were "traditonal" so I'm slightly confused as to what the judges were actually looking for...and the complete lack of a third for no apparent reason when there were even more teams this year than ever before is just baffling. Overall I think as others have said the general standard has improved but that basic standard of form energy and control is still lacking but this can only come with time, practice and help from each other. I found it really interesting though that even the really "modern" teams were doing mirza segments lol it was rather odd to see this but I'm glad the student scene is moving forward at least in some sense.

Personally However I think we do need at least one other competition that does cater to all, the influx of independent teams in NA over the years made a huge impact on the quality of dancing and the speed with which it improved, I honestly think it would have the same effect over here. I wouldn't expect the bhangra showdown to suddenly become a competition that included independent teams because it would kill the entire premise, it works as it is, although (and I'm sure it's been said many times before and will be again) I feel the organisers competing within the competition does reduce the legitimacy of the whole thing a lot , I appreciate that they want to compete also but you can never ask anyone to be 100% trusting of the competition, just isn't going to happen.

In regard to what the sponsors said, that last paragraph hit the nail on the head. Nowhere near enough support for each other as a community here which is a huge shame and sad to see. I really hope someone does come along and organise something for everyone else out there, students aren't the only ones that can dance! hint hint lol but in all seriousness it would definitely be of huge benefit.

With that being said overall it was a well run show, ran on time and the robot/light up dholis at the beginning were pretty cool to see. Hopefully the committee will take away something from this year and continue to learn and grow and I wish them the best of luck with the competition in future. Once again, congrats to all the teams, special shout out to all my boys on Leicester/DMU, the LPD & Ashqe guys and girls, and my old study city of Manchester who really surprised me and of course a big congrats to birmingham on their win...I spent the rest of the evening with brummies so they were exceptionally pleased haha

 

[Hand of Godard]

I understand your sentiments and I agree it was not on. However, I think terming the whole show 'a joke' as a result of this one mistake is overblown simply due to the fact that in previous years the participants have not been able to watch either - this is a recurring issue unfortunately, one that I raised as early as last March. I wholeheartedly agree with what you have articulated and am sure the Imperial Punjabi soc will not be making the same mistake again. If we are the main sponsors next year, I guarantee there will be provision for participating teams to watch the show either in the comfort of their dressing rooms or with the audience - you can hold me to it. The former will of course depend on their being enough dressing rooms(!)


I echo your concerns about this issue. Please email me so I can have more than my own testimony to take back to the Imperial Punjabi soc. Anyone who we have supported this year (Birmingham, Kingston, Manchester, Imperial) will tell you that we were always concerned for student's welfare above all else and that although we aren't brimming with cash, we were not shy to offer more money for the purposes of comfortability. Agreed, these seats should not have been sold whilst students were kept in coaches. Let's learn from it and ensure it doesn't happen again.

Thank you for taking my comments seriously. I appreciate your initiative to look out for next year’s dancers.

I didn’t mean to imply that the show itself was a “joke” if looking at it from the UK audience’s point of view. Leaving aside the relative quality of the performances in comparison to NA acts, everyone I’ve talked to seemed to enjoy themselves and from what I understand it ran smoothly in the foreground. But again, as a competing dancer, it was an absolutely miserable experience. I don’t want to beat a dead horse, but now that you’ve informed me that this has been a trend for the past 4 years, in my eyes it actually makes IPS look even worse. But I’ll leave it at that.

Thank you for your invitation to email you. Could you please PM your e-mail address? Or should I contact you through naujawani.com?

Very interesting, but what about the audience and they're feelings towards more traditional bhangra? It's awesome to have NA people in UK and give us a real perspective on the scene rather than drawing conclusions tell us more

TBH, I think the whole "uk audience doesn't like traditional bhangra" argument is bullshit. Look at when the NA scene was catching fire in the early 2000's, how much traditional bhangra was being done....... and now, where every thread is an argument of not being traditional enough etc.. The scene evolved by people changing the way they dance and the audience adapted to it accordingly and accepted it.

If the UK scene simply alters the way bhangra is perceived by adopting a more traditional and less gimmicky style, then the audience will follow suit. They pay their money to watch a show and be entertained. A bhangra competition without real bhangra steps just doesn't make sense to me and if the audience sees traditional bhangra more and more then that will become the norm.

