Hello All,
My name is Akhil and I am a member of Pindu Bhangra. First and foremost, I would like to thank everyone for their comments, both positive and negative, about our 1st place performance at Bhangra Flames 2008 in Calgary this past weekend.
We are a group of friends with a common love for Bhangra, who came together in February of 2006 to form Pindu Bhangra. The story behind our name stems from the fact that the majority of us have deep roots in one pind or another. Our name may no longer represent our dance style, however it is a name that we are all still very proud of.
Since 2006, Bhangra in Calgary has really started to blossom. There are some new and competitive teams forming here. However, Pindu Bhangra is really keen on getting exposure to international teams and receiving forms of constructive criticism.
In our debut, we won 1st place at the 2006 S.A.C.H. Bhangra Competition here in Calgary. We quickly formed a solid local reputation. However, our hunger grew 10-fold after our first taste of success. We returned to the same competition in 2007, which was a special year for us. At the 2007 S.A.C.H. Bhangra Competition, we introduced a new flavor of Bhangra that no one had seen before: Bhangra to rock music on a live guitar. Audiences in Calgary were raving about our team's innovation and the hype created by the guitar. However, Pindu Bhangra did not even place at the 2007 competition and there were many uproars in regards to the way the competition was judged.
We quickly got back to work after the competition with the aspiration of competing on an international level. Pindu Bhangra is a very motivated team, and we feel that we have the potential to compete internationally. We forwarded an audition video to VIBC in hopes of competing there in 2008, however we were not selected. Early in 2008, news had spread that there would be a newly formed competition in Calgary called Bhangra Flames. We then began to prepare for this competition and eventually won 1st place.
We understand that because our style is so different from a lot of groups, that we are bound to receive criticism. But here's the thing, when we begin to choreograph a dance, one of our main points is to make a dance that is different from other teams. We strive to be different. There are elements in our performances that other teams wouldn't dare to do. And that's why we do them. We also really love the idea of combining different elements of eastern and western music. Everyone has seen the adoption of hip-hop music into Bhangra, however I had never seen any team dance to rock music, which is why we selected it.
Anyways, I just wanted to give everyone some background information about Pindu Bhangra. And we would love for everyone to continue to comment and give us some tips and ways to improve so that we can one day compete at an international level. The primary reason I registered and posted today was to receive feedback and constructive criticism from the rest of the Bhangra world.
Thanks,
Pindu Bhangra