DC Metro Punjabi Arts Academy @ Nachda Punjab 2010 (GTVHD)

[sgrewal30]

vijay i cant seem to quote you but no im not bitter about placings im bitter abt fixed comps, im not pissy towards the committee. please read fully before hand because like i said before, i wouldnt write anything even an assumption if i thought there was a chance it was JUST an assumption. also i would appreciate what you had to say more if you read what i wrote in the first place. id also respect what your saying a little more so once again if i really cared to elaborate i would have. but seeing as how that would just be deviating WAY too far off from the actual topic i wont because the statement was only made to further my initial point. oki doki thank ju
n gugu it has been happening but i wish yall the best at DDA
manvir yeah the video was.

 

[Yankee Saini]

la la la la la . . . :


la la la la la . . . :


la la la la la . . . :

 

[Gabroo Tv]

only one judge (Dhanoa) talked to the team and according to him our set was "too fast" =|

Interesting fact, as our team received the same feedback from the same judge...

 

[singh89]

for starters if competitions or placing teams don't want others to complain or be like WTF later on, the committee could start off by NOT telling the judges, "Make sure that ___ doesn't place over ____ because we don't want them to..."

Is there actual proof regarding this statement?! Not trying to say anything but this itself is a big statement.. And overall why would the committee want to do this?!

 

[Avneet]

only one judge (Dhanoa) talked to the team and according to him our set was "too fast" =|

Interesting fact, as our team received the same feedback from the same judge...

FACT: Surinder Singh Dhanoa HATES fast Bhangra because he insists if it is too fast it is not "genuine Bhangra"... this is also why a cheesy, random team called Bucking Bronco Bhangra from SCU beat Khalsa Junction at Nachda Punjab 2002, even if their performance was far more inferior than KJ's lol

 

[Govind]

You ant even differentiate between a rigged comp n a legit one anymore because there are so many politics in them now.

I would really like you to explain this sentence please. I will be more than glad to elaborate on this from a judge's perspective after hearing your response.

yah, um, who are you?.. i dont really trust your perspective seeing as how i dont even know who you are.
the statement you quoted isnt straight out of a physics book or anything.. i mean its pretty straight forward...
if i really cared to elaborate i would have. but seeing as how that would just be deviating WAY too far off from the actual topic i wont because the statement was only made to further my initial point.

I did a double take after reading the rather blanket statement you wrote, and simply asked you to explain how you could legitimately say that...competitions seem to be all about politics these days when it comes to placings. I completely disagree with that insinuation, having worked with many committees this year and having observed their utmost professional behavior when it came to respecting judges' decisions and control over placings.

People should give credit to competition organizers and the higher standards they have been held to (and met!). There have been tremendous leaps in the ways competitions have been judged and run the past two years...with post-competition feedback sessions with all judges being one of the most rudimentary but absolutely essential mainstream additions to competitions. Let me remind you all that when most of the people who have been in the scene for a while danced back in the day, we NEVER ever could expect to have feedback sessions after a competition much less receive ANY kind of comments or scoresheets. Placings were announced, no one even knew who the judges were for the most part (no bios published anywhere), and that was it.

I wish that when I was a dancer I could have the opportunity to interact with judges who could tell me what I was doing wrong, how I could improve my set and how improve my execution of moves. I attribute my slow growth of my dancing skills during my first two years doing bhangra to my inability to interact with people who could help me get better. That's in part why we take our jobs so seriously now...

Perhaps this competition denied you the opportunity to have that experience in some way, and I'm truly sorry that that happened, because I know the frustration you feel. But I do not think you can extend your view to 'not being able to distinguish between a rigged or legit comp anymore due to politics.' BAB, BdM, BIB, Fever, Bayside, Jawani, Elite were all incredibly professionally run competitions (not to mention they were the biggest competitions in the East) where I had direct interactions with the organizers and I can personally attest to the high integrity with which they all approached the judging process.

 

[Govind]

only one judge (Dhanoa) talked to the team and according to him our set was "too fast" =|

Interesting fact, as our team received the same feedback from the same judge...

FACT: Surinder Singh Dhanoa HATES fast Bhangra because he insists if it is too fast it is not "genuine Bhangra"... this is also why a cheesy, random team called Bucking Bronco Bhangra from SCU beat Khalsa Junction at Nachda Punjab 2002, even if their performance was far more inferior than KJ's lol

Due respect must be given, regardless. Surinder Singh Dhanoa is one of the original modern-era folk dancers from Punjab, having danced with Master Harbhajan Singh in Gurdaspur and been part of one of the earliest folk dance troupes. There is a fundamental difference in how folk dance is executed way back then and how it is now revamped as a staged performance with a distinct presentation. Folk dance by its very nature, evolves...and indeed in the past few decades or even years for that matter, bhangra too has evolved considerably!

Fact: The original post-Partition dancers will tell you that they hate fast bhangra...because that's not what bhangra is to them...

And when they see a performance that doesn't really fit in with their schema of what "bhangra" or "Punjabi folk dances" is, then yea they're not going to pick that team because to them that performance might as well have been an exhibition fusion team that happened to dance to bhangra songs LOL.

