Favorite Judges

[Howie Magz]

Hey BTF,

With all the recent feedback on judging in the circuit I thought we let the circuit speak as to their past judging experiences. Wanted to see who are some of the judges that people feel are qualified to judge and those that you have had a terrible experience with. All honesty is welcome.

 

[sahab]

Howie, Sid, Ankush, Reeda, Varun, Kuntal, Gsimz, Ericpreet, Ampal, Sahil, Varun, Ram FCB, Keshav, Harjot ASD, HK, Nana, Sahil Mehta, Guriqbal Vancity, Cherag, Kinnel

That’s just a few off the top of my head. There are def more that I forgot

#ReviveUOB

 

[UmerQureshi96]

My bad experiences are usually, but not always, with first-time judges at big comps like Burgh, Bruin, etc. Not saying that every first time judge is like that but your first time judging shouldn't be at a comp with a huge ass name with hard ass lineups. Get your feet wet at a smaller comps

 

[skakadiya10]

Being apart of a smaller collegiate team and finally getting out of the southeast this year to compete, I can say without a doubt that Varan R., Cherag S., Jindy S., Rohit B., Ace M., and Sahab G. are some of the top judges out there. For 2-3 years we've been getting feedback that's bland like "y'all need to practice more" or "execution could be better". But judges never went into depth on what we need to practice and where our execution could be better. Being on a small team we want to get better and learn what we did wrong and what we did right so we can compete on big stages and push our passion for bhangra further. The 6 judges I named above provided valuable feedback when we performed at AKD and Buckeye Mela and also seemed like they cared about our set, and offered to provide more detailed feedback outside the judges meeting if we were to reach out to them. They care about bhangra and want to help teams, which is something I personally value a lot.

 

[Howie Magz]

Having been in the circuit for a while I have a good list of judges who come to mind that have always provided excellent feedback. My List is a bit more Old School for some of the younger cats.

People who have judged me that provided excellent feedback:

1. Sid Pandit (FCB)
2. Kuntal Shah (UNC/KPGD)
3. Ankush Vermani (AEG)
4. Ashita Stephen (DCBC)
5. Cherag Selhi (FAUJ)
6. Gurpreet Dhaliwal (BK/AG)
7. Reeda Saleem (SMD)
8. ASG (SGPD)
9. Harry Kainth (NYPD)

People who I have judged with who provide good feedback and should continue judging

1. Keshav Mantha (BDS)
2. Harjot Kaur (ASD)
3. Harkiran Khullar (PANJ)

People who should be judging/Judging more based off of what they have done for the circuit:

1. Gsimz Singh (Furteelay)
2. Arun Singh (Furteelay)
3. Sahab Grover (Furteelay)
4. Harjot Singh (NJ)
5. Umer Qureshi (FCB)
6. Sahil Dadoo (UNC)
7. Dilbagh Nagi (VSB)
8. Harry Jaghi (VSB)
9. Sumit Hira (BK)

Probably missing a bunch more, but some thoughts

 

[saagarm]

People I think that could be great judges that don't get credit they deserve:

Dhir Patwa (FCB)
Rishaan Sharma (FCB)
Harjot Singh (NJ)
Sahil Dadoo (FCB)
Akash Bansal (FCB)
Sumeet Jindal (FCB)
Udgeetha (CMU)
Tejasvir Singh Rekhi (FCB not CMU tejas)
Ampal Kaur (Alamo City)
Lavesh Pritmani (Learn Bhangra)
Tanya Talwar (CMU)
Angela Luo (DRP/DDR)
Luvreet Sangha (DRP)

These are some people that have been dancing and creating sets for years that don't get a lot of credit for it. Wanna bump 'em and show future comps a good list of people to reach out to.

 

[Shahrukh]

Id say half of the 50 names you listed here aren't even qualified to judge but even they are miles ahead of the no names that end up judging sometimes. Organizers should be held accountable for not doing their research.

