Reusing routines

[Andrew]

I've had this question for a long time and was wondering what you guys think: How often should teams reuse old routines? I've seen teams reuse routines year after year, and others that change choreo and songs every performance. Going along with this, do you think judges should take the fact that a team is using an old routine into consideration when thinking about creativity?

I look at a team like DRP and although their formations are very clean, a lot was reused from old routines and so it wasn't as creative for me. But going along with that, if a team has found a golden recipe for success, when should they abandon it if it keeps working?

 

[amriksahni]

Ask Rutgers. Their routine has looked the same for a long time, no offense. It honestly looks to me like every year at Blowout they do the same routine. I don't see them at any other competitions either.

 

[jessemalik]

Ask Rutgers. Their routine has looked the same for a long time, no offense. It honestly looks to me like every year at Blowout they do the same routine. I don't see them at any other competitions either.

Competitions Rutgers participated in the past two years:

Bhangra Blowout 15 : Second Place
Naachvention : First Place + Viewer Choice
Boston Bhangra 2007
Bhangra in the Burgh : First Place
The Bhangra Project 2 : Second Place
Manhattan Bhangra
Best of the Best Chicago
Bhangra Blowout 14 : Third Place
South Beach Bhangra 2007: Second Place
Boston Bhangra 2006
The Bhangra Project


The two blowout performances look nothing alike. Completely different Bolis, formations, and choreo was used.

 

[Manjot]

if something is good than why change it? I would keep it the same for like atleast 4-5 competitions and just tune it up a bit and make it more clean.
Some teams in India have been doing the same routine for like 8 years and they are perfect to the littlest thing.
and it be stupid if judges are like oh they used this before -10 points...if you do it good than you should place not because your routine is old...there is no rule stating that you need to have a new routine every comp lol some teams change it as they see fit or like i said before tune it up and stuff.

 

[Vic]

I think its totally up to the team how many times, and if they want to reuse a routine. I'm pretty sure that competing teams watch each others videos when going head to head. So if a team is reusing, its a risk they are willing to take, and it shows confidence in the set they have made.

 

[Saleem]

ok several years is a bit much.
i don't know if everyone will agree with me but this is what makes common sense to me and is most applicable to university teams and therefore the entire NA circuit b/c the entire circuit has a summer 'off-season':

- do not re-use segments a full year later

Normally that means if you use it in 06-07 you shouldn't use it in 07-08. Don't use the same segment at Boston 07 and 08, for example.

I think it's as simple as that. I would always LIKE and appreciate it if a team improves their dance between Boston in Nov and Bruin in May, I'd expect a half-new dance but wouldn't deduct points as a judge. But if a team brings the same segment from 1 year to the next, i generally don't like that.

but like if you bring something new to bruin and it's amazing, clearly yes use it next year in the fall. (lbc, 05 or 06 i cant remember, when they had an amazing dance and got nothing @ bruin)

 

[Jimmy]

I think judges that are older may find it hard to keep up with teams that are using older routines. Some of them might not keep up to date with the circuit.

 

[Jeeti]

Whether a team reuses or routine or not is completely based on the circumstances...keep in mind that creating a whole different routine takes alot of time and effort. Sometimes it is more convenient for teams to clean up the routine they have which takes time to begin with than start from scratch. Obviously making a new routine mid season is almost impossible for collegiate teams who have tons of other things going on. Reusing routines is not a big deal, who cares as long as it looks sick. Keep in mind that not everyone who goes to bhangra competitions are people that are super into bhangra, so a reused routine would mean nothing to them, they are taking it for face value. Also, remember that alot of the judging is looking at cleanliness, and thats all cash money if you have done the same routine multiple times. If you look at teams that reuse routines with minor changes from their first comp to last comp, it looks considerably better and cleaner regardless of whether your sitting there like man ive seen this a billion times.

 

[sulmoney]

when i choreograph a routine, i dont think of it as a routine as whole per se, but more as segments/songs. segments i feel have a shelf life of one year before they should be tossed out, or else not only are people who watch the performances gonna get bored by it, but the dancers do as well. we at least never did the same dance twice at our competitions this year, but maybe we should have haha considering we only had an opportunity to practice together as a full team the day before a competition, the results would have been much much cleaner.

 

[amriksahni]

Jesse, I didn't mean to offend you with that claim. I guess it came out wrong. What I wanted to say is simple - that Rutgers have a very successful routine, and you know that, so why would you change it? If people came at you and gave you negative criticism with the routine, I'm sure you'd change it, but you haven't gotten it, so you're better off sticking to it.

My point is, if a team wins with a routine in the Fall, why change it for the Spring? Also, if a team competes in the Fall, and they get shitty reviews, they should probably get going on some new stuff ASAP/before their next competition.

 

[Arjun Barua]

Also, if a team competes in the Fall, and they get shitty reviews, they should probably get going on some new stuff ASAP/before their next competition.

It's only necessary to junk a routine and start on a new one if the routine itself is poor. If, however, it is merely the execution (of an otherwise strong routine) which is lacking, it may be in the team's best interest to stick with the routine they have and, instead, to focus on the basics of energy, grace, synchronization, expression, etc.

 

[amriksahni]

Yeah, good point, Arjun. I wanted to say that but just kind of left it out. That's definitely an important detail.