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Describing Global and Regional Differences in Bhangra

Nikhil

New Member
Messages
881
How would you describe the way sets are put together and executed in different parts of the world?
I'm asking because I would like to hear how people describe how much Bhangra has expanded yet looks different in many parts of the world...

Also, in your own way, how do you explain how WE differentiate between what we use for competitions/exhibitions, and what fusion or bollywood teams would use for choreography?
 

ban3rg

Active Member
Messages
1,492
well its very hard to answer. its kinda like a question on a college application - open-ended and requires a long answer. each dance has "that something about it" which makes it distinct from the next.

indian dances we can all tell apart from the scenery, singer's voice and pronunc. and sometimes the costumes. the moves are pure, usually simple..and more repetitive. they may do a move for the full 8 beats, whereas in America more and more they will do it for 6 and then switch it up on you for the 7th and 8th or something. Phumania and mirza are generally what we would expect it to be, as is jhummar. squats are very heavily used. formations are GENERALLY predictable. DAVIET PTU was the first time I saw diagonal lines, "weird" or new moves, and variations from the norm. energy is always high octane and dancers have excellent expressions. cleanliness is usu. never an issue.

bollywood moves bhangra are often corny, helping further a story, or matching (cheesily sometimes) the lyrics of the song. In punjabi music videos and some bollywood songs like "nagada nagada", the Amitabh song from Veer-Zaara, and the wedding song (first song) in SIngh is Kinng, the bhangra dancers do one move over and over and are pretty much just in the background to enhance the mehfil.

american bhangra is generally more powerful and has moves that help to pump the audience up. indian bhangra doesn't really have this.

UK and AUS bhangra, i haven't seen enough to say. UK bhangra is somehow different, and AUS bhangra is similar to India's from what I've seen.

Canadian bhangra is very distinct. the way dancers kick back their legs (kickin' em out and back instead of straight back) and the way they move their arms (they swing them differently and do head movements more than american teams, perhaps).

all this has exceptions and requires more elaboration, which i might do over the weekend or something, haha.
 

Dippy

New Member
Messages
327
I def. see the regional differences in the style of bhangra. I know that west coast teams tend to implement more urban beats into their mixes and they add a lilttle west coast flavor in their dance. I've seen that canadian teams take it back to the roots and they use more traditional dance moves and expand their creativity through the old school dance steps. This is just what I have seen personally, but i think the location of where you live has a lot to do with how you dance and what styles you use. Here in the west coast we have a more urban hip-hop culture and you can see that in a lot of teams for cali. also in Canada they have hella dance academy's and instructors that know the roots of bhangra and that is the way its taught, therefore they have a more traditional flavor. I guess this doesn't hold true in all cases but thats my oppinion ;D
 

ENVY BANG-RUH

Let the music move you!!!!!
Messages
1,151
Arjun said:
american bhangra is generally more powerful and has moves that help to pump the audience up. indian bhangra doesn't really have this.

UK and AUS bhangra, i haven't seen enough to say. UK bhangra is somehow different, and AUS bhangra is similar to India's from what I've seen.

Canadian bhangra is very distinct. the way dancers kick back their legs (kickin' em out and back instead of straight back) and the way they move their arms (they swing them differently and do head movements more than american teams, perhaps).

all this has exceptions and requires more elaboration, which i might do over the weekend or something, haha.

Along the lines of different styles of bhangra from different countries, has anyone ever thought about doing something like a Bhangra World Cup or sumthing, prolly sounds stupid, buh i dont know, it came to me after i started reading the other thread about the NY community service comp.

USA
UK
Canada
Australia
India

Each country would have, lets say their 5 top teams compete. After a first round or sumthing, one team from each country would compete with eachother and be the Bhangra World Cup team, this would be wonderful because it would attract a lot more people, and it would also help bhangra get out to people who have never known about it in a larger scale. Finally, other then the prize money, all other profits, would be donated to some sort of International organization such as UNICEF or "The Invisible Children" organization.



Any thoughts?
 

Nikhil

New Member
Messages
881
That's an amazing idea, especially giving to a world renowned charity like UNICEF. Maybe there would be a charity that would donate to poverty and disease in the subcontinent of India including Pakistan.
I think such a competition would truly showcase the differences in those listed continents. The reason I started this topic was because I was on youtube checking out Nachda Sansaar from the UK. They had performed to a live dhol and singer, using kundeh and chimteh, but their movements were typical of modern bhangra or even V.I.B.E. from Vancouver. I thought it was so interesting because while I could see these similarities, it was still distinct. Their pagh's and turla were so different from what I have seen, which made me wonder if that was the style in Pakistani Punjab.

I would like to hear more thoughts on the distinction. I can't quite find the words to describe UK and Australia, so maybe you guys could find them for me haha
 

rajkaran

Member
Messages
720
I guess this kind of goes on topic...

but I can probably only give my two cents on the perception of bhangra in Thailand...

I've seen some "bhangra" performances at weddings and many of the people there have the conception that bhangra is quite literally a bunch of hands and feet flailing about to hardcore bhangra music (and the audience seems to love it). Many do not know that bhangra actually has traditional steps like jhummar, dhamaal, etc...For example, I showed a bhangra competition video to one of my cousins over there and he was blown away but couldn't tell the difference between a "modern" or traditional team. Additionally, i know of only a few people over there who are willing to put in time to actually learn bhangra. Hmm...maybe one summer I'll go over there and make a team haha...
 

ban3rg

Active Member
Messages
1,492
like this N Sansaar performance? it feels both traditional AND modern at times. sometimes it feels like OLLDDD school Learn 7 days bhangra...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGJ1PPjUy_g
 

rajkaran

Member
Messages
720
Arjun said:
like this N Sansaar performance? it feels both traditional AND modern at times. sometimes it feels like OLLDDD school Learn 7 days bhangra...
umm... R U referring to my prior post? If so....I'd say at least these guys know that certain moves go with certain dhol beats...they have some idea of what bhangra should look like...I havent met anyone in Thailand (or at least in the younger generation) that knows that jhummar is a bhangra step, or that sapps are used in bhangra, etc...many are still under the impression that Daler mehndi and the Rang De Basanti song are bhangra songs...haha

but then again...this is just my personal experience...there could be some secret underground bhangra world in thailand that i have no idea about...lol
 

Jas13

Member
Messages
103
Hey guys,

My name is Jasveer Singh. Im from Birmingham (UK) and have been dancing with Nachda Sansaar for 3 years now. Just like to answer a few of your questions. Pakistani bhangra dancers do not wear bhags, infact the bhag and torla style we wear is keeping the routes of the old days of pioneering British Bhangra, that of the 70's and 80's. We keep our style of costume and dancing distinct to show that while other teams change over the years and adhere to the demands of the public, we feel that we do not to need to change, we have not and will not. this year is our 25th year anniversary.
Check this video out guys, this was filmed in Sept 08, and broadcasted in Dec 08. Hope u enjoy. Im the dancer playing the dhol and the last one to do my solo piece of bhangra:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFlz76kG26M

Any more questions on UK bhangra, I will love to answer them.

Jasveer Singh

Nachda Sansaar
Birmingham Uni Bhangra Team (UoBhangra)
 

Temurzai

New Member
Messages
397
pritpal94 said:
Ermm...
1 question, what's up with the turlas?
prit....he specifically mentioned how they choose not to change their turley from the UK original style. i feel like u read things and it just does not register.
 
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