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VPD Reviews
- Thread starter Manu
- Start date
siddyp
Tough times never last, but tough people do.
- Messages
- 1,270
vpd weekend was a lot of fun.
everything ran relatively smooth. only exception was that the mixer was 30 + mins away from the hotel, and liasons only were able to take 7 ppl so each team had to take at least 1 or 2 cars everywhere we went including mixer and venue. the venue, afterparty and hotel were within a mile of each other which was clutch.
the hotel was a BALLER bhangra comp hotel. Best feature was the shuffle board, life size chess board, and mini putt course right in the middle of the building. biggest problem was that it was a condo/hotel building with permanent residents. the after competition festivities were very limited.
one resident threatened to call 911 on VT Bhangra for just walking into the building. they asked if they were the ones making noise and offered to tell other groups to quiet down and the lady responded with "this conversation is over, im calling 911."
the competition could do a better job next time warning about the potential noise complaints and having teams only stay in a certain part of the building.
after party venue was stupidly small. place filled out way to quickly with randos and teams had a lot of struggle trying to get in. then the struggle was even tougher just to walk around let alone buy a drink.
We at FCB had a ton of fun the whole weekend. We loved kickin it w CMU and UNC. shout out to Alan and Raj for letting swi and i crash on your couch thurs night.
can't really comment on the teams because I didn't watch very many. I saw CMU and Fauj (1st and last in the show lol) and both teams brought it. CMU set the bar very high to start the show, and Fauj's video can be seen in the videos section.
overall the weekend was a success, every team did great, and congrats again to my bros and sis's on UNC, Fauj, and CMU!!
everything ran relatively smooth. only exception was that the mixer was 30 + mins away from the hotel, and liasons only were able to take 7 ppl so each team had to take at least 1 or 2 cars everywhere we went including mixer and venue. the venue, afterparty and hotel were within a mile of each other which was clutch.
the hotel was a BALLER bhangra comp hotel. Best feature was the shuffle board, life size chess board, and mini putt course right in the middle of the building. biggest problem was that it was a condo/hotel building with permanent residents. the after competition festivities were very limited.
one resident threatened to call 911 on VT Bhangra for just walking into the building. they asked if they were the ones making noise and offered to tell other groups to quiet down and the lady responded with "this conversation is over, im calling 911."
the competition could do a better job next time warning about the potential noise complaints and having teams only stay in a certain part of the building.
after party venue was stupidly small. place filled out way to quickly with randos and teams had a lot of struggle trying to get in. then the struggle was even tougher just to walk around let alone buy a drink.
We at FCB had a ton of fun the whole weekend. We loved kickin it w CMU and UNC. shout out to Alan and Raj for letting swi and i crash on your couch thurs night.
can't really comment on the teams because I didn't watch very many. I saw CMU and Fauj (1st and last in the show lol) and both teams brought it. CMU set the bar very high to start the show, and Fauj's video can be seen in the videos section.
overall the weekend was a success, every team did great, and congrats again to my bros and sis's on UNC, Fauj, and CMU!!
the chess board was effin sick...just for the record, i toyed with campy the whole time, slowly taking out each and every piece he had on board (mind you, this was at 4 am)...he finally got really annoyed and said "MOVE YOUR OWN DAMN PIECES" hahahhasiddyp said:vpd weekend was a lot of fun.
everything ran relatively smooth. only exception was that the mixer was 30 + mins away from the hotel, and liasons only were able to take 7 ppl so each team had to take at least 1 or 2 cars everywhere we went including mixer and venue. the venue, afterparty and hotel were within a mile of each other which was clutch.
the hotel was a BALLER bhangra comp hotel. Best feature was the shuffle board, life size chess board, and mini putt course right in the middle of the building. biggest problem was that it was a condo/hotel building with permanent residents. the after competition festivities were very limited.
one resident threatened to call 911 on VT Bhangra for just walking into the building. they asked if they were the ones making noise and offered to tell other groups to quiet down and the lady responded with "this conversation is over, im calling 911."
the competition could do a better job next time warning about the potential noise complaints and having teams only stay in a certain part of the building.
after party venue was stupidly small. place filled out way to quickly with randos and teams had a lot of struggle trying to get in. then the struggle was even tougher just to walk around let alone buy a drink.
