What a weekend. Shoutout to all the other competing teams, bhangra and fusion - it was a pleasure chilling with you all. Congratulations to our brothers on First Class for a great set, performance, and victory. So proud of the Pittsburgh bhangra community.
Here’s our review of the competition:
Pre-Comp:
- Overall, communication was solid. Our liaisons Nikita, Sadaf and Dinushi were quick to set up platforms for communicating with us over Facebook and that helped a lot. Tara was also on point with getting back to us quickly about deadlines and any questions we had.
- We didn’t attend the judging call unfortunately but we heard the recording later. It’s always very helpful to hear what the judges expect first-hand from them before the competition.
- I wish there was a captains groupme set up for the weekend. It always helps with last minute communication between the teams and the organizing committee.
- The deadlines for mix, lighting and intro video were set for about a week before the competition, but we were able to get extensions for these. Given that there were restrictions imposed by the venue on how early things needed to be submitted, I think the organizers were pretty accommodating in being able to get us these extensions.
Mixer, post-mixer practice:
- The mixer was solid. Srujan definitely took advantage of the fusion and bhangra teams that were there. Having each bhangra team perform a fusion piece and vice versa was a great idea. It got everyone involved pretty well. Food was solid. Popcorn and snow cone machines was great idea. The team loved it.
- Mixer venue (the Union) was absolutely on point. The practice rooms we were assigned after the mixer were also at the same venue which was convenient.
- Practice rooms - we were given a circular room that was not large enough for stage dimensions, which was not ideal. We couldn’t do everything we wanted in terms of preparation in terms of this. However, given that there were 16 teams to accommodate I think the committee did the best they could.
- The captains meeting was well detailed and effective. Huge shoutout to Tara and Jaimin - they were able to take time out of their busy schedule on Friday night to talk to Sid and I personally about all our concerns before competition day. Given the size of the competition this says a lot about the organizers. We had some issues with lighting cues and they were able to accommodate our requests almost perfectly, not to mention the fact that they had an immediate answer to every single question we had.
Tech-time:
- Tech-time was pretty early because of the number of teams. We were 8th in the lineup and went on around 9:30am. I actually prefer this because it gives our team time before the show to rest up, ice, and watch our tech-time performance.
- Tech-time ran about 15 minutes behind schedule but we were kept informed about the delay so communication was good here.
- We were given 20 minutes on stage. They began tech-time by playing our intro video and that helped because it simulated the actual show perfectly. We were able to practice stage setup with the intro video playing before our actual tech time starting.
- There was a screen on one side of the stage that displayed how much time was left for us. This was immensely helpful. Its a much better solution than having someone yell out how many minutes we have left at certain intervals, which is what happens at most other competitions.
- Our lighting cues for tech time messed up, but the issue was resolved for the show.
- There was no feedback speaker on stage before our tech time which is really important for performing teams, especially those with a dholi. Instrumentalists and dancers need to be able hear the music clearly in order to stay on beat. Jaimin was able to set up a makeshift feedback speaker quickly before we went on which was clutch and we had one for the show, which was good.
Show preparation:
- We were given a dressing room in the afternoon and we were told that we had to get fully ready by 4:15pm and vacate it for another team. Given that we were going on around 6:45pm, we had no intention of getting ready that early. Things got pretty hectic at one point with 4 teams in the same room. There was some space in the mezzanine area that we could go to and we were provided mirrors to get ready if we needed but I think this could have been organized better. I think some teams should have been assigned the mezzanine area to get ready, which could have allowed some teams to stay in the dressing room for the entire duration instead of having teams switch out. Once again 16 teams is a hard situation to deal with and I think the organizers did a pretty good job given that.
Performance:
- Everything went pretty smoothly. Good crowd. We had dancers on FCB and others side stage cheering us on as we performed which was clutch. Lighting and music was good. We decided to mic our dholi Tejas and there were no logistical issues with that. All around a good experience.
Placings announcement:
- We could not hear anything that was being said. This was a problem because we couldn’t hear the placings being announced. Just a note for the future - make sure there is a speaker facing the stage so everyone can hear what’s going on.
Afterparty:
- Great location, awesome afterparty.
- Ticketing was not enforced at all. There were a number of people who were able to just walk in the club
Notes:
- Shoutout to Tejas for coordinating all our logistics once again. As a dholi, we finally decided to mic him and I think he performed extremely well.
- FCB - congrats on the win. Always love competing with you guys. You guys were extremely accommodating in sharing the dressing room with us as well, thanks for that.
- First Class Beats - Amar and Ram, thanks for working on a dope mix.
- Nikita, Sadaf and Dinushi, thanks for being awesome liaisons. Great to have liaisons who are genuinely excited to chill with us and show us around the city.
- Jaimin and Tara - thanks for all the help during the weekend and leading up to it. Very well organized and well run.
- Anand Mahalingam - Thanks for creating a dope intro video (
https://www.facebook.com/yanandbhaiproductions).
Lastly and most importantly, shoutout to our team. Its great to see every single member killing it not only on stage but off it as well. We are family and I love every moment we get to spend together.