 

[Saab]

My list:

1. Sid pandit - FCB
2. kuntal shah - kpgd
3. Angela luo - whatever team she's on right now
4. kinnell shah - if he's alive
5. Reeda Saleem - smd
6. Preet chahal - bk
7. hK - auntie bhangra squad

There are more, I'm sure, but always appreciated the details from these folks.

Would look forward to newer names!

 

[hardeep_singh]

let's be real everyone is just going to post names of people they happen to be friends with. the bhangra circuit has always been a circlejerk of similar personalities, all the while everyone talks shit about each other behind closed doors and in private social media groups. what the circuit needs is more raw-ness, judging feedback shouldn't be candy coated, it should be harsh and direct. more public sh#t talking would also be beneficial, of course you won't make many friends talking sh#t publicly but at least it would be an expression of real perception without being weighted down by the bias of personal connection.

 

[Kaur]

I also think that just because you danced for 20yrs, or have been a coach of a team that doesn't necessarily mean you will make a great judge. I think teams members who clean their teams, fix execution etc usually make great judges.

I have judged a lot with some great judges:

1. Ram (FCB)
2. Howie (AEG)
3. Sumit Hira (BK)
4. Ankush (AEG)

 

[hardeep_singh]

I also think that just because you danced for 20yrs, or have been a coach of a team that doesn't necessarily mean you will make a great judge. I think teams members who clean their teams, fix execution etc usually make great judges.

I have judged a lot with some great judges:

1. Ram (FCB)
2. Howie (AEG)
3. Sumit Hira (BK)
4. Ankush (AEG)

inversely i have no bhangra accolades to speak of and would judge better than everyone listed in this thread. come at me

 

[Shahrukh]

inversely i have no bhangra accolades to speak of and would judge better than everyone listed in this thread. come at me

I think you would judge better than most names on these lists as well.

 

[yomamajama]

inversely i have no bhangra accolades to speak of and would judge better than everyone listed in this thread. come at me

Ya you would be a good judge. Judge every comp you can. But don’t do it if your not getting paid; your value is too much.

 

[Kaashmoney]

Definitely agree with a lot of names on the above lists.

My list: Sid, Ram, Cherag, Varan, Kuntal, HK, Howie, ASG, Reeda, Kinnell, Sahab.

The ability to give constructive feedback is easily one of the most important parts of being able to judge and all mentioned above do a great job of that.

These are just some, there are too many more to name.

 

[khehra36]

I personally think that there is just not one thing that can define who is a good judge and who is a bad judge. I have seen people with years of bhangra background when they step up on stage as a judge they are not able to do justice and have also seen people that have danced for few years ended up being really good. I think what makes a good judge is not just pointing out mistakes in a set. I strongly believe any team that come into the judges meeting have already seen their videos these days before coming into the meeting and already know where they messed up. A judge is someone who should be able to provide feedback on what a team can do to get better and use their experience to guide the newbies towards a direction where Bhangra can continue to grow.

But all this is only possible if you as a team have the right mindset to listen to the feedback and then decide what is write or wrong. What is happening these days and I have seen that at a number of competition that judges are not respected at all and their judgement is questioned even before they are given the chance to explain why they judged the way they did and scored the teams the way they did.

What I have learned throughout my career in Bhangra is that its a collective team effort. An organizer should understand what rubric is being presented to the teams and judges should be picked according to the rubric that is designed so they can cater to what the committee and the teams are going to bring. What I have seen sometimes happening is competitions end up bringing well known judging names to their competition just based on the reputation in circuit but their knowledge doesn't go with the rubric that the committee designed and that can create issues for the overall competition.

I am learning this as I go and looking to improve on the selection of the panel. Just want the other competitions to do the same because teams work really hard and come long ways to perform to not get the placing they deserve is definitely disheartening. I would at the same times request the teams as well that just because you didn't place first doesn't mean that you go into the meetings with a mindset of not caring what the judges have to say.

For every mother their son is born a star... just like that for every captain their team should have placed first.

So koshish karo ke end the end of the day Bhangra di jitt hove.. Bhangra nu pyaar te respect karo te jo v bhangra naal judiya ohnu v respect karo... duniya aape thonu pyaar karegi.


