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Competition Judges

psoni1

Member
Messages
125
kinnell said:
Bharatnatyam teachers and professors of Anthropology make the best bhangra judges. No bias for or against any team - you cannot beat that level of fairness!
some one suggested something like this to me for fever...make one of the judges one who is thoroughly trained in dance but not bhangra and can unbiasedly judge technical aspects
 

Sher

Member
Messages
91
kinnell said:
Bharatnatyam teachers and professors of Anthropology make the best bhangra judges. No bias for or against any team - you cannot beat that level of fairness!
They're the best for bharatnatyam competitions, but I don't really see why you would have someone that doesn't know bhangra judging a bhangra competition. They might not have bias, but there are different aspects to bharatnatyam and bhangra...its like a baskebtall ref being an umpire in a baseball game... or a figure skating judge being a motocross tricks judge
 

blanca_c

New Member
Messages
69
dheerja said:
MPElive said:
blanca_c said:
I was wondering about this! Don't think I've experienced this, but I'm curious to know if anyone has.

No suggestions for now, will definitely post if I hear/think of something.
Blanca, I don't think you will ever experience this unless you come across a judge straight from India or go to more traditional competitions, mainly n Canada.
Actually Atinder I've heard this from a judge who's been pretty prominent in the East Coast circuit, Teginder Dhanoa. It was a while ago, in 2005 I believe, so maybe his views have changed but it was pretty upsetting.
Ooooh interesting. I mean, people can have different opinions and all, but by thinking that girls shouldn't bhangra and turning away from that, they might really be the ones missing out on some great talent. We like to bring our A-game hard, too, and anybody dancing bhangra on the comp circuit has got the same passion that has made bhangra what it is. That's like saying you HAVE to be Punjabi to have a passion for bhangra or counting off for non-Punjabi dancers, even though they've put in the same sweat, pain and passion to get there.
 

Bharathi

Member
Messages
336
MPElive said:
blanca_c said:
I was wondering about this! Don't think I've experienced this, but I'm curious to know if anyone has.

No suggestions for now, will definitely post if I hear/think of something.
Blanca, I don't think you will ever experience this unless you come across a judge straight from India or go to more traditional competitions, mainly n Canada.
I've heard this from a Cali judge who told me Jawani Bhangra's set would be more suited to a raas or filmi competition because traditionally bhangra is a "man's dance".

Also re: bharatnatyam dancers as judges...having done lots of bharatnatyam myself I can say that yes, for the technical aspects maybe it is a good idea but there's lots of other elements in bhangra that don't directly translate very well so it might not be that great of an idea esp. for a more traditional competition. Also the aspects that make a bharatnatyam dance "good" are not really the same as other forms of Indian dance, let alone Bhangra. Unless you have your judging very VERY segregated like Bhangra Idols does, having a different judge for each category and ONLY that category, I don't think it's a great idea.
 

MPElive

Ehhh Folllkkkkkk Ahhh !!
Messages
323
Dheerja & Bharathi,

At Bhangra Masti, we encourage Girls Team to showcase thier talent in Bhangra (On Music or Dhol) because in Toronto Community, hardly many girls are exposed to Bhangra or even Gidha. Every judge has a different opinion about this issue but as they see more girls or co-ed teams coming up and competing, thier mind sets will certainly change overtime. Think about it this way, how many All Girls Teams competed 5 years ago? Not many and now you can have a competition just with All Girls bhangra teams.
 

dheerja

Member
Messages
607
MPElive said:
Dheerja & Bharathi,

At Bhangra Masti, we encourage Girls Team to showcase thier talent in Bhangra (On Music or Dhol) because in Toronto Community, hardly many girls are exposed to Bhangra or even Gidha. Every judge has a different opinion about this issue but as they see more girls or co-ed teams coming up and competing, thier mind sets will certainly change overtime. Think about it this way, how many All Girls Teams competed 5 years ago? Not many and now you can have a competition just with All Girls bhangra teams.
Completely agree, it's definitely inspiring to see so many Toronto competitions make it a point to showcase girls in bhangra AND giddha. Unfortunately there are still individuals out there who don't budge on their personal opinions, but that just means we need to work harder to prove them wrong :) It's just disheartening to put time and effort into a routine and know that regardless certain judges will discredit you based on gender. It's just a backwards way of thinking, and I do think competitions should take this into account when selecting judges.
 

Pooja

I put the double o in cool.
Messages
932
Bharathi said:
Also re: bharatnatyam dancers as judges...having done lots of bharatnatyam myself I can say that yes, for the technical aspects maybe it is a good idea but there's lots of other elements in bhangra that don't directly translate very well so it might not be that great of an idea esp. for a more traditional competition. Also the aspects that make a bharatnatyam dance "good" are not really the same as other forms of Indian dance, let alone Bhangra. Unless you have your judging very VERY segregated like Bhangra Idols does, having a different judge for each category and ONLY that category, I don't think it's a great idea.
+1!

The element of a classical dance are very different than the elements of bhangra...so no, a Bharatnatyam/Kuchipudi/Kathak/Odissi etc. trained judge would not be a good idea...

I do understand what the take is on that, but you can't ignore the fact that the actual art forms are so different...

As for judges who think Girls should not do Bhangra...they shouldn't be judges at co-ed competitions! That's an obvious bias, why would they even be judging girls? And Dheerja - I've heard the same about Teginder Dhanoa from others as well.
 

yraparla

SwizzeeMusic.com
Messages
2,072
I'm taking a sabbatical from BTF for at least a week, but I really felt the need to post.

While this discussion on bharatanatyam judges is important and good to have, let's keep in perspective that Kinnell, the one who started the whole thing was KIDDING. He was referring to Ohio State's Srujan competition last year.

I don't think anyone on this forum considers them strong choices as judges in the face of many many bhangra-trained and focused judges.

(BTF iphone is so sweet)
 

Vick

Member
Messages
990
To anyone that thinks that girls shouldn't do bhangra, just watch Jasmine dance... She's better than half the guys out there.... and if you are not satisfied with her, watch the yellow chick from VCU(Shreya?)... and giddha should be banned...
 
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