The Bhangra Empire Phenomenon

[HarmanToor]

fusion(homemade props,magic tricks, banners, hot chimta players) will always win the crowd.. traditionality(chikey/kunde/kato and incorporating all the folk steps) will always win the judges.. unless the judges are total clowns with no bhangra experience(some comps have these unqualified judges, we all know it.. shit happens).. the imran khan vs surinder shinda comparison was spot on

+ the green whip they had on stage for amplifier was sick live.. true entertainment.. they deserve their wins at fusion based competitions.

 

[Mojo]

This is a bit of a tangent, but I find it interesting that Empire gets a lot of attention (positive and negative) while Columbia doesnt. They are similar in that they have a style they enjoy, and while they have recently incorporated some traditional moves and elements, they remain a very modern team. Why dont they get as much exposure? Do you think it's the competitions they attend/dont attend?

This is a great point that really hits the point of this thread. I don't think it's a tangent at all because this is really what I was hoping to look at. There are lots of teams that have a similar style, but what is it that makes Bhangra Empire dominate so completely? I can see them really standing out in a pool of teams with more traditional approaches, but what really sets them apart from other modern teams? I know a lot of people have mentioned the fact the Bhangra Empire is exceptionally clean, and while that certainly is true, I think that there is definitely something else.


Personally, I think it's their formations. I don't know of a single team that can pull of as many formations as seamlessly as Bhangra Empire. They're impeccable, original, and always perfectly defined. I think that any team can be "clean" in terms of move execution with enough practice, but managing to create perfectly precise formations is something else. It's one thing to be able to nail it in your usual practice space, where you're familiar with the space and distribution, and something different to be able to replicate that precision on an unfamiliar stage. They make these sharp formations look easy and I think that is at the heart of their crowd appeal.


Again, great post Saleem. Thank you for bringing it up!

 

[ashleyL]

Personally I think it was youtube. When you type in Bhangra, the first thing that comes up is the Bruin performance. That performance was pretty sick and got mad views. If someone who isn't familiar with bhangra but like it cus it seems entertaining to them, they go home type it up in youtube, watch the Bruin performance since it came up first, they get entertained & amazed, then they send the link to everyone and their mother... bhangra empire spreads all over. This happened all over facebook, it keeps getting reposted and people love it off... true story! lol

 

[ENVY BANG-RUH]

This is a bit of a tangent, but I find it interesting that Empire gets a lot of attention (positive and negative) while Columbia doesnt. They are similar in that they have a style they enjoy, and while they have recently incorporated some traditional moves and elements, they remain a very modern team. Why dont they get as much exposure? Do you think it's the competitions they attend/dont attend?

This is a great point that really hits the point of this thread. I don't think it's a tangent at all because this is really what I was hoping to look at. There are lots of teams that have a similar style, but what is it that makes Bhangra Empire dominate so completely? I can see them really standing out in a pool of teams with more traditional approaches, but what really sets them apart from other modern teams? I know a lot of people have mentioned the fact the Bhangra Empire is exceptionally clean, and while that certainly is true, I think that there is definitely something else.


Personally, I think it's their formations. I don't know of a single team that can pull of as many formations as seamlessly as Bhangra Empire. They're impeccable, original, and always perfectly defined. I think that any team can be "clean" in terms of move execution with enough practice, but managing to create perfectly precise formations is something else. It's one thing to be able to nail it in your usual practice space, where you're familiar with the space and distribution, and something different to be able to replicate that precision on an unfamiliar stage. They make these sharp formations look easy and I think that is at the heart of their crowd appeal.


Again, great post Saleem. Thank you for bringing it up!

Awesome question Saleem. I may be wrong, but if im not mistaken, didnt empire flood the competition scene as much as they could when they got started, and a big part of bhangra empire becoming more known had to do not only with their style, but because of the fact they flooded themselves at as many comps as possible.

It gave them the opportunity to showcase themselves to a vast amount of people, and the fact that they perfected their style and performed at the comps that are bias towards a modern style was even better for them. With all honesty, I never knew about a Columbia Bhangra team until i jumped into your cyber kingdom (BTF). Because i never got an opportunity to see them live like I did the empire.

