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UBC Girlz @ VIBC Downtown Bhangra
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HarmanSingh
New Member
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- 531
I am not a fan of the way these girls perform. Everything is so exaggerated and in your face. The facial expressions were especially annoying, because they acted so over the top. The jhoomar had NO grace and was basically an attempt to act excessively "manly". No offense, because I know everyone loves UBC for the fact that they were one of the first all girls teams, but they try wayyyyy too hard to act as if tying a chadra makes them a man and overdo every move they have.
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UBC Girlz :-*
I agree with Harman to an extent. Their jhummar segment was definitely sloppy .. everyone acted like they wanted the spotlight (with too much of a hyper attitude) instead of trying to be uniform as a team. Since bhangra is traditionally a male dance form, I guess it might be hard for to balance the feminine side with the more aggressive male dance moves. Though, I do like when teams (such as the UBC Girlz) have an excited looks on their faces and are full of energy.. it really draws the audience to each individual dancer. Nonetheless, I always do like watching their performances. Keep up the hardwork!
~ Basim
I agree with Harman to an extent. Their jhummar segment was definitely sloppy .. everyone acted like they wanted the spotlight (with too much of a hyper attitude) instead of trying to be uniform as a team. Since bhangra is traditionally a male dance form, I guess it might be hard for to balance the feminine side with the more aggressive male dance moves. Though, I do like when teams (such as the UBC Girlz) have an excited looks on their faces and are full of energy.. it really draws the audience to each individual dancer. Nonetheless, I always do like watching their performances. Keep up the hardwork!
~ Basim
Kaur
Well-Known Member
- Messages
- 1,294
I dont think it necessarily has to do with them being a girls team. Maybe at the beginning, but as the years went by definatley not. To beat top teams like United, Nachdi Jawani and duniya if im not mistaken, their has to be a bit more to them then jsut being a girls team. Now they are one of the oldest girls doing bhangra, with a few of them being married. They use beings girls to their advantage and have creativity to the max. 14 trophies later, I got nothing but respect for them. 
mona99
New Member
- Messages
- 36
First of all, thank you for posting our video-
Secondly, yes Mowsuf, this performance was outside in the evening and all I have to say was I don't think any of us felt our feet during the whole routine!
Further, Ok wow, I cannot believe that we are still talking about the age old boring story that women shouldn't do bhangra. Really guys, really? Yes historians it is so very true that in the age of our forefathers bhangra in it's many forms, jhummar, luddi, mirza, sammi etc was performed soley by those of the male gender. But no where in history or any bhangra rule book to my knowledge does it state that this beautiful, artistic art form is limited to men only. Bhangra is a beautiful art form. It is exhilirating, it is atheletic, it is graceful and most importantly it's one avenue for young people to stay in touch with their culture and language, so if females are also enticed by this, and chose to partake in the many positives Bhangra provides how can anyone state this is wrong? True, it may not be 'traditional' for girls to perform Bhangra due to the fact that traditionaly this art was performed by males, but tradition changes and evolves over time. There is positive change and there is negative change. In terms of Bhangra, having both genders participate in Bhangra is a positive change. Please tell me, is it not positive that thru Bhangra young people are begining to embrace the Punjabi language? Is it not positive that thru Bhangra young people are more inclined to learn about their culture? Is it not positive that Bhangra is an extracurricular activity that keeps young people busy and out of trouble? Is it not positive that Bhangra provides camaraderie, friendships, team work and a sense of patriotism? Is it not positive that Bhangra is an excellent way to stay in shape and a darn good workout? It may not be 'traditional' for girls to do Bhangra, but take a step back and observe our culture, go back in history and travel to today, many things which were 'traditional' have now evolved, and as far as Bhangra goes, this is a positive change in tradition, and I stand by this thru and thru.
Moving on, many speak of 'manly moves'. What are manly moves? Is squatting low considered manly? Is kicking high considered manly? Is jumping high considerd manly? Is having a wide stance considered manly? If the answer to all of the above is yes, then it is quite absurd, ignorant, and narrow minded to think that only men can do such things.
