Nachde Nashville 2016 Reviews/Feedback

[Nachde Nashville]

For anyone who was at Nachde Nashville this past weekend, the Nachde Nashville Committee would love to hear your thoughts on the competition. We invite everyone to post a review on this thread and we look forward to hearing your critique!


Thank you to all who competed and attended. It was a successful and wonderful weekend.

Thanks,
NN Committee

 

[Howie Magz]

First of I want to say that Nachde Nashville has always been a great time for me and the rest of MBT. Tushita, Lekha, and the rest of the executive board did an even better job this year. I thought this year you guys have went above and beyond in throwing this competition. Having GTV come and having one of the best lineups of the year made this competition very worthwhile. Shoutout to the BhangraDores too. You guys have gotten tremendously better from last year and it reflected in your Exhibition performance. Keep it up and well be seeing yall competing in the circuit soon! MBT loved the mixer venue and how smooth the show ran. Our liasons Justin, Chelsea, and Mitin were unbelievable in the amount of support and help they provided us throughout the weekend. Anything we needed they went out and got it in a heartbeat. They made this weekend very stress free and fun overall so shout out to them as liasons. This was one of the better comeptition experiences that I have had. I am very happy to say that I felt that this was a successful competition. The after party venue was sick and so easy for everyone to get into. Thank god there was not a huge line haha.


However there is always some downsides to this competition.


1. The stage was very small to dance on. The dimensions of the stage that were given appeared to be larger than we expected, but when it came to tech time the day of, we saw something completely different.


2. Most competitions have lunch and breakfast provided on the day of the competition. Some competitions even do breakfast lunch and dinner. Thank you so much to our liasons once again for saving the day by providing us with breakfast and lunch. They went out of their expected task and provided us with them any way. Thanks again Mitin, Chelsea, and Justin!


3. The crowd was pretty big from what I saw, but the people appeared to observe the performance as if they were watching a symphony instead of a bhangra competition. We felt like we had to cheer each other on while we were on stage.


4. The venues tech people were terrible. The lighting was bad from their end for all the dance teams and they didn't play the music loud enough for my dancers to hear. This needs to be fixed by the venue asap. I personally do not think it was the executive boards fault. The venue's staff was just horrendous in keeping up with lighting cues and etc.


5. Guys please get a bigger trophy next year. We got plaques for second and third. I would like an actual trophy in all honesty. Also the first place trophy looked rather tiny. You guys have excellent lineup and to have nice big trophies would make the weekend so much better.


I encourage all collegiate teams to apply to this competition next year. Its awesome to be in the city of Nashville and there is so much you can do in this city in terms of nightlife. Also next year why not throw one or 2 independent teams into the mix? That would be a even better lineup. Congratulations to CMU for ruining MBT's attempt at a back to back and UVA for their respective placings. I want to thank MBT for making this year so memorable and especially to my other two co-captains Sahab Grover and Pratik Lakhani for helping me out whenever I needed you guys. Seriusly couldn't of done this without you. #sentihowie


Shout out to both Kuntal Shah and Marian Afzal for the critiques at the judges meeting. They provided some excellent insight on what to fix for this set and how to improve and get MBT to the next level. I rarely get very raw and excellent feedback at judges meetings.These two really broke everything down segment for segment and provided detailed explanations to what hit and what did not hit in our set whatsoever. We took the advice of how to restructure the set from last years judges meeting and it has done us wonders this year while competing this time around. In all honesty we really appreciate the feedback and look forward to seeing them judge more in the future.

 

[Nimit]

A pretty well run competition overall! I don't have much to add to Howie's post other than to reiterate that tech time was run pretty poorly by the technical crew. I think most teams had a big issue with the sound systems and I would really hope that next time people play the music loudly and obnoxiously so our dholi/dancers can hear it. Also the crowd was not really all that familiar with bhangra (aka a lot of white people) and so I'm not surprised that they were relatively quiet.


The competition only had two judges. Kuntal and Mariam did a good job and we respect their opinions and placings but there was a significant gap between when Reeda dropped and competition day and it seemed like there was ample time to find a replacement. Obviously I don't know any of the details on the judging situation but it would've been nice to have a third judge at the competition.