My second paragraph might be a bit confusing, so an easy way to put it would be, THEY MARKETED THE FUCK OUTTA THEMSELVES, so that when people thought of bhangra, they thought of empire.

 

[Ashveer]

This is a bit of a tangent, but I find it interesting that Empire gets a lot of attention (positive and negative) while Columbia doesnt. They are similar in that they have a style they enjoy, and while they have recently incorporated some traditional moves and elements, they remain a very modern team. Why dont they get as much exposure? Do you think it's the competitions they attend/dont attend?

This is a great point that really hits the point of this thread. I don't think it's a tangent at all because this is really what I was hoping to look at. There are lots of teams that have a similar style, but what is it that makes Bhangra Empire dominate so completely? I can see them really standing out in a pool of teams with more traditional approaches, but what really sets them apart from other modern teams? I know a lot of people have mentioned the fact the Bhangra Empire is exceptionally clean, and while that certainly is true, I think that there is definitely something else.


Personally, I think it's their formations. I don't know of a single team that can pull of as many formations as seamlessly as Bhangra Empire. They're impeccable, original, and always perfectly defined. I think that any team can be "clean" in terms of move execution with enough practice, but managing to create perfectly precise formations is something else. It's one thing to be able to nail it in your usual practice space, where you're familiar with the space and distribution, and something different to be able to replicate that precision on an unfamiliar stage. They make these sharp formations look easy and I think that is at the heart of their crowd appeal.


Again, great post Saleem. Thank you for bringing it up!

Awesome question Saleem. I may be wrong, but if im not mistaken, didnt empire flood the competition scene as much as they could when they got started, and a big part of bhangra empire becoming more known had to do not only with their style, but because of the fact they flooded themselves at as many comps as possible.

It gave them the opportunity to showcase themselves to a vast amount of people, and the fact that they perfected their style and performed at the comps that are bias towards a modern style was even better for them. With all honesty, I never knew about a Columbia Bhangra team until i jumped into your cyber kingdom (BTF). Because i never got an opportunity to see them live like I did the empire.

My second paragraph might be a bit confusing, so an easy way to put it would be, THEY MARKETED THE FUCK OUTTA THEMSELVES, so that when people thought of bhangra, they thought of empire.

I see what you're saying and agree that Empire had more of a presence on the circuit, but it wasn't as much of conscious effort of the team towards marketing as much as it was the team members having the desire to compete. Empire didn't compete much in its first 1.5 years or so. It was after bhangra nation west in 2007 that the team was solidified and started going to more comps and being successful at every one of them except I think 2 (fusion 08 and elite 8) . Success and having fun will motivate anyone to work hard and compete more, which was much more of an incentive than thinking "Ok guys, lets see how many competitions we can go to this year to get our name out there." I think that placing at comps in concert with the popularity of the Bruin routine had a lot to do with it as well.



Just to see, I looked at the DDT rankings which I think are current up till the middle of last season. At that point, VCU had competed about 19 times, Empire about 11, and SGPD about 10, if that site is accurate...food for though.

 

[ENVY BANG-RUH]

This is a bit of a tangent, but I find it interesting that Empire gets a lot of attention (positive and negative) while Columbia doesnt. They are similar in that they have a style they enjoy, and while they have recently incorporated some traditional moves and elements, they remain a very modern team. Why dont they get as much exposure? Do you think it's the competitions they attend/dont attend?

This is a great point that really hits the point of this thread. I don't think it's a tangent at all because this is really what I was hoping to look at. There are lots of teams that have a similar style, but what is it that makes Bhangra Empire dominate so completely? I can see them really standing out in a pool of teams with more traditional approaches, but what really sets them apart from other modern teams? I know a lot of people have mentioned the fact the Bhangra Empire is exceptionally clean, and while that certainly is true, I think that there is definitely something else.