Let's leave Bhangra alone for a moment shall we? In the spirit of what women can and cannot do historically, physically, culturally, what about Mai Bhago (Mata Bhago) who took up arms on the battlefield along with the other male Sikh warriors? Isn't the battlefield a place historically and traditionally male dominated? Here we are talking about girls doing manly moves on the dance floor (ie, wide stances) but back in the 1700's women sikh warriors with weapons adorned, mounted on horses were fighting side by side with their male counterparts on the bloody battlefields. They fought equally next to the men, and here we are in 2009 arguing that jumping high during a bhangra squat is taboo for women...or excuse me, 'too manly'. Yes Mai Bhago Ji is is a religiously historical reference, but it is an example to the fact that on the the bloody battlefields women were taking up arms and weapons but here we are in 2009 saying that squatting on stage is 'manly'.
How about the atheletics, as I also consider Bhangra an atheletic form that requires strength, agility, power, and stamina. There are women wrestlers, martial artists (me being one of them), hockey players, soccer players, gymnasts, should these women not squat, jump, kick, grapple because this is too manly? Should I not go to my dojo today and spar in fear that my kick might be too high and therefore 'manly' and a cultural taboo?
The point here is that women are equal to men ( and since I know this line is going to be taken out of context and already has, what I mean by saying 'equal in every way is in terms of ability. Ofcourse women will carry themselves differently in terms of clothing, and certain other cultural norms- ie we won't go play kabbadi with our shirts off and perhaps we won't have the same strength in a particular sport, but that doesn't mean we don't have the ability to do it or should be shunned from it). So if women are going to do Bhangra, why in the world would we not want to make every stance low, make every move powerful, make every jump high. It is this exact narrow-mindedness and gender-bias of what women can and cannot do that is holding our culture and community back.
As per your post Harman Singh Ji, you make reference that we try to act like men, and wearing chadray make us feel somehow 'manly'. You are entitled to your opinions however misguided and ignorant they may be, however I cannot pass up your comments without responding. Our team is firmly secure in our femininity, and it is quite absurd for educated women to be wanting to act like men! Do you think when we teach our team members a move we say 'do the jhummar as if you were a guy" how obscure! We perform and execute the art according to our abilities, our own translation and our own style. Sure our atheleticism and our own style allows us to be big in our moves, low in our stances, strong in our structure, and this type of capability is not just limited to men Harman Singh.
As for our team, Harkiran is right, we have two members who recently got married, and our others members are busy with grad/medical school and others busy with furthering their careers, but to still be taking out time for Bhangra shows the passion and love we have for this art. Our facial expressions to you might be over the top, but our passion for the art is over the top and this exubertes on stage thru our faces...that's just us, either you like it or you don't, we just do what we love-
As for our team riding on the fact that we are all girls, that is so 2002. There are many female teams in the circuit now and none of them have an advantage being all-female. We don't go into a competition thinking we have the advantage that we are all-female, yes, maybe this was a factor back in 2002 or 2003, but I will say nothing further to this other than the fact that our track record speaks for itself. Being all-female may have helped ride the wave for a year, but not for 7 years.
Finally, to all the women out there, unfortunatley our community and culture still has a ways to go in terms of surpassing the many gender-biases that exsist. My advice to you is if you are passionate about something, wether it be Bhangra or something else, hold your head up high and chase whatever it is you want, if your intentions are right then Waheguru will always be there for you. The UBC Girlz fight since 2002 has been gender equality not just in Bhangra but in many other realms, and the obstacles we faced and still face are manifold, but being strong, grounded, passionate and most of all always believing has allowed us to make change in our community. Sure we are just a bunch of girls doing Bhangra, but thru this we have been able to influence many young girls, troubled youth and women to step up against adversity and societal limitations put on them by narrow-minded, ignorant and biased individuals.
I am so proud of all the women in the Bhangra circuit right now, as you are the very definition of Punjabi women: strong and passionate warriors.
If I offended anyone with this post, then my sincerest apologies as that was not my intention. My plight for our community is equality, once we have that we will see less battered and suppressed wives, mothers, daughters and sisters....let's not put limitations, let's open doors......
Rab Rakha,
Mandeepak Kaur Patrola
ubc girlz bhangra team
Secondly, yes Mowsuf, this performance was outside in the evening and all I have to say was I don't think any of us felt our feet during the whole routine!