The team hotel was incredibly pricey also. I'm not sure how Holiday Inn ended up being the price it was but it was hardly affordable on our team budget. I know that is a hard thing to work out with hotels, etc but if at all possible, it would be great to have an affordable team hotel that we can all stay at. We ended up staying at a motel about 10 minutes away.


Last thing is stage dimensions. I think every team can agree that the listed stage dimensions were way off from the actual amount of dancing stage dimensions. The stage was about 37x18 instead of the 44x23 that we were told. It is an easy fix to just check out the venue and get a proper measurement and it would save the teams a lot of hassle during tech time if the stage was more similar to the one we have been practicing with.



Show was great. Didn't get a chance to see MBT but obviously they did really well. Congrats also to CMU and UVA for their 1st and 3rd placings. I was really looking forward to seeing Cornell and I hope things are ok with them. Wishing them all the best for the rest of the year.


Definitely not the outcome we were hoping for but just want to thank everyone that made the weekend possible. Thanks to our liaisons Annika and Neena who did a great job making us feel at home in Nashville. Also shoutout to Neena, Neal, Sparsh, and anyone else on the Bhangradores. A great exhibition from you guys! NN was a lot of fun and I can't wait to apply again next year.

 

[TSingh1]

[SIZE=small]We heard really positive feedback about NN last year, so we really wanted to come to this competition. Up to the day of the competition, all of the logistics as far as emails and communication were well done. There were no unreasonable expectations in regards to mix deadline and lighting cues so we really did appreciate the time. I would say next time please explain or give examples of how lighting cues are planning on looking so teams have a reference.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=small]First of all, our liaisons, Kirtan, Mitesh and Sameeksha were beyond helpful. They were so on top of their game and became friends with our team immediately. I want to make sure they’re given an appropriate shout out for showing us that southern hospitality. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=small]Mixer was interesting. I never complain when there is paneer. I think there could have been more interactive/different games. I think every competition should try to think outside the box so that their mixer is original to their city/location which allows teams to be more interested in it too. The judges meeting after was very helpful, and the practice space we got was perfect. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=small]So up until tech time everything was running pretty smoothly. As everyone has mentioned, tech was a bit of an issue before hand. As I have done at many competitions, I always come right before/after our tech time starts and finalize sound if I am going to mic my dhol. I tried to do the same thing, but the exec did not want to get late and were a bit uncooperative in the situation. My argument, as always, was that no team members are coming on stage but me. I just need to work with the sound guy and make sure that no sound issues are present when we are running tech time. For example, if it takes the sound technician 20 minutes to fix the mic and get levels right, then we have completely wasted our tech time for something that isn’t remotely our fault. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=small]The exec and I went back and forth for a while until they finally let me quickly test out the mics, which ended up not doing anything. The stage monitors were shot and when I would play, they turned off the mix at random points during our run-through. I remember there was one individual trying to run sound and lighting all by himself, it would be awesome to have a team to do the same thing. After tech time, Ankur and I were really not happy with how things were technically run so we did ask to come back and finalize sound which the committee let us do a few hours before the show. Also, we were told no team got to see their lighting cues, which also did not properly work during our performance. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=small]Everything else was perfect as far as the dressing rooms and what not. We just really did not enjoy our tech experience. Additionally, as other teams have noted, we got wrong stage dimensions. I know a few students at Vanderbilt, and they said the screen in the back had moved up a good 5 feet from when they last saw it so if possible move it back or get rid of it because it took up a lot of space and caused a lot of unnecessary stress. To the comittee, we apologize for any inconvenience or stress that we caused. The thing with tech issues is that if sound is not perfect, the dacners/dholi have nothing else to rely on. Most dancers told me they were just listening to me play and dancing off that, but I was just hearing the mix from what was being played into the audience. Regardless of how perfect everything else is, sound and tech the day of can never be compromised. I am sure you guys will figure it out, please do let me know if I can be of any assistance. I would love to chip in wherever possible.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=small]Congrats to all the placing teams, MBT and UVA. Howie and Saab, its always a pleasure meeting with you and talking. You guys have really stepped it up this year. We will always look forward to competing against yall. Buckeye, UNC, WashU, NorthWestern, its always great seeing you guys. Hope to see yall soon at future competitions. Judges meeting was perfect. Kuntal and Mariam gave great feedback and were very strong judges. I do wish there were 3 judges, but regardless, they gave solid feedback for now and the future and answered all of our questions thoroughly.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=small]Solid job NN. Thanks for having us, we wish you the best in the future![/SIZE]

