This was our first time at MCB, and we absolutely loved it! Below is our review:
Prior to Arrival
We were accepted to the competition one week before the competition, so it was pretty hectic on my end getting everything together and going through the university bureaucracy. Gary was unbelievably good during this whole process. He was available 24/7 via text, and any question I had, he answered very quickly and efficiently. There was never a moment that he didn’t know what was going on—he knew every little thing about the competition, and this was a huge help in preparing for it. We ended up booking the hotel next door to the team hotel, but this wasn’t a big deal since they were literally five seconds from each other.
Mixer
Great mixer—there was a nice judges performance, and then the teams got together and performed as well (three people from each team). Food was absolutely amazing (Indian food), and there was a videographer taping the whole event (along with a backdrop for pictures). Overall an amazing time and one of the best mixers we have been to. It didn’t run late, and was well organized. After the mixer, there was a judges meeting for all the captains which was very helpful for all last-minute questions.
Tech Time
There was a slight delay in Tech Time, but it didn’t make that big of a difference. Everything was set up and in order for tech time. There were 10 minutes of tech time, which was enough to practice setting up efficiently and do a full run-through.
Practice Space
There were two primary practice spaces—after the mixer, each team got a small (about 3/5ths the size of the stage) area in the hotel to practice for around half an hour. We couldn’t play the dhol here, but it was nice to have this space reserved for us and to not fight with any other teams for the space. In addition, there was a communal practice space before/after tech time. There were about three teams sharing a large room, which was enough for each time to go over choreo in a small part of the room and have the dholis take turns playing.
Competition and Show
Venue was absolutely beautiful. Show started a little late, but really not a big deal. All boys were in the aforementioned large practice area tying paghs, and the girls were in dressing rooms. It was really nice to have everyone getting ready in the same area because it allowed us to help each other with pagha (shoutout to my boy Harry from GMU for tying the best pagh on me) and easily borrow starch, freeze-spary, etc. The show itself was flawless, and there was a judges performance right after the show. Gary and Pind Productions were excellent MCs, and our liaison (Krupa) was absolutely amazing [case and point, she got us tons of Gatorade and bananas at like 1 AM the night before the performance]. Performers were easily allowed to enter the balcony from backstage, so that let us watch other performances as well. Our dholi loved the setup since he was mic-ed well and there were studio monitor speakers on the stage for him. Stage dimensions were provided in detail by Gary before the competition, so there was no confusion when it came to that.
Judging
To reiterate what Jasraj said, the judging panel was amazing (see here
http://motorcitybhangra.net/judges-2014/). They all had significant experience with folk Bhangra teams, and truly epitomized what this competition stood for. They followed the rubric very well, and afterwards, had an in-depth judging meeting that gave us critiques that were so detailed we had never heard of them before. Would definitely suggest other competitions hire these judges to gain a different perspective on Bhangra in the judging process.
After Party
For captains, going to the after-party was a little rushed since we got out of the captains meeting very late. The venue also closed kind of early (around 2 AM) and was kind of squished, but that was definitely an issue with the venue itself (not with the organization of the afterparty). One thing I loved about this (and about the comp in general) was that they provided really nice shuttles for going from the hotel to the performance venue and back, and also from the hotel to the after-party and back. The bus ride itself was a party, and we really enjoyed meeting other teams at the afterparty.
Overall
An unbelievably amazing experience. This was our first time at a competition that focused so heavily on folk Bhangra, and our team absolutely loved it. We received critiques from the judges that we never heard in the past from non-traditionaly judges, and these critiques will really help us in the competitions to come. We really appreciate Gary’s undying flexibility in accommodating us on such a short notice. The other teams at the competition inspired members of our team to keep our performances traditional and be ambassadors of traditional Bhangra as it began. The organizers had a vision and a passion that was translated throughout the years and is extremely well executed, and this vision is what makes MCB a very unique competition unlike any other.
Would definitely love to come back next year!
Sincerely,
Raghav
Spartan Bhangra, Case Western Reserve University
