Re: "Golden Age" of Bhangra?

[Hans]

Yeah, rumaals were ridiculous. I remember being backstage at SBB 2005 and a member of another team was shocked that we didn't have them: "Why wouldn't you wear rumaals? They make everything so much more powerful and exaggerated." The funny part is that the reason we didn't wear them wasn't because we thought they were silly, it was because they were sequined and caused massive chafing. Otherwise we were all about rumaals.

 

[Danny]

they've brought out kids, they've brought out uncles (Soormay, Sher I think too at Bruin couple yrs back....Babe Bhangra Pounde Ne),,,, but where my aunties at?

haha bro NBA brought out aunties at Bruin 2007!!

also, i think a big turning point was Boston Bhangra 2005 when a live team (TBT) placed 1st over the powerhouse (Khalsa Junction)....it kinda got people thinking about this live business

 

[Tuckerrrr]

the golden age is still to come

 

[Temurzai]

i dont think its correct to label this a 'golden age for bhangra'

speakin strictly as a history buff, thats a term used to label a time frame in the past, when, like arjun previously mentioned, there has been a low level of knowledge and little to no action regarding to a subject, followed by a ridiculous boom, but then also followed by decline in the quality/quantity of whatever it may be, in this case, great performances and great teams.

I don't really think i've ever heard of anyone saying for any subject that 'we are in a golden age right now' at any point in history, you cant judge.
however with Vick's 2 cents about the financial situation in the country, the circuit might very well go into a decline, and very fast. only then can yall say 'that was the golden age in competitive bhangra'

 

[sorethighs]

I think that bhangra 4-5 years ago was much more "indian" than it was "punjabi." The Punjabiness of bhangra was been played up a lot more, in emphasis on traditionality, having bolis and shers at the beginning of routines, academy teams.

There also wasn't as much age variance back then. Nowadays you have teams with sometimes a 8-10 year spread in the age of their members. Back then it was pretty much all college aged kids.

Also, canadian acadamies didn't start to get big (or compete regularly outside of their home cities) until a couple of years ago.

Whether or not you call now the golden age doesn't really matter, but the vibe at competitions has definetely changed a lot. I think now there is more of an emphasis on "bhangra dancing," when it used to be about "bhangra performance"

 

[Nikhil]

Could you explain the difference between bhangra dancing and bhangra performing?

 

[Temurzai]

Could you explain the difference between bhangra dancing and bhangra performing?

im pretty sure he meant the emphasis and weight used to be placed on overall presentation of the act, and not jsut choreography. now there is more weight on actual specific identifiable moves and sequences. before it involved gimmicks, crowd support, just overall 'prettyness' even if the actual amount of specific bhangra moves you did were at a minimum/not existent.

in 2003, the average team wouldnt be doing sialkoti, dhamaal, phumaniyan, and MIRZA especially. but now almost all teams are aware of such moves n dances and try to incorporate everything they can to stand a chance in competition, because thats just how it is.

if someone changes up the game, and wins, the style spreads like wildfire and the whole trend changes on the circuit. (kinda off topic there but oh well). it will happen again, and will continue to happen, cuz evyerone likes to see change, no matter if its traditional as folk or not.

ex. were already seeing a swing back to coed teams placing again

 

[HarmanSingh]

Did you guys honestly enjoy those gimmicks? They were always so corny to me. How many times can you watch a team stop the routine, have some voice-over and do something silly? I dont know, maybe it is just me, but I prefer to watch a team just dance and leave the acting for actors. The "gimmicks" i prefer to watch are part of the dance- SGPD's domino jumps, Nachdi Jawani's khunda swing/side lean..stuff like that.

Sorethighs, you are right about the "Punjabiness" being added to bhangra with more emphasis. Teams actually try and listen to/understand the lyrics of what they are dancing to (which some teams still dancing to inappropriate songs) and try and stay away from too much fusion of hip hop/pop. And when the hip hop/pop songs are added, movements still stay "traditional". This is def. a product of the influx of academies actually teaching teams what bhangra's roots are and people paying extra attention to the history of the dance.

I get that people like to look back and reminisce, and that this memory is skewed with time...but I don't think its even fair to ask whether bhangra is 04 is comparable to bhangra in 08...the product is so much better now. Be honest, look back at KJ's routine and ask yourself if the DANCING was great. I love KJ for what they did to bhangra and def. loved their routines back in the day, when I first saw them at Fusion with their huge coming out party and when our team performed as a juniors exhibition we were excited to meet them. But the quality of dancing just doesn't compare to a team like Gabroo Shokeen now, Nachdi Jawani, SGPD, Rooh Punjab Di or VCU. It is so far offf.

 

[Vivek]

I think they meant to say "Olden Age"...see what I did there...get it?...sigh


As far as gimmicks are concerned...as long as they don't mess with the flow of the dance, and are entertaining I enjoy them. Yea stopping the dance...doing a voice over...can kill the flow...haha like that time Soormay did that human surfboard at SBB...what were they thinking....hahah...oh yea...shit.

 

[Hans]

haha like that time Soormay did that human surfboard at SBB...what were they thinking....hahah...oh yea...shit.

Hahaha...




wipeout.

 

[Vick]

Did you guys honestly enjoy those gimmicks? They were always so corny to me. How many times can you watch a team stop the routine, have some voice-over and do something silly? I dont know, maybe it is just me, but I prefer to watch a team just dance and leave the acting for actors. The "gimmicks" i prefer to watch are part of the dance- SGPD's domino jumps, Nachdi Jawani's khunda swing/side lean..stuff like that.

Id rather watch those gimmicks over watching 8-10 teams perform live bhangra for 3 hours...

 

[sorethighs]

Could you explain the difference between bhangra dancing and bhangra performing?

im pretty sure he meant the emphasis and weight used to be placed on overall presentation of the act, and not jsut choreography. now there is more weight on actual specific identifiable moves and sequences. before it involved gimmicks, crowd support, just overall 'prettyness' even if the actual amount of specific bhangra moves you did were at a minimum/not existent.

in 2003, the average team wouldnt be doing sialkoti, dhamaal, phumaniyan, and MIRZA especially. but now almost all teams are aware of such moves n dances and try to incorporate everything they can to stand a chance in competition, because thats just how it is.

if someone changes up the game, and wins, the style spreads like wildfire and the whole trend changes on the circuit. (kinda off topic there but oh well). it will happen again, and will continue to happen, cuz evyerone likes to see change, no matter if its traditional as folk or not.

ex. were already seeing a swing back to coed teams placing again

Yeah Taiymur, thats what I was talking about.

Five years ago you had to have new and interesting choreography, sick lighting, some new move no one had seen before, a crazy opening, big props. It was about the whole package, and dancing was a part of it, but so was all the other performance collateral.

Nowadays I feel there's more of a focus on doing what everyone else does better and with more style than everyone else does it.

 

[Nikhil]

Ok Gotcha