Top 5 bhangra performances for 2013

[shwinerz]

Hey guys, wanted to ask if any of you have seen this, and what your thoughts are?


http://bhangraempire.com/blog/2014/01/09/top-5-bhangra-performances-of-2013/

 

[venividivici]

FAUJ, BK, and Cornell were my 3 favourite performances as well. For 4-5 I personally would've gone with some others.

 

[nkrishnan]

Oh Empire...always riding their own nuts

While I don't necessarily disagree with the choice of performances, I do have to disagree that 2013 was a disappointing year. The appearance of WBBC as a comp in general was a big deal and moved things forward and helped teams step their game up. The second half of this season has also seen a ton of great performances at Boston and Burgh, including the return of toronto teams and more collegiate teams stepping up their sets. I gotta say I think now there's a lot more set diversity, especially in the last 3 to 4 months

 

[RoohAfza]

"The fact that this performance did not even place at a competition that had such a weak lineup, is exactly what is wrong with the Bhangra scene today."

lol....



This article would be worth sharing if it weren't for the douchey comments accompanying each video.

 

[faizan]

Vancity made this list because of one thing: stunts. Finally a team that decided to take the risk of adding multiple stunts to its routine. Unfortunately, that is where the positives end for me.

out of touch.

 

[yomamajama]

you can tell this guy has beef because he realizes everyone hates empire for what it is

 

[hardeep_singh]

BBC 2013 27 Bhangra Empire

 

[Mans]

Oh Empire...always riding their own nuts

Blog's actually only written by one person so don't hate on the whole team for the words of one man

 

[J-Skeet]

Oh Empire...always riding their own nuts

Blog's actually only written by one person so don't hate on the whole team for the words of one man

Read his footer. He basically says he represents them and is the coach....

 

[N_otori0us_]

He said NJW were messy at Boston? Wonder what he's been smoking.

 

[amancheema]

Honorable Mention: Bhangra Empire @ Bruin Bhangra 2013 – Obviously I couldn’t put my own routine in a top 5 performances of the year list because that has bias written all over it. So I gave us an honorable mention spot. The fact that this performance did not even place at a competition that had such a weak lineup, is exactly what is wrong with the Bhangra scene today. The fact that people actually believe that not placing this performance is good for Bhangra, is even worse. - See more at: http://bhangraempire.com/blog/2014/01/09/top-5-bhangra-performances-of-2013/#sthash.UtgGicTt.dpuf

 

[Bballer]

Honorable Mention: Bhangra Empire @ Bruin Bhangra 2013 – Obviously I couldn’t put my own routine in a top 5 performances of the year list because that has bias written all over it. So I gave us an honorable mention spot. The fact that this performance did not even place at a competition that had such a weak lineup, is exactly what is wrong with the Bhangra scene today. The fact that people actually believe that not placing this performance is good for Bhangra, is even worse. - See more at: http://bhangraempire.com/blog/2014/01/09/top-5-bhangra-performances-of-2013/#sthash.UtgGicTt.dpuf

LOL they weren't even in my top five for that competition. Vancity, AEG, Regiment, WSA, and DRP are much better teams than Empire. This dude is so arrogant.

 

[yomamajama]

to be fair, nobody really knew what bhangra was or the way it could be danced back in like 2008 and on, and I think thats why people loved them so much. Don't get me wrong, there mad creative and much in sync. The problem is that they keep having the same style and do the same moves every single damn comp, I feel like I'm watching an aerobics class at la fitness.


IMO, bhangra is supposed to be folk, traditional and graceful, not hard hitting and stiff. The fact that that many people have started to feel the same way, even people in the UK agree lol, just goes to show that its time empire at least try something different or at least recognize that their style just isn't working anymore.

