Your Reach Ain't Long Enough, Your Peeps Ain't Strong Enough

[Post title refers to: Jay Z , "Takeover"]


Sorry for the delay since my last post! I hope you are all still interested, excited, pumped, other adjectives signifying that you will continue to read. Between work, visitors and the Janet Jackson greatest hits concert I was a little behind getting this writing done. On the real, the Janet concert was pretty amazing. I can’t sleep now because I am still all overstimulated from the crazy good show she put on. The woman is 50 and still working it. Next time someone tells me I am too old to compete I am screaming out “If Janet can do it, so can I!” I can hear the response: “But you aren’t a world famous bad butt with millions of adoring fans calling you back to dance.” Minor details. You say tomato, I say tomahhhhto. I don’t actually say tomahhhto. If I did I would punch myself. I do, however, say bad butt instead of bad a*$. Feel free to take that and spread it around, too.

Lights, Camera, Bhangraaaaaaaa
My first performance with LBC is one I will never forget: Bruin Bhangra 2006 in Long Beach, California. Of course, before the performance all I wanted to do was practice. Talk about practice (you talkin’ ‘bout practice?!), what we did at practice, what we will do at practice, when we will practice and when we will practice some more. I LOVE PRACTICE. (You can ask Teji about it.) I love it so much I am getting a head of myself on the chronology.

So in the Summer of 2006 I had just finished my first year of law school and was externing for a judge in Arizona. As always, Bruin was Memorial Day weekend at the Long Beach Performing Arts Center. I flew to LA on the Friday night before the show to meet all the guys in Long Beach. This was technically only our second time together to practice as a full team so we had a lot of work to do.

But first, we went to the mixer. It was at the mixer that I met a now great friend of mine—Vivek. Vivek and I started talking on Friendster early in the Summer of 2005 because a mutual friend told us that we looked alike when we were children. I mean, some people might be offended by this but I did have an awesome baby comb-over so it must have been a compliment. Right? So Vivek and I gchatted (or was it AIM?) and expressed excitement over finally meeting at the Bruin mixer. I found him in the back of the mixer at the Punjabi Soormay table, wearing glasses and a banana republic employee name tag. As a joke. You should laugh. We took a picture together to mark the occasion and have joked around ever since that we were long lost brother and sister that were separated at birth and reunited through bhangra. He now lives about fifteen minutes away from me and I like to go to his house to eat his wife’s amazing cooking and do Dave Chappelle impersonations (okay fine that was only once but it was a hit). And oh, I recycle jokes in case you had not noticed.

Back to the mixer: next up was selection of the order of the show. At bhangra competitions, the normal course of action for determining show order is to allow the teams to select a number at random. I was SO excited that the guys let me pick our place. As I got up to choose our number, there were only two spots left to choose from—either first or last. The positions were wrapped in a large Hershey’s chocolate bar and placed in a large bowl in the front of the room. I walked up to grab a number wearing the black and white flower sari that I borrowed from Harmeet (it was the first time I had ever worn a sari) and everyone was chanting my name as I reached for one of the two bars. In my head I had chosen which bar I would select but as I reached toward it I thought “no, no, you have bad luck--go against your gut instinct and you will choose the right one.” So I reached for the other chocolate bar, unwrapped it, with my heart nearly beating out of my chest. I stared in amazement at the number wrapped in the bar. I CHOSE FIRST. If that is not anti-climactic, I just don’t know what is. The chanting stopped, needless to say. I walked back over to the LBC table with my head hanging to the side thinking that in my first official act as an LBC member, I had let my team down.

After the mixer, we decide to practice in some random parking lot away from the other teams. Annay couldn't find his shoes so he had to wear mine. Yes, you read that correctly. Yes, they were slippers-not real shoes. We practiced as long as we could, perfecting the small parts and running through what we needed to. Like I said, I love practice so I made us keep going and going and going. I distinctly remember Hans saying “Man Jas, you really love to dance-you look so happy practicing.” He spoke the truth.

I also remember that we needed to come up with an ending at this practice. Yes, it was two days before the show and we didn’t have an ending. We have done this several times. So we came up with the choreography that Gurdeep, Ambi and I would do at the end of the dance while the rest of the guys were getting into the stunt formation and called it a night.

Perfect Practice Makes Perfect.

The next day, Saturday, we spend the day practicing in front of the venue—the Long Beach Performing Arts Center. We were greeted by Harjot and the rest of the Gabroos as well as our good friends on the Duniya Allstars. This was my first time meeting the Gabroo Punjabis in real life. Of course I had seen their various videos, including the hilarious ones where they filmed themselves driving to competitions, singing and doing other random, hilarious things (an example but I am sure there are more that I just cannot seem to find at the moment). I was so excited to see them. One of them even interviewed me after the show asking if I was the “Michigan Girl” they remembered from videos. I confirmed that I was but recall pretty silent in this interview. I probably just stood there with a goofy smile on my face, so excited about absolutely everything going on around me.