We at FCB had a ton of fun the whole weekend. We loved kickin it w CMU and UNC. shout out to Alan and Raj for letting swi and i crash on your couch thurs night.
can't really comment on the teams because I didn't watch very many. I saw CMU and Fauj (1st and last in the show lol) and both teams brought it. CMU set the bar very high to start the show, and Fauj's video can be seen in the videos section.
overall the weekend was a success, every team did great, and congrats again to my bros and sis's on UNC, Fauj, and CMU!!
Jdosanjh
[AVA Girls]
- Messages
- 152
I'll start off by saying that VPD weekend was really fun, I had a blast with my team mates on East Side Alliance.
Our liaison was amazing -> Sachin Patel!! Thanks for being super helpful.
List of things that upset me with VPD 2012 :
- No Pre-judges meeting
- Last minute mixer venue change which was 30 mins away from our hotel
We went to the mixer super hungry and..
- The spaghetti that the committee made RAN OUT (Committee didn't "think" all teams would be attending)
So, we had to make a stop at Wendy's which made half our team sick! :O
At the competition..
- Teams were not informed when the competition actually started. There was A lot of confusion back stage!
Lastly..
- The after party venue was way to small! There was way too many people in such a small place. People were being pushed around left, right, and center!
On a more positive note ...
--> Gotta give VPD props for the team hotels! I felt like I was in paradise!
Congrats to all the placing teams! =D
Our liaison was amazing -> Sachin Patel!! Thanks for being super helpful.
List of things that upset me with VPD 2012 :
- No Pre-judges meeting
- Last minute mixer venue change which was 30 mins away from our hotel
We went to the mixer super hungry and..
- The spaghetti that the committee made RAN OUT (Committee didn't "think" all teams would be attending)
So, we had to make a stop at Wendy's which made half our team sick! :O
At the competition..
- Teams were not informed when the competition actually started. There was A lot of confusion back stage!
Lastly..
- The after party venue was way to small! There was way too many people in such a small place. People were being pushed around left, right, and center!
On a more positive note ...
--> Gotta give VPD props for the team hotels! I felt like I was in paradise!
Congrats to all the placing teams! =D
Arjun Barua
Member
- Messages
- 650
lavesh said:
Y'ALL PLAYED CHESS?!?! I would have come just for that!
Reeeeda
Member
- Messages
- 71
Vpd was a really fun competition overall, but organization and committee wise, it was really bad. This was my first time at VPD and I had really high expectations that were not met.
Mixer:
It ended up being in a really small crowded room. After the lineup was set, it was not announced to the teams...we didn't know the show order until much later when we received an email about tech time. It was uncomfortable leaving the mixer not really knowing what was going on for the show and having to listen to hearsay about what team is going up when.
Also, there was not nearly enough food for all the teams there and when asked, they simply just said "well we weren't expecting everyone to show up". Many of the teams had to go elsewhere to eat. ESA ended up going to a Wendy's near by. Bad decision - half the team ended up with food poisoning.
Show:
So disappointed with the committee. ESA was told that we were on deck to be on deck when we weren't even notified that the show started. At this point, there was still 10 minutes till the scheduled start time for the show so we were confused as to why they started early and why we weren't told. We panicked, given that half our girls were without chunnis and our phumans were not even at the venue yet. Then we find out that the exhibition didn't even take the stage yet. 5 minutes later another committee member comes in and tells us that we need to come with her right away and need to be on stage. confused, we still were rushing. 5 minutes later again, from someone else- "oh the show is just starting now". It was an extremely frustrating situation and very unprofessional. But, overall, the show was great, the teams brought it. At the end of the show, they did not even call all of the teams on stage to announce the winners. Everyone was so confused as to what was going on. I recall hearing someone say "WAIT did we place or didn't we?" ...Chaos.
Team Review:
I saw the second half of the show - Fauj, FCB, Furteelay, VCU, UNC - ill keep the reviews short.
Fauj - I really thought they were going to take first. I did however feel like their routine hit a peak and then leveled off. nonetheless, great set.
