Form Evolution

[scaplash]

I have been meaning to get a discussion going on this-I have been watching videos for some time and have noticed an interesting shift in execution of footwork in bhangra-at least from my perspective.
A LOT of teams, whether they are independent or collegiate seem to be adopting a style of wide legs throughout scuffs and dhamaal. People work so hard to get wide and low that sometimes execution through all four beats ends up lacking. And this wide and low style is not something I had seen as much in videos past. What makes it interesting is that I spent 6 weeks in Ludhiana this past summer and worked with a member of GGN Khalsa's Bhangra Team, a team that consistently vies for the top spot with Patiala University in Bhangra-and at no point was wide ANYTHING emphasized.

The whole point of this is I wanted to get the perspectives from people in the circuit as to how/why it happened and why it seems to deviate so much from the mind-set I encountered in India.
-Sonny

 

[hardeep_singh]

people tend to generalize live bhangra in punjab and assume that it is all homogenized but if you really watch the performances you can see stylistic differences between teams. just like the way empire executes their "bhangra" moves defines their identity on the dance floor these stylistic differences between live teams highlight their unique traditions and identities, from my perspective. in the US i believe most teams decided to trend towards the wider stance style because it was different from the typical collegiate style, it looked better aesthetically and is more difficult especially with the trend towards extending moves further(your comment about execution).

ggn khalsa college ludhiana - neutral stance execution
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-OJRoFvOPo

sggs khalsa college chandigarh - wide stance execution
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkUjUEuI4Y4

 

[siddyp]

The whole point of this is I wanted to get the perspectives from people in the circuit as to how/why it happened and why it seems to deviate so much from the mind-set I encountered in India.
-Sonny

I really think it's up to the team and how they want to execute. everyone has different ideas as to what they believe to be the best looking stance on stage. teams will sync their dancers to what they want.

There are plenty of things that differ from team to team. When teams do punjab footwork, do they cross their foot over the other or not? Take a look at the way teams do pataka/dhamaka. it seems like everyone does it a tad different.

I believe it will continue to evolve/change/be different from team to team in the effort to become the cleanest/dance the best/look the biggest/etc.

 

[scaplash]

Thanks for the videos Hardeep! And the response Sid- I think what I am trying to get at is-why? Why do we execute the way we do? Are we following a source? is it teams from India? Teams who are successful in the circuit? I know that many collegiate teams end up following the hottest independent team at the time and mimicking their form-because that is just what we feel ends up working. For example-Why do we want to look big? Is this something ustaads have told independent teams and then they did it and now collegiate teams have mimicked that? Why does what looks good differ even in interpretation in India? I guess I'm trying to get the conversation going about why we change form the way we do-for example by my logic if the top two bhangra teams in the country are doing it a certain way, to me that means that their style and form and naachre are ideal-one that has been repeatedly favored by traditional bhangra judges-so why not do that when executing the dance form? Yeah we can do some fun and unique choreo, but the basics like dhamaal, scuffs, punjabs should stay the same.

 

[siddyp]

folks have learned it from Ustaads/india teams/previous captains etc. Back when I got onto btf, the way india teams were executing was thought of as ideal and teams did try to emulate that. I definitely think that other teams look to the best teams and try to emulate what they do as well. It's successful right? so why not do what they're doing? success leaves clues.

Ustaads may have told their teams to change up their stance and dance bigger. Why? Because the Ustaad believes it to be more aesthetically pleasing. I can't say for sure, because I don't know.. but what other reason could it be?

If we look at every team out there, there are differences in the way we dance. I can speak for my own team, FCB, we don't look at other teams and choose to do moves the way they do. We execute what we believe to be the most fitting for what we want from the specific step. It does help that myself and fellow captains have been around and seen moves done in many different ways with different stances/arm positions/body posture. But having seen all of that allowed us to identify what we believe to be the best way to perform each step.

Everyone will have different opinions and want to do it different ways and that to me is a good thing.

And to your point about the successful teams having a style that the judges like:

I think there are basics of Bhangra that the best teams have down pat across all their dancers, some of which include: everyone being in sync, lines being lines, executing steps fully and not finishing early, good stamina, vardi/paghs looking really good and not just "being on", shoulders bouncing and I could name more.

But Furteelay and Fauj do dhamaal differently. How wide their arms are, hand position, how far they lean back in their body posture, the way they angle their body, and more.

What I'm getting at is, there are basics that hold true to Bhangra that the best teams do well. But to say that there is or should be a unified way of doing a step just doesn't seem reasonable or possible. I still think both teams decide what they believe to be the best way to perform dhamaal and they do it that way.

Great discussion! I wish this kind of topic was brought up when I was a younger dancer.

 

[sumeetj]

i think judges influence this too - for example, i know some judges that really do advocate a wide, low dancing style. after going to a competition and getting critiqued by a judge saying that, one would probably incorporate into their teams execution, and pass the advice on etc

 

[Gabbah Shareef Bhalwan]

Go Huskies.

What makes it interesting is that I spent 6 weeks in Ludhiana this past summer and worked with a member of GGN Khalsa's Bhangra Team, a team that consistently vies for the top spot with Patiala University in Bhangra-and at no point was wide ANYTHING emphasized.

Yes, that wide leg thing is weird compared to what’s generally done in India.


I don’t know the specifics of how it developed in America. You’ll have to go through and do a survey. Watch some of the videos from 70s - 80s - 90s in the pinned “Visual History” thread.
This has no scientific value at all but, my very subjective impression was that it was some American/Canadian dudes of a bro persuasion trying to be adamant about how Jattly their thighs are and how much more tough they were than the piddly Gujjus and Madrasis who they thought were making their Punjabi bhangra too femme and inauthentic.
Happy to have that wild perception corrected though, with evidence.