SGupta7 said:
Also should be noted that a lot of competitions out there are promoting entertainment value over dancing.
There's a reason why shows are promoting entertainment value. I've had a lot of family members, friends, etc. come to our competitions, or shows (Pao Bhangra) to watch - and they all say the same thing: "
After a while, every performance looks the same." I can understand their stance - 8 teams bringing similar, "folk" (no one knows what folk means as Faizan delineated in his earlier post) sets can feel hackneyed. What I, personally, enjoyed about the performances at WBBC, is that teams were able to differentiate - when not held to any "bounds," teams were free to define themselves in whatever way they felt like.
Emphasizing entertainment is not necessarily a bad thing - it's what has kept the audience numbers at WBBC growing (and what has kept Blowout numbers shrinking). Look, the most number of BTF members online ever at any point is
501- our giant, all-knowing, ubiquitous circuit is much smaller than many people come to realize. If a competition is interested in keeping the other 1,000 (non BTF members) entertained at their show - who's to blame them?
Shawn makes an excellent point - what competitions reward via money & hardware can have a big impact on what performances they bring next. In my personal experience: After not placing at Blowout 19 for being "too modern", Kartik and I tried to bring a more traditional set to T Dot Bhangra 2012 -
it worked (in some sense). We won, got money, went to burgh, got second, got money & trophies. But at the same time, we didn't get nearly the crowd reaction that we loved, and still looked back at our blowout set as one of our favorites - hence the path to WBBC and the performance that we brought last year - but that's only because the WBBC rubric was accepting/appreciative of all styles. As Shawn's point proves, if a competition like WBBC had a myopic rubric that only appreciated one style, teams would bring that style (to win, get money, etc.). Yes, there are some teams that would bring whatever style regardless of the rubric - but they are badass. Collegiate teams need the money to keep traveling, to allow for more opportunities, and to purchase capital. So yes - competitions and judges have a huge role in defining what teams do. AKA:
Don't hate the player, hate the game.
At the same time, it's important to remember that it goes both ways. Motor City seemed to be very preferential of one style: one that is thought of as "traditional" & "folk" (once again refer to Faizan's post, I love it). I heard that teams that got standing ovations did not even place - this can discourage teams from bringing their crowd pleasing sets, and tone it down to one that is appreciated by that specific competition & judges (not saying that this is a bad thing, just providing an analysis).
Anyways, I'll go back to tying this Chaadra, can someone hand me a Safety Pind
~Anik