Further, Ok wow, I cannot believe that we are still talking about the age old boring story that women shouldn't do bhangra. Really guys, really? Yes historians it is so very true that in the age of our forefathers bhangra in it's many forms, jhummar, luddi, mirza, sammi etc was performed soley by those of the male gender. But no where in history or any bhangra rule book to my knowledge does it state that this beautiful, artistic art form is limited to men only. Bhangra is a beautiful art form. It is exhilirating, it is atheletic, it is graceful and most importantly it's one avenue for young people to stay in touch with their culture and language, so if females are also enticed by this, and chose to partake in the many positives Bhangra provides how can anyone state this is wrong? True, it may not be 'traditional' for girls to perform Bhangra due to the fact that traditionaly this art was performed by males, but tradition changes and evolves over time. There is positive change and there is negative change. In terms of Bhangra, having both genders participate in Bhangra is a positive change. Please tell me, is it not positive that thru Bhangra young people are begining to embrace the Punjabi language? Is it not positive that thru Bhangra young people are more inclined to learn about their culture? Is it not positive that Bhangra is an extracurricular activity that keeps young people busy and out of trouble? Is it not positive that Bhangra provides camaraderie, friendships, team work and a sense of patriotism? Is it not positive that Bhangra is an excellent way to stay in shape and a darn good workout? It may not be 'traditional' for girls to do Bhangra, but take a step back and observe our culture, go back in history and travel to today, many things which were 'traditional' have now evolved, and as far as Bhangra goes, this is a positive change in tradition, and I stand by this thru and thru.
Moving on, many speak of 'manly moves'. What are manly moves? Is squatting low considered manly? Is kicking high considered manly? Is jumping high considerd manly? Is having a wide stance considered manly? If the answer to all of the above is yes, then it is quite absurd, ignorant, and narrow minded to think that only men can do such things.
Let's leave Bhangra alone for a moment shall we? In the spirit of what women can and cannot do historically, physically, culturally, what about Mai Bhago (Mata Bhago) who took up arms on the battlefield along with the other male Sikh warriors? Isn't the battlefield a place historically and traditionally male dominated? Here we are talking about girls doing manly moves on the dance floor (ie, wide stances) but back in the 1700's women sikh warriors with weapons adorned, mounted on horses were fighting side by side with their male counterparts on the bloody battlefields. They fought equally next to the men, and here we are in 2009 arguing that jumping high during a bhangra squat is taboo for women...or excuse me, 'too manly'. Yes Mai Bhago Ji is is a religiously historical reference, but it is an example to the fact that on the the bloody battlefields women were taking up arms and weapons but here we are in 2009 saying that squatting on stage is 'manly'.
How about the atheletics, as I also consider Bhangra an atheletic form that requires strength, agility, power, and stamina. There are women wrestlers, martial artists (me being one of them), hockey players, soccer players, gymnasts, should these women not squat, jump, kick, grapple because this is too manly? Should I not go to my dojo today and spar in fear that my kick might be too high and therefore 'manly' and a cultural taboo?
The point here is that women are equal to men ( and since I know this line is going to be taken out of context and already has, what I mean by saying 'equal in every way is in terms of ability. Ofcourse women will carry themselves differently in terms of clothing, and certain other cultural norms- ie we won't go play kabbadi with our shirts off and perhaps we won't have the same strength in a particular sport, but that doesn't mean we don't have the ability to do it or should be shunned from it). So if women are going to do Bhangra, why in the world would we not want to make every stance low, make every move powerful, make every jump high. It is this exact narrow-mindedness and gender-bias of what women can and cannot do that is holding our culture and community back.
As per your post Harman Singh Ji, you make reference that we try to act like men, and wearing chadray make us feel somehow 'manly'. You are entitled to your opinions however misguided and ignorant they may be, however I cannot pass up your comments without responding. Our team is firmly secure in our femininity, and it is quite absurd for educated women to be wanting to act like men! Do you think when we teach our team members a move we say 'do the jhummar as if you were a guy" how obscure! We perform and execute the art according to our abilities, our own translation and our own style. Sure our atheleticism and our own style allows us to be big in our moves, low in our stances, strong in our structure, and this type of capability is not just limited to men Harman Singh.
As for our team, Harkiran is right, we have two members who recently got married, and our others members are busy with grad/medical school and others busy with furthering their careers, but to still be taking out time for Bhangra shows the passion and love we have for this art. Our facial expressions to you might be over the top, but our passion for the art is over the top and this exubertes on stage thru our faces...that's just us, either you like it or you don't, we just do what we love-
As for our team riding on the fact that we are all girls, that is so 2002. There are many female teams in the circuit now and none of them have an advantage being all-female. We don't go into a competition thinking we have the advantage that we are all-female, yes, maybe this was a factor back in 2002 or 2003, but I will say nothing further to this other than the fact that our track record speaks for itself. Being all-female may have helped ride the wave for a year, but not for 7 years.