So when it comes to this issue of picking appropriate judges, I think what's most important is what the competition wants to have as its theme...as in is it a very traditional competition or open to more modern interpretations of bhangra. And most clearly, this can be reflected in the rubric (with some competitions I've been to giving as many as 40 points to "traditionality" and as little as 10 points!) which is released to teams beforehand, and reflected in their selection of judges who can cohesively merge their judging philosophies and decide on placings.

 

[Gugu]

FACT: Surinder Singh Dhanoa HATES fast Bhangra because he insists if it is too fast it is not "genuine Bhangra"... this is also why a cheesy, random team called Bucking Bronco Bhangra from SCU beat Khalsa Junction at Nachda Punjab 2002, even if their performance was far more inferior than KJ's lol

But the thing is that our set was not that fast, at least not according to modern day standards. Good thing Surinder Dhanoa doesn't judge any comps in Canada... he'd probably walk out of the venue watching some of those performances since it would feel like everything is moving at 8x speed to him.

Due respect must be given, regardless. Surinder Singh Dhanoa is one of the original modern-era folk dancers from Punjab, having danced with Master Harbhajan Singh in Gurdaspur and been part of one of the earliest folk dance troupes. There is a fundamental difference in how folk dance is executed way back then and how it is now revamped as a staged performance with a distinct presentation. Folk dance by its very nature, evolves...and indeed in the past few decades or even years for that matter, bhangra too has evolved considerably!

Fact: The original post-Partition dancers will tell you that they hate fast bhangra...because that's not what bhangra is to them...

And when they see a performance that doesn't really fit in with their schema of what "bhangra" or "Punjabi folk dances" is, then yea they're not going to pick that team because to them that performance might as well have been an exhibition fusion team that happened to dance to bhangra songs LOL.

So when it comes to this issue of picking appropriate judges, I think what's most important is what the competition wants to have as its theme...as in is it a very traditional competition or open to more modern interpretations of bhangra. And most clearly, this can be reflected in the rubric (with some competitions I've been to giving as many as 40 points to "traditionality" and as little as 10 points!) which is released to teams beforehand, and reflected in their selection of judges who can cohesively merge their judging philosophies and decide on placings.

That's a good point but I think we need even more specificity than that.. especially at a comp like Nachda Punjab where 4 live teams placed. Nowadays, most teams know which comps are modern and which are more traditional, unless its a completely brand new comp. The only thing I'd recommend is that the organizers and the judges need to be more transparent about how they are going to judge beforehand. Lets take Dhanoa for instance. If he prefers a certain type of a set (slow, fast, etc.), the committee or the judges need to convey that info to the participants a few weeks leading up to the comp so that necessary adjustments can be made to a set. We don't have any problem performing a certain type of a set, and it doesn't take much to change minor details that can land a higher score on the scoresheets. Had we known that this was the case, maybe we would have made adjustments coming into the comp. Placings at bhangra comps are already so subjective and when judges start judging according to their personal preferences instead of the judging rubric that's sitting in front of them, THIS makes the whole process even more complicated, and results in people pointing fingers at the committee, calling comps rigged, etc etc.

Obviously this is all possible only in the ideal bhangra world... so much for wishful thinking :

 

[Govind]

Definitely agree with a lot of the points you make Gugu...Thanks for that well thought-out and fair response
I guess it all just goes to show that the whole process is indeed a complicated one...and it is often quite difficult to reconcile many of the differences people when it comes to their own personal biases whether it's performers or judges for that matter!
All said and done you had a FINE performance and I really enjoyed your set and the execution. Congratulations!

 

[Yankee Saini]

***NO need for judges to judge a Bhangra Competition N' have the audience judge it!!! (how does that sounds like?) ??? or why don't someone make a "Robotic Judge" : N' maybe then everyone will stop b*tching about Bhangra Comps being rigged or judges were a*sholes, etc.

HOW ABOUT IT??? ;D saala gandh paaya paya aa janta neh!!!

 

[Gurbir23]

***NO need for judges to judge a Bhangra Competition N' have the audience judge it!!! (how does that sounds like?) ??? or why don't someone make a "Robotic Judge" : N' maybe then everyone will stop b*tching about Bhangra Comps being rigged or judges were a*sholes, etc.

HOW ABOUT IT??? ;D saala gandh paaya paya aa janta neh!!!

Because every competition would result in something along the lines of the battle of thermopolaye, with the winning team + their fans being the spartans, and EVERYONE else being the persians. There would be kunday and chimtay flying everwhere.

 

[Yankee Saini]

***NO need for judges to judge a Bhangra Competition N' have the audience judge it!!! (how does that sounds like?) ??? or why don't someone make a "Robotic Judge" : N' maybe then everyone will stop b*tching about Bhangra Comps being rigged or judges were a*sholes, etc.

HOW ABOUT IT??? ;D saala gandh paaya paya aa janta neh!!!

Because every competition would result in something along the lines of the battle of thermopolaye, with the winning team + their fans being the spartans, and EVERYONE else being the persians. There would be kunday and chimtay flying everwhere.

gall tan bai teri vi sahi aa, par hor koi ilaaz vi nahi eh faaltu di "bak bak" da ;D