NA vs UK

[sumeetj]

It's hard to get these kids to hate other teams and have the passion to push themselves to be better than other people.

My first comp I went to, there were two little fellas on my team who were talking to another team member, before we went on stage, telling them how we sucked and we were going to lose. If I'm not mistaken, that's what you should be telling the other teams lol.



Back then the mentality was much more pendu, and it was about pride and dignity. Today it's about the number of people you can add on facebook and snapchat at a comp.

hatred and feeling negatively about your competition isn't the only fuel to success (and that's not just related to bhangra). respect what others do, and if you want to, aim to be better than them at it. there are plenty of teams out there with great people on it that i enjoy hanging out with the whole competition weekend, but at the same time, i would love nothing more than to outdance them and have the team i'm with destroy theirs come stage time. i know you and many other dancers have enough passion for bhangra to get amped up to compete while still being friendly.

i do agree though that for the most part, the pre-comp mixers suck haha

 

[Ravi_N2D]

I think that a lot of valid points have been raised in this thread but I disagree with people comparing recent sets to those of 4/5 years ago. I agree that in 2010 and 2011, some iconic teams produced sets that I still watch regularly because they're just straight up SICK but a lot of things have changed in the scene since then and unfortunately we just don't see performances like that anymore.
The scene in all of our countries is constantly changing and you can see this from the different types of sets that win each competition. In NA, for example, the best team depends on which competition you enter. Some will expect the teams to produce traditional and folk-oriented sets whereas others will award points for more gimmicky concepts such as circus gimmicks/references to the competition name. Now the UK (as has been mentioned previously) is a much smaller and more condensed circuit so it doesn't have the capacity to support multiple professional competitions based around different rubrics so yeah a lot of the stuff coming out of our scene has similar influences. ATM, every serious competitive team in the UK that I can think of is aiming at a completely gimmick-free, pure bhangra, folk-oriented routine (and the rubrics reflect this) but who knows what style the scene will be going for in a few years. Only 3 years ago, university teams were doing all sorts of gimmicks (massive ipods/umbrellas/fake id's) but even our uni scene has followed the same route as our professional teams and gone more folk, as can be seen from the TBS/Capital videos from this year and last.
In terms of comparing the countries, it would only make sense to have teams of similar style compete against each other, so for example pitting the best UK teams against the best traditional teams in NA. Would be nice to see the likes of virsa, pcbca, njw, jj competing against UK teams as opposed to the more gimmicky teams.
In terms of live, NA has produced some crazy dhol sets, and mad props to the teams doing them year in year out, something that needs to happen more often in the UK. I personally have a lot of respect for Vasda Punjab for doing what they do and I don't think any dhol set I've seen from NA has been on the same level but of course that's entirely subjective*. I'm more excited by the idea of an all live international competition!


*The views expressed here are mine, in case it wasn't implied.

 

[jasraj93]

"Even a deer could run the jungle til the lion comes" hahahahaha!

 

[yomamajama]

njw >all of uk

 

[Japi7]

I personally have a lot of respect for Vasda Punjab for doing what they do and I don't think any dhol set I've seen from NA has been on the same level but of course that's entirely subjective*. I'm more excited by the idea of an all live international competition!

Leh, karlo gal lol

 

[Saab]

I'm just happy this is a discussion. Good shot in the arm for the circuit and community involvement.

Seems like the live comp, when it happens, is gonna be a global affair

 

[rsingh88]

"UK is not even close to NA yet. Set creation in UK is great and up there, but will phase itself out very soon. Every team is using the same algorithm to make their sets. UK dancing has much more flair and pop, however stylistically, the technique is far from what ideal technique, which bhangra teams strive for, should be. Even if you watch JVD at WBBC, the arm movements are about getting from A to B, but all the grace and power in between A and B is missing. UK teams are very very very smart about the steps they utilize and how they execute them. They are innately robotic, but they do an excellent job of hiding that."

Same algorithm - US are guilty of that too, just look at the sets that have been coming out over the past few years.


Technique lacking - who is the overall authority on how bhangra should be executed? Some of the way UK, NA even India teams execute things I think look absolutely awful. But that doesn't mean I'm right. I think you execute moves the way you think looks good. Inevitably, others wont agree, but I dont think anyone is right or wrong. It's really obvious when a team is executing particularly poorly. But for the teams that have a decent amount of experience, I think it becomes more of a difference of opinion.


I agree with a very early post by someone saying it is a bit silly to generalise and say NA>UK>Canada etc etc. I think now we're at a stage where some of the best NA and UK teams could go head to head and it would be a great competition. That wouldn't have been the case a few years ago, it would have been a NA whitewash. I also agree with whoever said Australia is currently where UK was a couple of years ago. Australian teams will go through the same learning curve as NA and UK have and that will be great to see.


It's been nice to be part of the evolution of UK bhangra here, from a crappy stuff that we did in the late 2000's to where we are now. I am likely biased but I think the best TBC (UK comp) performances of the night are some of the most enjoyable bhangra sets to watch of the entire year, including the stuff that's come out of NA.


I generally dont watch many routines anymore but if I do fancy watching an NA routine, I'll always go back to elite 8 2011, SGPD E8 2012 and the live competitions. Nowadays, it feels like a lot of NA sets are essentially 7 minute ending routines, with jhoomer in the middle, which isn't my cup of tea.