Rochester Bhangra @ Hilltop Hungama 2016; TOI 2016- First Place

[nikhil95]

[SIZE=small]Hey guys! We are really excited to present Rochester Bhangra’s 1st Place performance at TOI this past weekend, as well as our set at Hilltop Hungama 2016! [/SIZE]

[SIZE=small]Huge shout out to our captain from last year Lily Kamalyan (yellow girl) for coming back to dance with us for TOI one last time; to Maihtab (“Savage”) Malhi for an epic sher; to Harman Brar for tying our paghs; and to Keshav Mantha (KSM), our DJ, for creating our sick mix: [/SIZE]https://soundcloud.com/ksm1/ur-bhangra-spring-2016-mix

[SIZE=small]Congratulations to DCBC, Hurricane Bhangra, and SEPBC for their placings at Hilltop, and to CMU and Yale for their placings at TOI. We wish you the best of luck in the future and are looking forward to seeing all the other teams in the coming semester. We are waiting for a higher quality video from our TOI performance, but any current feedback on our videos would be greatly appreciated![/SIZE]


[SIZE=small]Rochester Bhangra Gabroo Hilltop:[/SIZE]
[SIZE=small]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_fZ3_z2kA8[/SIZE]
[SIZE=small]Red – Nikhil Kasarla and Brian Chang[/SIZE]
[SIZE=small]Blue – Rebecca Van Dyke and Brian Rinehart[/SIZE]
[SIZE=small]Yellow – Ryan Daley and Aaron Mason[/SIZE]
[SIZE=small]Purple – Varun Chowdhry and Akshay Desai[/SIZE]
[SIZE=small]Green (sher) – Ekam Gill[/SIZE]
[SIZE=small]Orange (sher) – Harman Brar[/SIZE]

[SIZE=small]Rochester Bhangra TOI – First Place[/SIZE]
[SIZE=small]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRfLU6QafBA[/SIZE]
[SIZE=small]Yellow – Lily Kamalyan and Brian Chang[/SIZE]
[SIZE=small]Red – Poonam Brar and Nikhil Kasarla[/SIZE]
[SIZE=small]Blue – Nicole Kase and Aaron Mason[/SIZE]
[SIZE=small]Purple – Rebecca Van Dyke and Ryan Daley[/SIZE]
[SIZE=small]Orange – Rhea Shinde and Akshay Desai[/SIZE]
[SIZE=small]Green – Shireen Bhullar and Amogh Kare[/SIZE]
[SIZE=small]Sher – Maihtab Malhi[/SIZE]

 

[Howie Magz]

I was impressed with the creativity in the set and the overall choreography. The choreography I personally thought was very good. Saaps was hot and certain things in jhoomer was great. However when I look at all the dancers on the team, I could tell that they are new dancers. Legs need to be picked up when doing taps, ups, and anything in general. Most of the people on this teams do the taps barely lifting their legs when I look at them. Also energy did dip towards the end. The yellow and red Jodi I thought were the most consistent with energy. I did not really notice much from a lot of the other dancers. The biggest thing is that the overall form of this team needs to be fixed ASAP. I personally hated the way you guys execute y'all moves. I think that moving towards a more folk form will benefit all of you and make the choreography you have hit much harder. Formations were fine for me, but nothing crazy special. Fix the form keep the same level of intensity in the choreography and you guys can seriously slay.

 

[Shastri]