Personally, I think it's their formations. I don't know of a single team that can pull of as many formations as seamlessly as Bhangra Empire. They're impeccable, original, and always perfectly defined. I think that any team can be "clean" in terms of move execution with enough practice, but managing to create perfectly precise formations is something else. It's one thing to be able to nail it in your usual practice space, where you're familiar with the space and distribution, and something different to be able to replicate that precision on an unfamiliar stage. They make these sharp formations look easy and I think that is at the heart of their crowd appeal.


Again, great post Saleem. Thank you for bringing it up!

Awesome question Saleem. I may be wrong, but if im not mistaken, didnt empire flood the competition scene as much as they could when they got started, and a big part of bhangra empire becoming more known had to do not only with their style, but because of the fact they flooded themselves at as many comps as possible.

It gave them the opportunity to showcase themselves to a vast amount of people, and the fact that they perfected their style and performed at the comps that are bias towards a modern style was even better for them. With all honesty, I never knew about a Columbia Bhangra team until i jumped into your cyber kingdom (BTF). Because i never got an opportunity to see them live like I did the empire.

My second paragraph might be a bit confusing, so an easy way to put it would be, THEY MARKETED THE FUCK OUTTA THEMSELVES, so that when people thought of bhangra, they thought of empire.

I see what you're saying and agree that Empire had more of a presence on the circuit, but it wasn't as much of conscious effort of the team towards marketing as much as it was the team members having the desire to compete. Empire didn't compete much in its first 1.5 years or so. It was after bhangra nation west in 2007 that the team was solidified and started going to more comps and being successful at every one of them except I think 2 (fusion 08 and elite 8) . Success and having fun will motivate anyone to work hard and compete more, which was much more of an incentive than thinking "Ok guys, lets see how many competitions we can go to this year to get our name out there." I think that placing at comps in concert with the popularity of the Bruin routine had a lot to do with it as well.

My point wasn't that empire had the mindset of "Ok guys, lets see how many competitions we can go to this year to get our name out there." But getting your name out there was only a dependent variable resulting from the fact you guys just wanted to compete more. Maybe my wording in my original post was way off, i was just trying to state that by doing what you guys did, unintentionally you guys marketed yourselves vastly.

If this post is confusing, i give up, i didnt get any sleep last nite.

 

[abhigames]

Hmm...I think Empire can often be thought to bhangra similarly as NYU Pandemonium was for Fusion. Pandas are the most watched fusion team (and in fact, their four original dancers are the most watched bhangra video period). It was of course that mass appeal that we could present to not only a South asian crowd, but to anyone....who wanted to see something different. And of course with that, comes the marketing...the swag...the presence that you create and the vibe that you feel from it.

Simple things like tagging your youtube videos correctly can increase your hits like woah! Both empire and pandas will still have the highest video counts if you look at their aggregate video counts for any south asian dance team....few can come close. Creativitiy + excellent marketing = popularity. Just like the most popular girl in high school....shes not a traditional indian wife that you might want to marry, but you'd sure love to have a one night stand with her.

 

[Mojo]

Definitely. I agree that the huge amount of publicity was a probably a result of the team's motivation and desire to compete rather than simply a desire to be famous.




Question for anyone currently or previously on Empire: How much input would you say team members have on the choreo and formations? Do you guys actively work on it together, or do the captains/coaches put it together and the rest of the dancers just learn it? If the latter is the case, how responsive would you say the leaders are to opinions from everyone else on the team if you think something isn't looking/feeling right or you have an idea you think might work better?

 

[bagmi]

In addition to what everybody else has said about insane gimmicks and precise formations...

This is a somewhat strange point to make, but bhangra empire is one of few independent teams that has "bhangra" in it's name. It sounds silly- but that helps a lot in terms of google results, etc. PLUS, the name is self explanatory- it is a leading bhangra team. So when somebody is looking for a team that people can immediately understand, Bhangra Empire seems much more pleasing and easy to say compared to Sonay Gabroo Punjab De.

 

[Surmeet1]

In addition to what everybody else has said about insane gimmicks and precise formations...

