I had an issue with judging at BAB, and even if this makes me unpopular amongst the judges (3 of 4 who are my friends/acquintances), I need to call them out on what we feel is absolutely unacceptable feedback. At the mixer, two of the GJ captains were in the meeting with the judges. Based on the meeting, the judges brought up the following points:
1. They were going to be extremely "transparent" in their judging. This majority of the opening conversations dwelt on the fact that PCBCA had to go up against music teams because of the other live teams dropping. They said that they were looking for "Bhangra over gimmicks" when the traditional vs modern question came up. Also, please note that the rubric explicitly states "Gimmicks, , etc shall not be counted as creativity".
2. They were specifically watching for everyone to dance as a team, and no dancer should stand out. They stressed the importance of cleanliness and coordinated execution amongst the team.
3. They brought up the importance of respecting props and said they would dock points if props were violently tossed, kicked away, or touched with feet.
4. They spoke on the importance of nakhre, with everyone in the front giving the same nakhre as those int he back (consistency at all times of the routine).
Below is our video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3uCq4i-CZA
After the performance, 3 of the GJ captains (1 of whom was also in the judges meeting) met with the judges. The judges gave the following negative/deductions feedback (one of the captains was writing all the comments down verbatim on her phone):
1. "You went too hard with your saaps".
2. "Too much was going on during the daang segment".
3. "We liked your jhummar, but did not like your jhummar gimmick".
4. "Since you are a co-ed team, you need more jodi interaction in jhummar".
5. "Your backs were bent too much during fasla".
6. "You should not have started with 4 dancers on stage, and then built up to 16. It looked bad that you slowed down the music to get 8 more dancers on stage". Another judge specifically stated, "Only certain teams can go 16 - it would have probably been to your advantage to go 12".
7. "Energy was inconsistent between dancers in the front and the back - your dancers gave 105% in the front and 95% in the back".
8. "Overall, your execution of moves was poor".
They also brought up the usual issues such as mistakes, etc. which I agree with. It is also important to note that they did bring up positives and specifically mention that they thought our chimta player added to our performance, which was a huge boost to her confidence and development as a dancer.
Here are my issues:
1. When did your Ustaad ji's ever tell you that you shouldn't clap them hard or open them too wide? I also don't think its a stretch to say that the placing teams went "harder" than us in saaps - just go watch the videos. Absolutely subjective feedback, which is not how a judge is supposed to judge.
2. Completely agree that it can always be cleaner, but to say that "too much was going on", especially considering that every person was doing the same choreography to the segment referred to, really doesn't make a whole of lot sense to me.
3. This goes back to the original judges meeting - they specifically said that they would emphasize "bhangra over gimmicks" when watching the routine, but instead, heavily focused on our use of gimmicks in their critique. Again, ill leave it up to everyone to watch the placing teams' videos about their use of gimmicks.
4. So a co-ed team is supposed to have more jodi interaction than an all guys team - simply because they are a co-ed team? When did that become a rule in bhangra? Also, please note that almost our entire second jhummar song was looking at the jodi (16 beats) and first jhummar song had 8 beats of looking as well. We got this same feedback from them last year and specifically added more jodi interaction into this year's routine. Once again, how is this "objective" judging?
5. Not sure where these judges learned bhangra, but as we were taught from the PAU Agriculture University bhangra lineage, this is how we learned to do fasla. This style of bending and doing fasla is not particularly unique, as the dancers in the BTF instructional videos also mirror our style (just one example that comes to mind).
6. So who made the rule that going 16 should be judged any differently than 12? COMPLETELY subjective.
7. Watch our video, watch the other teams, and then please tell me how this comment is valid.
8. Watch our video, watch the other teams, and then please tell me how this comment is valid.
My goal of posting this is not to compare ourselves against any other teams - we worry about our own flaws, not others'. My issue is the blatantly subjective comments from the judges and their lack of consistency from the pre-competition meeting to the post-performance feedback. I would like for the judges to own up to their comments and explain them publicly, because at this point, their comments discouraged our dancers from continuing with bhangra, especially the newer ones. By no means was our performance perfect - if any of you have ever talked to me, you will know that I am the harshest bhangra critic out there (ask Hardeep haha). But the critiques from "qualified" judges should at least be valid.