 

[Saab]

Just quick thoughts watching the live stream(I realize that their is no feedback for the comp itself, but I thought I would post reviews):

Audience seemed quiet. It seemed like I was watching a play for most of the show
Live Stream Mic'ing - Only one mic was fed into the sound system, and the other was captured by the livestream camera. Pretty jarring all around

Performances and Placings:

Thought the placings were fair after thinking through them afterwards. Personally thought CMU was a clear 1, MBT a clear 2, and could have been a toss-up for third between UVA(crazy set, not the greatest execution) vs UNC (better execution, not a crazy set).

Just random thoughts(and I'm going to be as bare bones about it as it seems everyone here seems to be competing again relatively soon)

1. CMU - this was sick. Changes were great and the dancing caliber for the newer dancers are unreal. Shoutout to Tejas and Ankur for building a really deep and talented squad. I think there might be some benefit in moving dancers in and out of the middle more(black and red controlled the middle while jodis were out to the wings), but I am nitpicking at this point. Should be favored at blowout - really impressed with the set, dancers, and how memorable certain moments are.

2. MBT - great dancing. A lot of moments in this set where you really admire how crisp and clean the dancing is. I think there are some moments in the set(jhoomer, chaal) that feel "off" in terms of flow, but dancing really does trump everything when it comes to matching your peers in the circuit. It's incredible thinking back 3-4 years to how far MBT has come, but the set had great moments. Really slick at the end too.

3. UVA - Really good set with a strong emphasis on dancing. I don't think this set stood out as much as previous UVA sets, and I think it boils down to the dancing talent and comfort level of the team. Past two years the team has been stacked with a lot of good/great dancers, and I saw some issues with execution and exhaustion with dancers. Just more repetitions and fine-tuning will really bring out the shine in the set, which has good pace and a good emphasis on the actual dance form. Wouldn't be surprised if this team pushes people at Blowout

4. UNC - Great execution of the set. I think there were parts in the set you really could have brought more oomph/creativity to the table to make the set stand out more. The team has a lot of front-end talent in terms of dancers, and I think you guys should leverage that going forward to make more memorable and intricate routines. Slower on average than the top three sets, and if you don't bring a lot of oomph or creativity with it, you will often find yourself on the outside looking in in terms of placings. Potential to finish strong if right adjustments are made from a set standpoint.

5. Buckeye - Lots of potential, just didn't realize it in this performance. After burgh I was expecting something of a revelation, but there was definite fatigue throughout the performance. Nimit/Kstatla/etc - I have seen all of you guys perform better. Saaps didn't really hit hard and it killed momentum from there -> could definitely also see some dancers being gassed during the middle, beginning of the end of the set. The walk in jhoomer was hot, but it can't be the only thing memorable when walking away from a performance from a hit standpoint, especially as that was something highlighted at a previous comp.

6. Washu - Sorry didn't watch - came back at the end

7. Nwstern - Laggy. Couldn't tell much about the set.


As always, open to giving more detailed critiques to teams(trying to be as vanilla as possible as I realize some teams just don't want their sets to be reviewed with comps coming up), but just the thoughts on teams.

 

[Yesh]

Thanks for the feedback Saab!


Interestingly enough, judges said it was quite the opposite in that our dancers didn't show as much presence/confidence as the dancers of the top three teams. They touched on our set design briefly, only saying that certain areas needed to be tweaked!


It was slightly disappointing to hear that from the judges, in that UNC is always about execution, but I can't help but to agree with them. That run, and the video I saw of our team, wasn't the best execution of the set, and we still have areas of the set that need work! We are looking to come out even stronger at our next comp (Promise we won't let UVA beat us by 1.5 points this time : :-X )

Congrats to CMU, MBT, and UVA, I hope we get to compete with y'all again at some point this year...