ALL GUYS SET
-moves need to be properly executed
-posture needs improvement-numerous people can be seen hunching over for many of the moves
-thouhgt the set was very entertaining with good creativity and was very impressive
-thought the choreo was too fast for one or two of the guys because their execution and control of their movement was compromised
-also for one or two of the guys, they looked like they were in pain towards the end of the saap segment, where their smiling turned into grimacing, or at least it appeared to be grimacing.
-form on chaal definitely needs work, was pretty clear because everyone had their chests facing to the sides of the stage so the difference in posture across the board and difference in the height of everyone's chaal was clear
-also make sure everyone is facing and looking in the same direction with the exception of small individual nakhra additions throughout the set. it'll make it look way more clean and will benefit the team
-for a few guys on the team, there was some excessive head movement, and while it's awesome that you're really feeling it and putting your all into it, it takes away from the cleanliness of the set, so make sure you're using head nods sparingly and purposefully
-also when you're adding jodi nakhra, such as the lean ins during jhummar, make sure you don't half ass it because then it works against the aesthetic elements of the nakhra
COED SET
-looked way cleaner than the all guys set, i dont know which performance came before the other but the energy and creativity of this set, in addition to the cleanliness was very impressive
-fundamentals need a decent amount of work-i can tell a few of the girls need to work on their double bounce and execution of moves, can definitely tell they're newer dancers
-the biggest way that this team could take it to the next level would be to work on control of movement and isolation of the rest of your body besides the movement of your arms and your legs. again, too much head movement for a few people. it takes away from the grace and aesthetic appeal of the moves.
-also angles are extremely important. while teaching your dancers the set, clarify which direction they should be facing and keep drilling it. when they aren't, it takes away a lot from the cleanliness of the set. an example is at 5:33, if you pause it you can see how everyone's facing a different direction


***overall a HUGE improvement from when I saw this team at PCS in 2014. I can't wait to see what kind of sets this team brings to the circuit in the future***

 

[Prabhzy]

The mix is fire!

 

[kman58]

The mix is fire!

Thanks boss I appreciate that!

Let me just start by saying it has been a pleasure working with and watching this team grow for the past few months. Nikhil and Brian have taken URB leaps and bounds from where they were last year. Congratulations on all your success as a team!

Now some things (I'm going to focus on TOI because it was the most recent):
--Sher in the beginning needs to be more heartfelt and connect with the audience better. Felt a little like he was reading off a flash card for a class presentation. He has the words down, just needs to enunciate and feel it more, it captures the audience in that much more.
--Saap choreo is some of the dopest I've seen from a collegiate team this season, but from the get-go there is a clear distinction of energy between the guys and the girls. It's coming very simply from the fact that the guys have much better nakhra and more modhe action. Of course getting legs up more would help too but the upper body distinctions are biggest
--Extensions on saaps is a big thing that's missing that would've made this a no-question winner on stage. I know the stage was small, but there still needs to be a more concerted effort to open the saap up especially on wide moves like punjabs
--Daang segment was overall clean and well done. The issue here was your baitkan (also somewhat of a problem throughout). There's a big distinction between the people who have their backs straight and those who hunch over. It's not the easiest problem to fix but it's definitely doable. Try having some practices where you have everyone stand next to a mirror, make their backs completely straight, and they go down verrryyyyy slowly and focus completely on keeping backs straight on both the down and the up
--Phumaniya and the following Bhangra segments were clean again overall, moves were well executed (the comment I made about energy and stage presence in guys vs girls still carries through the set)
--The jump in jhoomer was cool, choreo looked great, but there is a discrepancy on completion of moves. For example at 4:18 purple and red guys aren't completing the move the same way. Little things like that
--Dhamaal going into jugni had some great moments, but legs need to be higher and shoulder bounce needs to be especially prominent. Formations look great going into the drop
--Jugni drop was hot, again dancer form come at play. It's really important in jugni to have your back straight with a slighttt lean, but there are many dancers especially in the back of that jugni cascade that appear to be really hunching forward. Moreover, as a group y'all need to be lower. The choreo also seemed to stay too fast paced, it's never a bad idea in parts like jugni to slow things down a little and really milk moments, it can show off good form and give dancers a quick breather before jumping into the ending
--Ending choreo was great, especially since you guys didn't overuse phulka and pataka moves. The change of pace throughout the choreo and formations made it really enjoyable to watch. Biggest things here are consistency of energy across dancers and form, especially in the arms. The dancers in the back can't get tired and have to push, and everyone as a whole needs to give that extra effort to make sure those full extensions are there. Concept for the last 32 beats is cool but again, backs on baitkan.

Overall this performance was sick, there was no question of you guys placing or not, but I personally had y'all winning. Congratulations on a hugely successful season, and I know you guys are going to bring it next year in an even bigger way!

 

[mithu]

A lot of the major critiques have been pointed out already.