The tandiyann billyaan (cool cats) from the Duniya All Stars (a team from Vancouver that goes way back), stopped by our practice, gave us high-fives, hung out, the usual. These were the days when you kicked it with other teams—you made new friends every which way you turned. The Duniya dudes (special shout out to the Duniya super star Raju Johal on his upcoming album and DOPE single-get it iTunes if you have not already—Nanchna Pasand) were our buddies, plain and simple. I had the pleasure of competing against them after years at the Elite 8 competition in 2010. It reminded me of the good ole’ days.

After practicing, we got ready and that night (still Saturday) we went to the competition pre-party in the awesome yellow school bus. In normal bhangra competition form, there was not enough space for all of us so we crammed ourselves in the bus, singing boliyaan the whole way to the venue. We also started the “bus driver” chant, which turned out to be a big hit. I wish I had something more memorable to say about the pre party. I don’t. It was fun. We stayed up late, in true LBC fashion. This is where I started to learn that these guys take having fun seriously. Seriously.

The next day, Sunday, was the day of the show. Being the practice lover that I am, I wanted to ensure that we had time to do a full run through before our actual tech time (anyone who has danced with me knows that I absolutely am not okay with the first full out run through of the day to be our tech time). So, we got up and got ready to go. Random aside: Everyone thought it was so weird that I was going to shower before tech time. Especially considering I was only going to dance for two minutes. I am not sure what it is about bhangra weekends, but I just feel the incessant need to shower. On Sunday before tech, again before the show, again after the show and then maybe if I am awake enough after the after party. Bhangra involves a lot of sweating. And if you know me you probably also know that sweat and I are no strangers. I am not sure why I just felt comfortable enough to talk about my sweating issues on a public forum. It is late. I might regret this in the morning. Those of you reading this before my regret kicks in, causing me to delete this, I hope you are getting a good laugh.  To continue on the shower discussion, Sukh does this thing he calls "body showers" when he is in a hurry on competition weekends. We say "Sukh hurry up we gotta go." He says, "Okay I'll be ready just gotta take a quick body shower." I still don't know what the difference is between that and a regular shower. More important question: How did this become a post about hygiene?

So we started our tech time and it was AMAZING. We did our formations walk through before doing our run through to music. As the music started, I waited in the curtains, in my usual back corner space. Waiting in the curtains for an entire performance is thrilling and nerve wrecking at the same time. It gives me six minutes to think about messing up, to get nervous about the crowd, to convince myself that I am going to forget a move and get hated on because I only have like ten moves to do total. But it also gives me six minutes to watch my brothers dance and to cheer them on one by one, screaming, jumping up and down, and waiving at them with both hands (it is a trend in my life). So tech time comes and goes and the next thing I know we are suited and booted (hey Jazzy B) and heading to the venue for the show.

Showtime! In another post.

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Somebody Told Me This World Was Small, Used to Live in the Same Building On The Same Floor

[Post title refers to: The Roots "You Got Me"]

Email Gold.

My next post was going to be about Bruin itself—the mixer, practice, the show. BUT as I was remembering details I realized I forgot about one of the best LBC emails I have received to date and decided that I NEEDED to include it. I got this email from an LBC original-Sukh-on April 30, 2006, just a couple weeks after being asked to dance with LBC and a few weeks before the show. It is hilarious and very telling of the kind of guys LBC dancers are. Note that I don't edit out the sarcasm or the random comments.  If you are aghast wondering if my parents are reading the not-totally-Punjabi-parent-friendly comments that follow (see number 5 below and the last item in the required items list), yes, they are. And they are probably laughing and calling me crazy. (Hi Mom! Hi Dad!)

Here it is:

“hi jas. first and foremost i want to welcome u to the LBC family....lbc is a family of bhangra stars that have been dancing for years but have nothing to show for it.......this is a one year minimum membership that calls for a monthly payment of $59..99 for club and other expenses. as a member of LBC u are prohibited from talking to any members from other teams regarding our team, mix, routine, ideas, personal problems, love problems, health issues, financial status…..sign and date below if all terms are understood...


____________ _____
signature            date
sukh singh
"ceo of LBC"



As a new member to the LBC family we are curious to learn more about you..below is a group of questions that we would like u to answer.....
p.s. this may affect your LBC membership, please answer questions wisely!
1- favorite bhangra team
2- favorite dancer
3- shoe size
4- yearly income
5- do u have a single sister
6- what is 4+3-2/5*0-1+6/9(5.562)
7- what songs is kj dancing to at bruin
8- is ranveer dancing
9- has bhui found the keys
10- is bunty ready


If 2 or more questions are answered incorrectly or found to be false upon our sources you will be indefinitely dismissed from the club and required to pay a cancellation fee of $109.99 along with first month membership of $59.99 first practice requirements. As u approach ur first lbc practice a few things will be required on ur part to bring to practice.. below is a list of things that will be required for u to purchase and bring to the practice...