This is a somewhat strange point to make, but bhangra empire is one of few independent teams that has "bhangra" in it's name. It sounds silly- but that helps a lot in terms of google results, etc. PLUS, the name is self explanatory- it is a leading bhangra team. So when somebody is looking for a team that people can immediately understand, Bhangra Empire seems much more pleasing and easy to say compared to Sonay Gabroo Punjab De.

really good point, never thought abt that

 

[Kaur]

I remember when empire first started winning . I was like ummm. But then I slowly started realizing their formations and how being that clean was a talent in it's own. Not to mention the gimmicks which are incorporated without being cut and paste. And at vibc when they got a standing ovation I oficially put them in my top 5 of all time.

 

[Mukandpuria]

in my opinion....

Jacky for president!

 

[Basim]

In addition to what everybody else has said about insane gimmicks and precise formations...

This is a somewhat strange point to make, but bhangra empire is one of few independent teams that has "bhangra" in it's name. It sounds silly- but that helps a lot in terms of google results, etc. PLUS, the name is self explanatory- it is a leading bhangra team. So when somebody is looking for a team that people can immediately understand, Bhangra Empire seems much more pleasing and easy to say compared to Sonay Gabroo Punjab De.

really good point, never thought abt that

^^ Agreed. Great point bagmi. Never thought about how such a small fact could make such a big difference, but you're absolutely correct.

~ Basim

 

[Mojo]

In addition to what everybody else has said about insane gimmicks and precise formations...

This is a somewhat strange point to make, but bhangra empire is one of few independent teams that has "bhangra" in it's name. It sounds silly- but that helps a lot in terms of google results, etc. PLUS, the name is self explanatory- it is a leading bhangra team. So when somebody is looking for a team that people can immediately understand, Bhangra Empire seems much more pleasing and easy to say compared to Sonay Gabroo Punjab De.

Haha wow! This is so true. It's hard to believe no one else (myself included) ever thought of this.


+1 for your genius.

 

[Saleem]

lol @ bhangra-related SEO. Im going to name my team "Bhangra YouTube"

 

[harjap_singh]

In addition to what everybody else has said about insane gimmicks and precise formations...

This is a somewhat strange point to make, but bhangra empire is one of few independent teams that has "bhangra" in it's name. It sounds silly- but that helps a lot in terms of google results, etc. PLUS, the name is self explanatory- it is a leading bhangra team. So when somebody is looking for a team that people can immediately understand, Bhangra Empire seems much more pleasing and easy to say compared to Sonay Gabroo Punjab De.

I dont thik anyone could have said it better

 

[shareef85]

No matter how much everyone wants to hate on Empire, you really can't. Eventually you will come around. Unless your one of those strict "traditional" bhangra fans. If you are one of them, then by hating them you are actually appreciating them. The response that they evoke from the croud is ridiculous. Its something that teams strive to get. The croud definitely feeds a dancer's adrenaline.

I have previously been side stage as the next team about to go up after them, and wow the croud reaction is NUTS

Also all the hate the bhangra scene provides just more fuel to the fire, for them to work harder and practice harder.

 

[rajkaran]

Also all the hate the bhangra scene provides just more fuel to the fire, for them to work harder and practice harder.

Yes! I agree!...and we modern bhangra dancers know this feeling all too well.

 

[Mojo]

Also all the hate the bhangra scene provides just more fuel to the fire, for them to work harder and practice harder.

Yes! I agree!...and we modern bhangra dancers know this feeling all too well.

Absolutely. I think a lot of bhangra puritans forget that the bhangra we know as "traditional" is really only about 50 years old. Bhangra is a combination of many different dance styles. Trying to define pure bhangra is impossible. Modern teams are more receptive to what audiences want to see. I really think that teams like Empire have that "wow" factor that really traditional teams don't always have because they provide the best entertainment for Indian and non-Indian audiences.


I think that often times, the concept of why we dance is lost. We dance to entertain. Modern teams just seem to understand that better.

 

[Jabar Jung]

It was till like 07-08 when traditional bhangra was done, now every team can be considered modern, going by their style. A team can only be considered traditional today by how they execute their actions, not what they do in their routine.