Thanks

 

[Akash_M]

What I have learned throughout my career in Bhangra is that its a collective team effort. An organizer should understand what rubric is being presented to the teams and judges should be picked according to the rubric that is designed so they can cater to what the committee and the teams are going to bring. What I have seen sometimes happening is competitions end up bringing well known judging names to their competition just based on the reputation in circuit but their knowledge doesn't go with the rubric that the committee designed and that can create issues for the overall competition.

10000% agree with this. During my time as director of Naach di Cleveland we made sure that the judging committee that we selected was comfortable with the rubric our competition was trying to adhere to before confirming them as to maintain the identity of our competition. I truly think that selected judges should also be a part of the rubric creation process alongside the competition board so that the vision for the competition is unified as well.

Something else that was brought up is that it is hard to avoid having judges with relationships to competing teams - I agree with this as well, but I think it is on the competition boards to communicate any situations like this with the rest of the teams to ensure they are aware of the situation and to hear any concerns/ take any actions deemed necessary as a result. This is more so directed at competitions that select judges prior to confirming the competitive lineup (although I think this should be the norm - teams should be excited to see who is judging and having a solid judging panel should attract teams to apply).

But again I think root cause of most of the issues described on the this thread can be pinpointed on competition boards not being aware of the circuit and people who are so-called "qualified" to judge. I do think UBJ was a good idea, but in reality I feel adding that much regulation and nitpicking over who and who cant judge will just lead to more problems and less enjoyment. This happened in the fusion circuit with a board determining qualified judges and there was a lot of negative backlash to the requirements to be a "qualified" judge and such and this definitely led to people who couldve well provided great feedback to teams to not apply for judging positions anymore.

I am learning this as I go and looking to improve on the selection of the panel. Just want the other competitions to do the same because teams work really hard and come long ways to perform to not get the placing they deserve is definitely disheartening. I would at the same times request the teams as well that just because you didn't place first doesn't mean that you go into the meetings with a mindset of not caring what the judges have to say.

I think for the most part teams these days are way more responsive to receiving feedback and utilizing the comments they get from the judges to improve their set creation and such but I do agree that there are still numerous situations in which it seems teams just complain because they didn't get a placing they thought they deserved and then disregard comments. This is a toxic mentality that definitely needs to stop. every team is working their ass off to put the best set forward, and just because you think your team worked hard enough to deserve a trophy doesnt mean other teams didnt put in just as much time on their sets. When you complain about placings like this you basically invalidate those teams -they deserve better than that if we want to think of ourselves as community that tries to support each other as dancers.

 

[RKS]

Having been in the circuit for a while I have a good list of judges who come to mind that have always provided excellent feedback. My List is a bit more Old School for some of the younger cats.

People who have judged me that provided excellent feedback:

1. Sid Pandit (FCB)
2. Kuntal Shah (UNC/KPGD)
3. Ankush Vermani (AEG)
4. Ashita Stephen (DCBC)
5. Cherag Selhi (FAUJ)
6. Gurpreet Dhaliwal (BK/AG)
7. Reeda Saleem (SMD)
8. ASG (SGPD)
9. Harry Kainth (NYPD)

People who I have judged with who provide good feedback and should continue judging

1. Keshav Mantha (BDS)
2. Harjot Kaur (ASD)
3. Harkiran Khullar (PANJ)

People who should be judging/Judging more based off of what they have done for the circuit:

1. Gsimz Singh (Furteelay)
2. Arun Singh (Furteelay)
3. Sahab Grover (Furteelay)
4. Harjot Singh (NJ)
5. Umer Qureshi (FCB)
6. Sahil Dadoo (UNC)
7. Dilbagh Nagi (VSB)
8. Harry Jaghi (VSB)
9. Sumit Hira (BK)

Probably missing a bunch more, but some thoughts

This is so true. Good judges provide actionable feedback.

Being told you didn't place because someone fell is completely useless. But feed back on mirza form, or set complexity actually help non-placing teams improve.