One major critique that wasnt pointed out was mix vs set. The mix did absolutely nothing to show of the choreo. In my opinion the mix did its own thing and the choreo did its own. There was no real "one complimenting the other." There was little to no dynamic in the first 2 minutes in the mix while the choreo so much change. The tempo was practically the same till about the 3:54. And after jhummar segment it went back to the same tempo. I understand that the new "standard" is the "shit hype" but your c
horeo deserved better dynamics, better effects, and overall better mix. I dont want to say its completely mixers fault and there should have been more give and take form both sides.
Go listen and watch/listen to Harman Toor, Gopi gill/Mickey (APD), Sunpreet Singh (BMW), pCBcA, and countless other teams/mixers. Listen to how the songs, tempo, and dynamics compliment the set. These sets arent bad in any sense, but if the mix had complimented the set it would have made it insanely fun to watch.

 

[Mr. Mankiran]

Saap segment was simple, energetic, and fun to watch. Good job with formations and using the whole stage. Didn't like the jhummar. A lot of your set was powerful and hype, something more graceful/soft would've been a nice change of tone. Your phumanniyan was one time you guys did that well and it was a lot of fun to watch.


- short rant (not aimed at you guys specifically) - what is up with the trend of these aggressive/mean jhummar's, I'm not digging em.

Ending segment was memorable/fresh, great job.


Work on form and make sure if you have two/few people as the emphasis of a segment, that they are in sync. Its distracting when the focal point of a segment clashes and it takes away from genuinely good choreo. You guys have some serious potential moving forward.

 

[R_Sharma]

Congrats on a dope season. Mad props for repping Roc City the way you guys do.


Critiques on the TOI set:

• Set creation/choreography was hype. It's hard to murk a set when your choreo isn't that great but I don't think you guys have any problems there. Only thing I noticed was a lot of all-male team stylistic undertones to your set, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. But since you guys are a co-ed team, some graceful segments would have been nice too.
• Saap Segment was hot as was the drop into chaal. Not a huge fan of your phumannia segment choreo/song although seeing some giddha is always refreshing.
• Chaal form can be improved a lot across the board. When you do chaal facing the front (in the khunde segment) it is really apparent how bent over everyone's back is.
• Modhe (shoulders) were lacking from everyone in this set and that plays a huge role in making everyone look like a lot more experienced dancer.
• When you guys had that hype ass drop into chaal, shoulders were almost nonexistent. A lot of people compensated by moving their hands up and down--but the movement should be coming from your shoulders.
• As a whole, I think the girls out danced the guys in this set. Their form/energy was more consistent across all 6 dancers. Shoutout to the yellow and purple girl for ripping it.
• Your bottom two jodi (Orange and Green) need work on form and flow. They definitely did a solid job as newer dancers but still looked generally uncomfortable with the choreo. Spending a lot of time working on individual steps/footwork and transitioning between those basic steps would help a lot.
• Overall, I think a big thing holding this team back is a lack of consistent form. Not everyone is doing steps the same and sometimes not anyone is executing choreo/footwork properly. Continue to work on that for the upcoming year so that your dancing can help accentuate your choreo more.

You guys killed this set and it was definitely very deserving of first place--sorry if it didn't come across like that in my post but I wanted to give you guys genuine critiques that I think would make a difference. To all your newer dancers--don't stop dancing now that your season is over. The time to get better for next year is now. I know you guys have two returning captains (Brian & Nikhil) so make sure you use that to your advantage. Gotta commend you guys for creating a sick set but start working on your next one so that it is even better than this year.


You guys have mad potential that was showcased by your 1st place and I'm super excited to see where that takes you in the next couple years. Congrats again.

 

[Nimit]

Excited to compete against you guys next year. This was pretty strong!


I found your set to be kind of similar in choreo style to us in some degree and so I'll give you a critique we got at blowout:


Being choreo focused is great but when you do a cool buildup make sure the drop is cool too. You guys did a lot of solid build up choreo and then hit a standard move at the drop (we do the same thing). I think you did a great job with energy and you did a good enough job with execution of standard steps that the drop still hits pretty hard, but adding another dimension after the drop will really appeal to the crowd and make it more memorable. Just a few cents that we got that might apply. Solid set and hope to see you guys at some comps next year. Also if that didn't make sense feel free to pm me.