Lastly, don't place this on any of my dancers - if you are going to hate on this post, do it directed towards ME. I am the one posting, not them. So go ahead judges - let's hear it.
1. They were going to be extremely "transparent" in their judging. This majority of the opening conversations dwelt on the fact that PCBCA had to go up against music teams because of the other live teams dropping. They said that they were looking for "Bhangra over gimmicks" when the traditional vs modern question came up. Also, please note that the rubric explicitly states "Gimmicks, , etc shall not be counted as creativity".
2. They were specifically watching for everyone to dance as a team, and no dancer should stand out. They stressed the importance of cleanliness and coordinated execution amongst the team.
3. They brought up the importance of respecting props and said they would dock points if props were violently tossed, kicked away, or touched with feet.
4. They spoke on the importance of nakhre, with everyone in the front giving the same nakhre as those int he back (consistency at all times of the routine).
Below is our video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3uCq4i-CZA
After the performance, 3 of the GJ captains (1 of whom was also in the judges meeting) met with the judges. The judges gave the following negative/deductions feedback (one of the captains was writing all the comments down verbatim on her phone):
1. "You went too hard with your saaps".
2. "Too much was going on during the daang segment".
3. "We liked your jhummar, but did not like your jhummar gimmick".
4. "Since you are a co-ed team, you need more jodi interaction in jhummar".
5. "Your backs were bent too much during fasla".
6. "You should not have started with 4 dancers on stage, and then built up to 16. It looked bad that you slowed down the music to get 8 more dancers on stage". Another judge specifically stated, "Only certain teams can go 16 - it would have probably been to your advantage to go 12".
7. "Energy was inconsistent between dancers in the front and the back - your dancers gave 105% in the front and 95% in the back".
8. "Overall, your execution of moves was poor".
They also brought up the usual issues such as mistakes, etc. which I agree with. It is also important to note that they did bring up positives and specifically mention that they thought our chimta player added to our performance, which was a huge boost to her confidence and development as a dancer.
Here are my issues:
1. When did your Ustaad ji's ever tell you that you shouldn't clap them hard or open them too wide? I also don't think its a stretch to say that the placing teams went "harder" than us in saaps - just go watch the videos. Absolutely subjective feedback, which is not how a judge is supposed to judge.
2. Completely agree that it can always be cleaner, but to say that "too much was going on", especially considering that every person was doing the same choreography to the segment referred to, really doesn't make a whole of lot sense to me.
3. This goes back to the original judges meeting - they specifically said that they would emphasize "bhangra over gimmicks" when watching the routine, but instead, heavily focused on our use of gimmicks in their critique. Again, ill leave it up to everyone to watch the placing teams' videos about their use of gimmicks.
4. So a co-ed team is supposed to have more jodi interaction than an all guys team - simply because they are a co-ed team? When did that become a rule in bhangra? Also, please note that almost our entire second jhummar song was looking at the jodi (16 beats) and first jhummar song had 8 beats of looking as well. We got this same feedback from them last year and specifically added more jodi interaction into this year's routine. Once again, how is this "objective" judging?
5. Not sure where these judges learned bhangra, but as we were taught from the PAU Agriculture University bhangra lineage, this is how we learned to do fasla. This style of bending and doing fasla is not particularly unique, as the dancers in the BTF instructional videos also mirror our style (just one example that comes to mind).
6. So who made the rule that going 16 should be judged any differently than 12? COMPLETELY subjective.
7. Watch our video, watch the other teams, and then please tell me how this comment is valid.
8. Watch our video, watch the other teams, and then please tell me how this comment is valid.
My goal of posting this is not to compare ourselves against any other teams - we worry about our own flaws, not others'. My issue is the blatantly subjective comments from the judges and their lack of consistency from the pre-competition meeting to the post-performance feedback. I would like for the judges to own up to their comments and explain them publicly, because at this point, their comments discouraged our dancers from continuing with bhangra, especially the newer ones. By no means was our performance perfect - if any of you have ever talked to me, you will know that I am the harshest bhangra critic out there (ask Hardeep haha). But the critiques from "qualified" judges should at least be valid.
Lastly, don't place this on any of my dancers - if you are going to hate on this post, do it directed towards ME. I am the one posting, not them. So go ahead judges - let's hear it.