Thread: Bhangra

Are any of you fans of bhangra? It just looks flippin' FUN. I want to check it out and work up a number for our troupe, so do you have any DVD recommendations to get me started? No way I'll find a teacher for that.

bhangra is fun but be prepared to sweat. very high energy and extremely bouncy. not sure what dvds are out there but i just took a workshop in it. we were all sweating up a storm

i'm in a bhangra troupe. it's lots of fun. i dont know of any decent dvds im afraid :(

Well, I ordered Jay Patel's Bhangra Beats Round 1. I'll see how far that gets me. The troupe is going to die when I spring this on them. :zillevil: Only one of them besides me is in any kind of shape to do this, and that's because she's a zumba instructor.

I love it! It is so much fun cause the music is so infectious! Bully Bully!

Originally Posted by Darbla

Well, I ordered Jay Patel's Bhangra Beats Round 1. I'll see how far that gets me. The troupe is going to die when I spring this on them. :zillevil: Only one of them besides me is in any kind of shape to do this, and that's because she's a zumba instructor.

i checked out the video clip and it looks decent. let me know how it works out! :)

Check out the college competions on YouTube from India, not the US. Australia has some great Bhangra teams too. David has a girls Bhangra team here in San Diego and we have a posting on YouTube under EDA San Diego (I Think)
David teaches Bhangra all over the world.
Bhangra comes from Punjab India, David is Punjabi.
After you check out the dancing, check out some of Punjabi folk ensembles for the instruments used in live Bhangra performances
One caution, a lot of the songs sound the same due to the beat but in many, the lyrics are political or deal with some serious subjects such as war and martyr-dome.
Also, Meera has a Bhangra DVD out, she gives a good overall feel of Bhangra and has made it more accessible to the GP

And the more modern songs are about partying and getting drunk! LOL

Bhangra Beats is a good basic DVD for the moves. Bhangra is " not of my people" but I love its rowdy feel :)

Bhangra is a great form of exercise and the DVDs you will find out there are more geared towards adding options to people's exercise regimens.

This also colors off on some of the performance troupes out there. They tend to become much more of a synchronized cardio class on stage, rather than a representation of the musical and dance technical aspects of this cultural dance form.

I realize that not everyone can immerse themselves into the dance technical and musical aspects of every dance they like, but - I would recommend that find proper dance and music resources for your project if it is an option.

Here are some visual representation of what would be a cultural presentation rather than a fitness focused presentation:

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OImAfCxP0Vw]YouTube - Mellbourne Bhangra winner[/ame]
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0ZXMz_9Pw4]YouTube - Bhangra[/ame]
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wfi6jzXz3rc]YouTube - This is what you call Bhangra..!!![/ame]

And here, the college competition troupe from Layallpur Khalsa College (my dad's college) :
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRWbB0rW1Ww]YouTube - Lyallpur Khalsa College Bhangra[/ame]

Music of Punjab:
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IB1I9-A1ieY]YouTube - folk orchestra punjabi scd govt clg ldh[/ame]

Originally Posted by shimarella

And the more modern songs are about partying and getting drunk! LOL

Bhangra Beats is a good basic DVD for the moves. Bhangra is " not of my people" but I love its rowdy feel :)

Punjabi songs have always reflected society.... celebrations - incl. intoxication, and its effect is nothing new or more recent. Punjabi folk heritage has a longstanding relationship with poetry and at times Sufi interpretations of things. Intoxication is not only achieved through alcohol, it can be intoxication by life, God, devotion, love... the fact that translations of the rather refined, clever poetry into other languages - or from other language vocabularies to Punjabi rather - provide poor interpretation does not make every Punjabi song mentioning intoxication a song about drinking you guts out. Although, that does occur as well. Unfortunately, the lack of command of language by NRIs (Non Resident Indians) is of great loss to the integrity of the Punjabi language.

David, I didn't say that all the songs were about that. It was a joke.

In any case, I was specifically referring to the more hip-hop oriented songs by British singers (Hard Kaur etc) that clearly use a bhangra beat. Actually I like those songs and find them kind of fun.
Nice videos, by the way. Took me back to the days of junior college in Singapore watching my fellow Indian Society members get down onstage! My brother got to try the wilder stunts.

I will now return you to your authentic discussion ;)

DaVid. Please tell me you're teaching a bhangra workshop in Atlanta??? ..g.:

Shimarella: it was funny :) Just making sure anyone that doesn't know alot about Bhangra and Punjabi culture isnt left confused.

Darbla: I will not be teaching a Bhangra workshop while in Atlanta, but I am available for private lessons during the event. Talk to the organizer and I'm sure she will be happy to assist you with setting something up.

I will be teaching workshops in Egyptian veil, Egyptian Shaabi choreography, Khaleegi Potpurri, Bollywood for Bellydance Combos...and a lecture on attitudes, mimics and expressions..in Atlanta. :)

OK! Can you give me an example of what to expect in the Bollywood workshop? My troupe mates and are deciding now what we're going to take, so I might be interested in that in lieu of Bhangra.

workshop description:
"DaVid teaches Bollywood from traditional dances (Kathak, Bharata Natyam, Bhangra, Giddha, Banjara, Kalbelia, Dandiya Ras) to modern expressions fused into common Bellydance concepts. This isn't a full on Bollywood class, but a workshop on how to incorporate movements and flavors of Bollywood into shimmies, undulations, accents, floor patterns, arm paths and more of any style of Bellydance. Open the door to an exciting approach maintaining the integrity of both Indian and Bellydance styles by one of the leading names in both. Bring a notebook and water and be ready to dive into the world of Bollywood from a Bellydance perspective."

fun! I could use that class. You wouldn't happen to be taping that would you ;)

I wouldn't have even looked that workshop up if we hadn't had this thread. Now I'm seriously considering it. Thanks, DaVid!

Shimarella: Filming this subject is not on the schedule for now, maybe sometime in the future :)

Darbla: Great :) All the subjects featured at the event look like great fun. I know I would have a hard time selecting myself!

I love Bhangra, Punjabi, and Bollywood dances and music! Me and a couple gas were just considering doing a bollywood inspired choreography.