 

[Pravjot(PJ)]

Honorable Mention: Bhangra Empire @ Bruin Bhangra 2013 – Obviously I couldn’t put my own routine in a top 5 performances of the year list because that has bias written all over it. So I gave us an honorable mention spot. The fact that this performance did not even place at a competition that had such a weak lineup, is exactly what is wrong with the Bhangra scene today. The fact that people actually believe that not placing this performance is good for Bhangra, is even worse. - See more at: http://bhangraempire.com/blog/2014/01/09/top-5-bhangra-performances-of-2013/#sthash.UtgGicTt.dpuf

LOL they weren't even in my top five for that competition. Vancity, AEG, Regiment, WSA, and DRP are much better teams than Empire. This dude is so arrogant.

thanks for the love hahaha. wish we had more than just 3 days with the BK guys to put something together.

 

[Sue Sylvester]

It was a curious article. While the critique for each team wasn't wrong, per say, I felt it was just awkward form for a "Top 5" article to completely defecate on each team instead of justifying the rankings.


Omer does have an interesting and in my opinion, a valuable perspective on the circuit. While a lot of people will strive to gain the respect of other bhangra dancers and those who follow the scene closely, he strives to gain recognition from a greater population of the world audience. I can definitely resonate with this notion. You don't want to have nuances and creativity in your performances that can only be appreciated by a small group of people and I agree that a lot of teams these days don't push the bar enough. I'm not defending Empire's style, but I can understand where he's coming from, but would disagree with him about finding the right balance.

 

[Saab]

I don't understand why you would make a top five list and then marginalize the success of those teams. Then again, I don't really think that this was a top five list to begin with.

I agree with Sue that this is a different and valuable perspective for the circuit, and one that has been "diminished" over the past 3-4 years. People have talked a lot about pushing the "boundaries" of bhangra and receiving mainstream appreciation, but it's pretty clear you'll have too look beyond the atypical dancing aspect of bhangra to find that. If that's not your cup of tea(and for some its not), that's ok too.

It is also incredibly hard to debate Omer on a lot of points that are contentious(I thought some of the criticism of external influences somewhat hypocritical) without adopting the premise that you need to look outside dancing to achieve catharsis within your routine. If you think dancing is the primary fountain for creativity and measuring stick for a performance, you're simply not going to enjoy this article. However, if you want to consider the marketability and consumer consumption of bhangra, this is a really good insight into bettering both of those aspects.

 

[RsKderpu]

bhangra is supposed to be folk, traditional and graceful, not hard hitting and stiff.

Amen to that

Vancity made this list because of one thing: stunts. Finally a team that decided to take the risk of adding multiple stunts to its routine. Unfortunately, that is where the positives end for me.

out of touch.

To be honest, Bruin is a more modernized competition, so which ever team has nice gimmicks and is clean with it would place. That's my opinion based on the trend I've noticed at that competition, but I may be wrong.


Anyways, the main thing that bugged me in the blog was this: [font=verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]"[/font][font=verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]The fact that people actually believe that not placing this performance is good for Bhangra, is even worse." Not sure how a teams placing would affect the culture/bhangra itself. The judges made their decision based off of a rubric, you didn't get a good score, and clearly the people agree with it. Just means you need to try something new, be innovative.[/font]

 

[Gopi D]

I think bruin has changed a lot since 2 years ago and judging is a bit different with more points allocated toward the traditional side. Not agreeing with any side, but Omer wrote a blog before this one saying he was out of the competitive scene so he can speak more freely and not have his attitude affect the reputation of the team. Lol it's just the opinion of one guy writing on his blog so I don't think it's that big of a deal if his perspective on the 2013 scene is different from any of ours

 

[Jags209]

LOL #LL

 

[J Wong]

"The fact that this performance did not even place at a competition that had such a weak lineup, is exactly what is wrong with the Bhangra scene today."

If I were judging, I wouldn't place this simply because I [font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]have essentially seen the same routine for years. Change up the choreography a bit instead of the gimmicks because at least in my opinion, the routine is gimmicks with bhangra in between and that's not what a competition is all about.[/font]