Finally, to all the women out there, unfortunatley our community and culture still has a ways to go in terms of surpassing the many gender-biases that exsist. My advice to you is if you are passionate about something, wether it be Bhangra or something else, hold your head up high and chase whatever it is you want, if your intentions are right then Waheguru will always be there for you. The UBC Girlz fight since 2002 has been gender equality not just in Bhangra but in many other realms, and the obstacles we faced and still face are manifold, but being strong, grounded, passionate and most of all always believing has allowed us to make change in our community. Sure we are just a bunch of girls doing Bhangra, but thru this we have been able to influence many young girls, troubled youth and women to step up against adversity and societal limitations put on them by narrow-minded, ignorant and biased individuals.
I am so proud of all the women in the Bhangra circuit right now, as you are the very definition of Punjabi women: strong and passionate warriors.
If I offended anyone with this post, then my sincerest apologies as that was not my intention. My plight for our community is equality, once we have that we will see less battered and suppressed wives, mothers, daughters and sisters....let's not put limitations, let's open doors......
Rab Rakha,
Mandeepak Kaur Patrola
ubc girlz bhangra team
Meistro
Asi Shounk Nu Karaiyaan Muschaan Kundiyaan...
- Messages
- 2,065
damn that was deep. and herman got pwned.....but yeah props to the ubc girlz for still doing it, and impacting the punjabi community not only in BC but all of north america. Sometimes u just gotta look at their motives as a group and not their questionable style of bhangra
Jabar Jung
New Member
- Messages
- 926
Is your last name really Patrola?mona99 said:First of all, thank you for posting our video-
Secondly, yes Mowsuf, this performance was outside in the evening and all I have to say was I don't think any of us felt our feet during the whole routine!
Further, Ok wow, I cannot believe that we are still talking about the age old boring story that women shouldn't do bhangra. Really guys, really? Yes historians it is so very true that in the age of our forefathers bhangra in it's many forms, jhummar, luddi, mirza, sammi etc was performed soley by those of the male gender. But no where in history or any bhangra rule book to my knowledge does it state that this beautiful, artistic art form is limited to men only. Bhangra is a beautiful art form. It is exhilirating, it is atheletic, it is graceful and most importantly it's one avenue for young people to stay in touch with their culture and language, so if females are also enticed by this, and chose to partake in the many positives Bhangra provides how can anyone state this is wrong? True, it may not be 'traditional' for girls to perform Bhangra due to the fact that traditionaly this art was performed by males, but tradition changes and evolves over time. There is positive change and there is negative change. In terms of Bhangra, having both genders participate in Bhangra is a positive change. Is it not positive that thru Bhangra young people are begining to embrace the Punjabi language? Is it not positive that thru Bhangra young people are more inclined to learn about their culture? Is it not positive that Bhangra is an extracurricular activity that keeps young people busy and out of trouble? Is it not positive that Bhangra provides camaraderie, friendships, team work and a sense of patriotism? Is it not positive that Bhangra is an excellent way to stay in shape and a darn good workout? It may not be 'traditional' for girls to do Bhangra, but take a step back and observe our culture, go back in history and travel to today, many things which were 'traditional' have now evolved, and as far as Bhangra goes, this is a positive change in tradition, and I stand by this thru and thru.
Moving on, many speak of 'manly moves'. What are manly moves? Is squatting low considered manly? Is kicking high considered manly? Is jumping high considerd manly? Is having a wide stance considered manly? If the answer to all of the above is yes, then it is quite absurd, ignorant, and narrow minded to think that only men can do such things.
Let's leave Bhangra alone for a moment shall we? In the spirit of what women can and cannot do historically, physically, culturally, what about Mai Bhago (Mata Bhago) who took up arms on the battlefield along with the other male Sikh warriors? Isn't the battlefield a place historically and traditionally male dominated? Here we are talking about girls doing manly moves on the dance floor (ie, wide stances) but back in the 1700's women sikh warriors with weapons adorned, mounted on horses were fighting side by side with their male counterparts on the bloody battlefields. They fought equally next to the men, and here we are in 2009 arguing that jumping high during a bhangra squat is taboo for women...or excuse me, 'too manly'. Yes Mai Bhago Ji is is a religiously historical reference, but it is an example to the fact that on the the bloody battlefields women were taking up arms and weapons but here we are saying that squatting on stage is 'manly'.