FCB - as usual, good ideas. But, the energy is lacking. Ive seen you guys perform several times, and every time you guys hit the stage, you bring on a better set with better ideas.. but the execution is never there to do you justice. overall, you guys did hold my interest. would love to see more consistent energy from all of the dancers in the future.
Furteelay - Loved the jugni. creative set, pretty entertaining. Close third in my eyes out of the teams that i did get to see.
VCU - was really expecting you guys to place after watching your performance...and still kinda of surprised that you didn't. I didn't get to see CMU, so maybe my thoughts would be different if did. Taller girl in yellow is nasty. so graceful and consistent energy till the end. Very clean performance. I was a little skeptical about what VCU would be like this year, but you guys still got it and im really happy to see that.
UNC - very clean.... VERRRY very clean haha. Every formation was hit. Blue jodi was lacking a little bit, but they held their own. Overall - really great. Excited to see what you guys bring at Elite 8.
After party
- venue was so small and it was disgustingly crowded. couldnt even walk. At one point they stopped letting people in and teams were not happy about it. I actually stepped outside with one of my teammates and was not let back in for the remainder of the night. There was an incident where the bouncer actually got physical with two of the ESA girls and put his hands on them in a vicious manner because they tried to step in the lobby to find the rest of the team so they could leave. Not okay at all. Appreciate VPD for taking initiative in apologizing for what had happened and coming to talk to us about the situation afterwards. Just to be clear - this bouncer was affiliated with the after party venue - NOT vpd.
Overall, it was a fun time. And as everyone else mentioned, the hotel was amazing haha. It was awesome meeting the teams and some new faces. Everyone was so incredibly helpful to us and I can't convey how appreciative we are for that.
Mixer:
It ended up being in a really small crowded room. After the lineup was set, it was not announced to the teams...we didn't know the show order until much later when we received an email about tech time. It was uncomfortable leaving the mixer not really knowing what was going on for the show and having to listen to hearsay about what team is going up when.
Also, there was not nearly enough food for all the teams there and when asked, they simply just said "well we weren't expecting everyone to show up". Many of the teams had to go elsewhere to eat. ESA ended up going to a Wendy's near by. Bad decision - half the team ended up with food poisoning.
Show:
So disappointed with the committee. ESA was told that we were on deck to be on deck when we weren't even notified that the show started. At this point, there was still 10 minutes till the scheduled start time for the show so we were confused as to why they started early and why we weren't told. We panicked, given that half our girls were without chunnis and our phumans were not even at the venue yet. Then we find out that the exhibition didn't even take the stage yet. 5 minutes later another committee member comes in and tells us that we need to come with her right away and need to be on stage. confused, we still were rushing. 5 minutes later again, from someone else- "oh the show is just starting now". It was an extremely frustrating situation and very unprofessional. But, overall, the show was great, the teams brought it. At the end of the show, they did not even call all of the teams on stage to announce the winners. Everyone was so confused as to what was going on. I recall hearing someone say "WAIT did we place or didn't we?" ...Chaos.
Team Review:
I saw the second half of the show - Fauj, FCB, Furteelay, VCU, UNC - ill keep the reviews short.
Fauj - I really thought they were going to take first. I did however feel like their routine hit a peak and then leveled off. nonetheless, great set.
FCB - as usual, good ideas. But, the energy is lacking. Ive seen you guys perform several times, and every time you guys hit the stage, you bring on a better set with better ideas.. but the execution is never there to do you justice. overall, you guys did hold my interest. would love to see more consistent energy from all of the dancers in the future.
Furteelay - Loved the jugni. creative set, pretty entertaining. Close third in my eyes out of the teams that i did get to see.
VCU - was really expecting you guys to place after watching your performance...and still kinda of surprised that you didn't. I didn't get to see CMU, so maybe my thoughts would be different if did. Taller girl in yellow is nasty. so graceful and consistent energy till the end. Very clean performance. I was a little skeptical about what VCU would be like this year, but you guys still got it and im really happy to see that.
UNC - very clean.... VERRRY very clean haha. Every formation was hit. Blue jodi was lacking a little bit, but they held their own. Overall - really great. Excited to see what you guys bring at Elite 8.