There's truth in what you say, GSingh. But this implies that a shift in audience appreciation is contingent on a shift in team mentality which again is absolutely true. However, speaking from my own experience, this isn't very easy. The team I joined is very young and still retains remnants of the sort of mentality I imagine teams competing in years past held, before they got bollocked on this very forum last year and reassessed their conception of bhangra. The UK desi youth I've come across are a curious bunch, eager to shout "Assin haan Punjabi" and useless slogans like that but at the same time are very quick to deride anything that is perceived as too "fresh". They seem genuinely embarrassed to be associated with traditionality...it's just weird, man. I think the shift has happened, and Birmingham exemplifies that. But it looks for awhile longer there will still be teams that maintain their egos, are resistant to learning, and just want to be on stage to say they've done "bhangra".

 

[randz728]

Its true that the audience will follow suit if we as the performers change our approach - however I believe its also down to the judges. I was the captain of Kingston University this year and feel the competition on the whole was a great show. Referring back to the judges, I feel through the past 4 years of TBS, some of the teams that have placed have adopted such gimmicky styles and through placing in the competition, I feel that teams are then encouraged to adopt and utilise that style a lot more for the following years.


Its not just gimmicks - teams such as LPD (Queen Mary) were essentially the team to have brought the live segment of bhangra into TBS - that year they won and so the following year it felt as if the teams were encouraged to bring the live segment into their set - if i recall correctly about 4/5 teams had a live segment of some sort. last year Imperial won and perhaps what they had in their set encouraged people for this year. In a way I suppose its natural to look at the winning team and want to emulate them, but its the selection judges that needs to be sorted out - because if they continue to let teams place with very gimmicky performances, teams for the following year are only going to try and copy that. I think the inclusion of gimmicks isn't criminal, in fact it makes a team unique from one another, but there is a line somewhere and through the points I've mentioned, some teams cross that line.

 

[sgrewal30]

The Bhangra Showdown 2011 - Imperial College

LOL

LOL i agreee.... east meets west would be a better comp.

east meets west? i LOL'd cuz well... have you seen the india videos of empire routines?

 

[rsingh88]

Hello everyone

My name is Ramdeep Bajwa and I was dancing for Birmingham this year. It has been interesting to read peoples' views on both the show itself and the difference in quality between UK and NA/Canadian teams.

I dont think sitting on the coach was half as bad as is being made out. In the UK we have ONE opportunity to perform bhangra to a large audience and the only people we have to thank for that is the Imperial College Punjabi Soc. Without them, we'd still just be sitting on our backsides watching elite 8 videos, wishing we could do something like them. I think it'd be nice to show them a bit of gratitude for all the hard work they put in and sitting on a coach for a few hours is a small sacrifice to make considering we then had the chance to perform in front of 3652 people!

Regarding the difference in quality there are lots of factors:

1. Only one competition over here - we trained for about 4 weeks (which had the xmas holidays in between and meant 2 weeks of no bhangra rehearsals). To train for only 4 weeks every year before a competition isn't enough to build up the stamina and execution we so often see by teams in NA/Canada, especially if new people have come in to the team who have never done bhangra before. There needs to be more competitions!

2. Definition of what bhangra is meant to be about - we consciously wanted to put traditional boliyaan and movements in our choreography this year because we believe a bhangra routine should have those elements. However, I know that other teams dont feel the same way (and I dont think that's right or wrong) -they may think bhangra is more about entertainment, irrespective of how it is delivered. If you imagine being a typical member of the UK audience at the show, you wouldn't have a clue what a traditional boli is, what phumniyaan is, what faslan is etc etc. In which case, you can see why a routine like Imperial's could be attractive to the eye. I dont know what the answer is to this but I know that it's an issue! I think it has some parallels with how some people feel about Bhangra Empire's routines vs other more traditional teams.

3. If the judges dont know about what traditional boli is, what phumniyaan is, what faslan is etc, what hope do teams have who want to do those things? I have no idea if this year's judges did know about the above or not.

4. Basic technique - I'm surprised that some teams who have been in the competition still make basic mistakes - holding their kundeh half way up, wearing their chadars so high you can see pretty much all of their shins to name a few!

I want UK teams to be able to compete like the NA/Canada teams so much that it's begin to frustrate me! I hope things change in the near future, otherwise I'm moving to Toronto

 

[bigmann77]

The Bhangra Showdown 2011 - Imperial College

LOL

whats so funny about that? i got friends on that team... UK competitors have mad respect for teams out in NA and u guys are sitting here whining how bad they are and laughing and stuff... have some respect and dignity before you judge or drop jokes or remarks.

 

[lavesh]

idk y some people are still hating on UK...ive only seen a few clips of a few performances, but from wat ive seen, UK bhangra is not bad at all...especially from videos a year ago, i think there is a huge improvement...keep doing yo thang UK