How about the atheletics, as I also consider Bhangra an atheletic form that requires strength, agility, power, and stamina. There are women wrestlers, martial artist (me being one of them), hockey players, soccer players, gymnasts, should these women not squat, jump, kick, grapple because this is too manly? Should I not go to my dojo today and spar in fear that my kick might be too high and therefore 'manly' and a cultural taboo?
The point here is that women are equal to men in every way, so if women are going to do Bhangra, why in the world would we not want to make every stance low, make every move powerful, make every jump high. It is this exact narrow-mindedness and gender-bias of what women can and cannot do that is holding our culture and community back.
As per your post Harman Singh Ji, you make reference that we try to act like men, and wearing chadray make us feel somehow 'manly'. You are entitled to your opinions however misguided and ignorant they may be, however I cannot pass up your comments without responding. Our team is firmly secure in our femininity, and it is quite absurd for educated women to be wanting to act like men! Do you think when we teach our team members a move we say 'do the jhummar as if you were a guy" how obscure! We perform and execute the art according to our abilities, our own translation and our own style. Sure our atheleticism and our own style allows us to be big in our moves, low in our stances, strong in our structure, and this type of capability is not just limited to men Harman Singh.
As for our team, Harkiran is right, we have two members who recently got married, and our others members are busy with grad/medical school and others busy with furthering their careers, but to still be taking out time for Bhangra shows the passion and love we have for this art. Our facial expressions to you might be over the top, but our passion for the art is over top and this exubertes on stage thru our faces...that's just us, either you like it or you don't we just do what we love-
As for our team riding on the fact that we are all girls, that is so 2002. There are many female teams in the circuit now and none of them have an advantage being all-female. We don't go into a competition thinking we have the advantage that we are all-female, yes, maybe this was a factor back in 2002 or 2003, but I will say nothing further to this other than the fact that our track record speaks for itself. Being all-female may have helped ride the wave for a year, but not for 7 years.
Finally, to all the women out there, unfortunatley our community and culture still has a ways to go in terms of surpassing the many gender-biases that exsist. My advice to you is if you are passionate about something, wether it be Bhangra or something else, hold your head up high and chase whatever it is you want, if your intentions are right then Waherguru will always be there for you. The UBC Girlz fight since 2002 has been gender equality not just in Bhangra but in many other realms, and the obstacles we faced and still face are manifold, but being strong, grounded, passionate and most of all always believing has allowed us to make change in our community. Sure we are just a bunch of girls doing Bhangra, but thru this we have been able to influence many young girls, troubled youth and women to step up against adversity and societal limitations put on them by narrow-minded, ignorant and biased individuals.
I am so proud of all the women in the Bhangra circuit right now, as you are the very definition of Punjabi women: strong and passionate warriors.
If I offended anyone with this post, then my sincerest apologies as that was not my intention. My plight for our community is equality, once we have that we will see less battered and suppressed wives, mothers, daughters and sisters....let's not put limitations, let's open doors......
Rab Rakha,
Mandeepak Kaur Patrola
ubc girlz bhangra team
Meistro
Asi Shounk Nu Karaiyaan Muschaan Kundiyaan...
- Messages
- 2,065
yes thats her last name.....I know, i've never heard of it before either. I remember someone telling me once that some punjabi last names appear misspelled or don't even seem like punjabi last names because of when our ancestors came to north america. Not knowing too much english, they spelled their last names on their legal papers however they felt it should be spelled. I believe this happens in canada a lot because many punjabis settled there first. I could be wrong about mandeep's last name but I once knew a guy who's name was Paul Dale. His actual last name in punjabi is DEOL.
A really good performance!
You girls are insanely coordinated at parts, it's crazy! I would say that you need to work on grace, not only in jhummar but other parts as well. At times, steps look very very robotic and even though you girls are insanely coordinated, it takes away from the performance. I would also suggest that you go just pure naakre with smiling as opposed to singing the songs. It may be fun and I personally love singing the songs when dancing, but sometimes it looks better when just smiling. Other than that, I want to see the RETURN of UBC Girlz!
You girls are insanely coordinated at parts, it's crazy! I would say that you need to work on grace, not only in jhummar but other parts as well. At times, steps look very very robotic and even though you girls are insanely coordinated, it takes away from the performance. I would also suggest that you go just pure naakre with smiling as opposed to singing the songs. It may be fun and I personally love singing the songs when dancing, but sometimes it looks better when just smiling. Other than that, I want to see the RETURN of UBC Girlz!