After party
- venue was so small and it was disgustingly crowded. couldnt even walk. At one point they stopped letting people in and teams were not happy about it. I actually stepped outside with one of my teammates and was not let back in for the remainder of the night. There was an incident where the bouncer actually got physical with two of the ESA girls and put his hands on them in a vicious manner because they tried to step in the lobby to find the rest of the team so they could leave. Not okay at all. Appreciate VPD for taking initiative in apologizing for what had happened and coming to talk to us about the situation afterwards. Just to be clear - this bouncer was affiliated with the after party venue - NOT vpd.
Overall, it was a fun time. And as everyone else mentioned, the hotel was amazing haha. It was awesome meeting the teams and some new faces. Everyone was so incredibly helpful to us and I can't convey how appreciative we are for that.
sonehdataweet
New Member
- Messages
- 773
I told Jaideep to take a picture for you! hahaBarua said:
Yes it's long. And impulsive. So if I offended anyone unconsciously, please accept my apologies. Check it out.
I miss the days when everyone would write up detailed reviews of the competition and performance as soon as they had time. It used to be really helpful for newer dancers on the circuit in terms of what competitions to aim for, to get a feel of general audience feedback to a particular set, etc. It seems only a few people do that any more, so I'll try and do my best to put in my two cent to bring back that feeling!
Virsa Punjab Da this year was a lot of fun! Some pros, some cons, but overall, the committee did their very best to put on a good show.
Mixer
While the location was not convenient for any of the teams (30 minutes away from hotel, venue, and afterparty, which were all within a couple miles of each other), it was still a better-organized mixer than what I heard last year. The committee made a solid effort to get the teams to mingle and meet each other through games and dance-offs. So much fun to see FAUJ just having a blast that night and winning over every group they were a part of.
Food was a bit of an issue. The committee ran out of food, and I heard one member saying that they actually didn't expect most teams to even come to the mixer, ad that's why they didn't have enough food provided. A bit unproffessional, but hopefully they'll learn from that mistake next year.
Rehearsals
They were delayed. I got the feeling that the committee had prepared well for what they had planned, but weren't prepared for changes in circumstances, and they weren't flexible. I think CMU had to stand outside in the cold for a while because VPD had not planned to open a dressing room for dancers to wait in before their actual rehearsal time? Poor guys were freezing while the committee tried to sort it out.
Venue
Same place as it was held two years ago. It's a tiny stage; I wouldn't recommend any team trying to go 16-man on it. Lighting crew was really focused on hitting all the details we gave them though, and we appreciated that. \
Afterparty
Well, this has been covered by everyone else. It was tiny, there was no separate line or recognition for performers that wanted to get in. Once you waited out the crowd a bit, it was alright. DJ was on pint thorugh.
**Actual Reason I wanted to Write This**
I competed with Gajjdi Jawani this past weekend, and I could not have been more proud of my team. We had several new dancers who danced for the first time, and their dedication and effort during the past few months has been simply inspiring. We are a team made up of high-schoolers and college kids from various schools and the way the younger kids have managed their time to give their all to an independent team is impressive. I couldn't be more proud of them.
That being said, we are a newer team with newer dancers. So, we would love to hear some constructive criticism about our performance. Most of the reviews here have been only on the second half of the show, and I know there were more people in that audience that have something to say about the first half.
So, BTF, I'm proposing a challenge for you. Elite 8 is in 2 days. There'll be a lot of people waiting on this forum for results and vids to come up. While you're waiting for those results to come out, take a few minutes and check out vids from VPD and provide some feedback.
There are so many threads on here about the youth carrying on Bhangra in NOrth America, and how it's fantastic, encouraging, inspiring, etc. Please take a few minutes of your time to follow through on that and give them some advice on how to improve as dancers in order to fuel that passion that they already have for dancing.
Shoutouts (can't forget this!)
- Jyoti- You were absolutely incredible. You really made an effort to connect with the teams. I think you had a lot of trouble from other people on your committee who had already earned the ill will of the other teams, but you pushed through and we noticed.
-ESA - These girls truly demonstrated their love of Bhangra through their initiative, and brought back what the dance should be about. Their attitude throughout the entire weekend, from their friendliness to their fortitude through team food poisoning (I hope you all are feeling better!) set a model fro all other teams.