 

[Howie Magz]

Just quick thoughts watching the live stream(I realize that their is no feedback for the comp itself, but I thought I would post reviews):

Audience seemed quiet. It seemed like I was watching a play for most of the show
Live Stream Mic'ing - Only one mic was fed into the sound system, and the other was captured by the livestream camera. Pretty jarring all around

Performances and Placings:

Thought the placings were fair after thinking through them afterwards. Personally thought CMU was a clear 1, MBT a clear 2, and could have been a toss-up for third between UVA(crazy set, not the greatest execution) vs UNC (better execution, not a crazy set).

Just random thoughts(and I'm going to be as bare bones about it as it seems everyone here seems to be competing again relatively soon)

1. CMU - this was sick. Changes were great and the dancing caliber for the newer dancers are unreal. Shoutout to Tejas and Ankur for building a really deep and talented squad. I think there might be some benefit in moving dancers in and out of the middle more(black and red controlled the middle while jodis were out to the wings), but I am nitpicking at this point. Should be favored at blowout - really impressed with the set, dancers, and how memorable certain moments are.

2. MBT - great dancing. A lot of moments in this set where you really admire how crisp and clean the dancing is. I think there are some moments in the set(jhoomer, chaal) that feel "off" in terms of flow, but dancing really does trump everything when it comes to matching your peers in the circuit. It's incredible thinking back 3-4 years to how far MBT has come, but the set had great moments. Really slick at the end too.

3. UVA - Really good set with a strong emphasis on dancing. I don't think this set stood out as much as previous UVA sets, and I think it boils down to the dancing talent and comfort level of the team. Past two years the team has been stacked with a lot of good/great dancers, and I saw some issues with execution and exhaustion with dancers. Just more repetitions and fine-tuning will really bring out the shine in the set, which has good pace and a good emphasis on the actual dance form. Wouldn't be surprised if this team pushes people at Blowout

4. UNC - Great execution of the set. I think there were parts in the set you really could have brought more oomph/creativity to the table to make the set stand out more. The team has a lot of front-end talent in terms of dancers, and I think you guys should leverage that going forward to make more memorable and intricate routines. Slower on average than the top three sets, and if you don't bring a lot of oomph or creativity with it, you will often find yourself on the outside looking in in terms of placings. Potential to finish strong if right adjustments are made from a set standpoint.

5. Buckeye - Lots of potential, just didn't realize it in this performance. After burgh I was expecting something of a revelation, but there was definite fatigue throughout the performance. Nimit/Kstatla/etc - I have seen all of you guys perform better. Saaps didn't really hit hard and it killed momentum from there -> could definitely also see some dancers being gassed during the middle, beginning of the end of the set. The walk in jhoomer was hot, but it can't be the only thing memorable when walking away from a performance from a hit standpoint, especially as that was something highlighted at a previous comp.

6. Washu - Sorry didn't watch - came back at the end

7. Nwstern - Laggy. Couldn't tell much about the set.


As always, open to giving more detailed critiques to teams(trying to be as vanilla as possible as I realize some teams just don't want their sets to be reviewed with comps coming up), but just the thoughts on teams.

Thanks Saab and Tejasvir for the shout out in your previous posts. We really do appreciate it. I want to commend Sahab Grover and Pratik Lakhani the other two captains of MBT alongside myself. We have worked hard these last two years to try to make MBT a recognizable team once again. Also to Tejasvir and Ankur, you guys have had an amazing season this year with CMU winning multiple comps. You guys are the team to beat right now without a doubt. However we are coming to beat y'all. I have lost to you guys three times already this semester haha. It's all friendly of course, but who doesn't like a little competition I want to also give a proper shout out to Nimit and Akash from Buckeye Bhangra. Y'all making a name for yourselves this year as well and we would always look forward to competing against you. Money please teach me how to tie pagghan or just tie mine forever man. Yeshel and Abhay from UNC is another person worth mentioning who helped us with our paghs in our time of need so thank you so much.