- CMU Bhangra, UNC, and FAUJ for placing! Espeically Priya and Nidhi on UNC. You both have improved so much and I couldn't be more proud of both of you.
-Natya Academy kids exhibition performance- You all had so much fun on stage that night! Great job, nad this is just the beginning, there is much more to come!
-Miss Sonia Dewett - for her constant encouragement and love. <3
If you got through all of this, you. are. awesome.
I miss the days when everyone would write up detailed reviews of the competition and performance as soon as they had time. It used to be really helpful for newer dancers on the circuit in terms of what competitions to aim for, to get a feel of general audience feedback to a particular set, etc. It seems only a few people do that any more, so I'll try and do my best to put in my two cent to bring back that feeling!
Virsa Punjab Da this year was a lot of fun! Some pros, some cons, but overall, the committee did their very best to put on a good show.
Mixer
While the location was not convenient for any of the teams (30 minutes away from hotel, venue, and afterparty, which were all within a couple miles of each other), it was still a better-organized mixer than what I heard last year. The committee made a solid effort to get the teams to mingle and meet each other through games and dance-offs. So much fun to see FAUJ just having a blast that night and winning over every group they were a part of.
Food was a bit of an issue. The committee ran out of food, and I heard one member saying that they actually didn't expect most teams to even come to the mixer, ad that's why they didn't have enough food provided. A bit unproffessional, but hopefully they'll learn from that mistake next year.
Rehearsals
They were delayed. I got the feeling that the committee had prepared well for what they had planned, but weren't prepared for changes in circumstances, and they weren't flexible. I think CMU had to stand outside in the cold for a while because VPD had not planned to open a dressing room for dancers to wait in before their actual rehearsal time? Poor guys were freezing while the committee tried to sort it out.
Venue
Same place as it was held two years ago. It's a tiny stage; I wouldn't recommend any team trying to go 16-man on it. Lighting crew was really focused on hitting all the details we gave them though, and we appreciated that. \
Afterparty
Well, this has been covered by everyone else. It was tiny, there was no separate line or recognition for performers that wanted to get in. Once you waited out the crowd a bit, it was alright. DJ was on pint thorugh.
**Actual Reason I wanted to Write This**
I competed with Gajjdi Jawani this past weekend, and I could not have been more proud of my team. We had several new dancers who danced for the first time, and their dedication and effort during the past few months has been simply inspiring. We are a team made up of high-schoolers and college kids from various schools and the way the younger kids have managed their time to give their all to an independent team is impressive. I couldn't be more proud of them.
That being said, we are a newer team with newer dancers. So, we would love to hear some constructive criticism about our performance. Most of the reviews here have been only on the second half of the show, and I know there were more people in that audience that have something to say about the first half.
So, BTF, I'm proposing a challenge for you. Elite 8 is in 2 days. There'll be a lot of people waiting on this forum for results and vids to come up. While you're waiting for those results to come out, take a few minutes and check out vids from VPD and provide some feedback.
There are so many threads on here about the youth carrying on Bhangra in NOrth America, and how it's fantastic, encouraging, inspiring, etc. Please take a few minutes of your time to follow through on that and give them some advice on how to improve as dancers in order to fuel that passion that they already have for dancing.
Shoutouts (can't forget this!)
- Jyoti- You were absolutely incredible. You really made an effort to connect with the teams. I think you had a lot of trouble from other people on your committee who had already earned the ill will of the other teams, but you pushed through and we noticed.
-ESA - These girls truly demonstrated their love of Bhangra through their initiative, and brought back what the dance should be about. Their attitude throughout the entire weekend, from their friendliness to their fortitude through team food poisoning (I hope you all are feeling better!) set a model fro all other teams.
- CMU Bhangra, UNC, and FAUJ for placing! Espeically Priya and Nidhi on UNC. You both have improved so much and I couldn't be more proud of both of you.
-Natya Academy kids exhibition performance- You all had so much fun on stage that night! Great job, nad this is just the beginning, there is much more to come!
-Miss Sonia Dewett - for her constant encouragement and love. <3
If you got through all of this, you. are. awesome.