REQUIRED
2-bottles of CROWN
3-bottles of COKE
2-pizzas
1-bag of chips
minimum 2 maximum 15 hot girls (we will decide what is HOT, be sure to pick wisely ur participation may be based on this!)


RECOMMENDED but NOT REQUIRED
tennis shoes
shorts
extra t shirts
brain
water bottles
ideas
and YOU”

I still think this is one of the funniest emails I have gotten. I was sitting in the med school library (third floor, facing the parking lot) studying for finals when I received it and remember laughing out loud at the part where Sukh asks about the keys to the truck. Some of these questions are inside jokes that a lot of readers won't understand. Unless the only people reading this are my teammates and people who know us relatively well. In which case HI and please force your friends to read this so I don't talk to you about it over and over and over again and convince you to make different aliases to post comments under. Not that I'd do that....

So for those of you who aren't privy to the inside info--a quick explanation. On 5, no, I didn't have a single sister. Funny story--she is actually married to the guy that did the voiceovers on early Khalsa Junction mixes. Small world, I KNOW.

On 8, Ranveer was the little kid (who is so tall and good at field hockey now) that used to come out and dance with Khalsa Junction. He was their little secret weapon. And he was (is) a great kid. He would come to the competitions with his mom (Hi Auntie!) and sister (Hi Harmeet!) and want to stay up all late with everyone else--convince us all that he wasn't tired despite the fact that his eyes were red and he couldn't keep them open. For the record, he was dancing that year (at about 1:40 of that video with another awesome girl dancer (who is now on DRP! Hi Gagan!)). And he was crazy good, as always.

On 9, Bhui is the name of the KJ Dholi. In 2005, when I danced with KJ, the voiceover introduced us by asking Bhui where the keys to the truck were. So for like a year, we started many a conversation with "Bhui, who took the keys to the truck?" We thought it was funny. Typing it out here I feel like there are crickets chirping and I am on the mic looking all nervous hoping someone out there somewhere is laughing. No? No laughter? Okay, my default when that happens--quote Dave Chappelle. "Sesame Street got a character on there named Oscar. They treat him like [crap] the entire show. Judge him right to his face--''Oscar you are so mean! Yeah Oscar, you're a grouch!' But it's like '[JERK!], I live in a [stinking] trashcan!" Yes, I just bracketed out the curse words. Oh man, now I am really laughing out loud. Another sidenote on the Bruin video: yes, that is me that says "hit the switches" and yes, those are my "hoys" and "bruaahs" that you can hear. Oops.

On 10, Bunty was the singer for KJ. At Bruin and Boston Bhangra 2005 (KJ guys feel free to chime in if I am wrong on this date) he started the performance by saying "Tu Readyyaaaaaan?!" Which we also copied for years to come.

All of this goes to show-teams pretty were close back in the day. We became more than just competitors that wrote on each others' facebook walls every now and then. And we had a sense of humor about things (most of us anyway). We could make fun of ourselves, of each other--we didn't take all of this stuff too seriously because to us, it was more about gaining friendship and respect than it was about being the absolute best or being the most feared. Can you tell I have an entire post about that coming?

So back to the email: thanks to the oh-so-wonderful gmail, I discovered that I forwarded this email back to Sukh in January of 2009, suggesting that we should do Bruin again after a one year hiatus. IT WORKED.  Okay, maybe that's not the reason we danced but whatever. Maybe this post will convince everyone to do another competition later this year? YEAH BOI.

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First Things First, I’ll Eat Your Brains

[Post title refers to: Kanye West featuring Nicki Minaj, "Monster"]


I'm a Monster.
I figured I would start my post about how I joined an all guys’ team with a Nikki Manaj reference. Not that I love her. But her verse on Monster is really working for me. Like when I listen to that song when running on a treadmill I run at 8 mph singing out loud, twisting my wrists all around like I got somebody to yell at. It is ca-razy.

A lot of people ask me how I joined LBC. Here’s the story. In the Fall of 2004, I watched a competition in Houston, Texas. LBC was performing there. I had seen these dudes’ videos online and heard about them, but didn’t know much aside from the fact that they were well-respected dancers. When I saw them perform, I absolutely fell in love with their grace, their choreography, their simplicity. Everything about them seemed so… cool. Of course, I was like those are cool Northern Cali guys, I am not going to talk to them. Maybe it was Sukh’s long curly hair I was intimidated by? Or Ambi (aka Phil Jackson)’s gutti? Bill’s huge calf muscles? Not sure.

See ya ‘round.
I competed against some of the LBC dudes at VIBC in January of 2005 when they danced with 3D (Davis Di Dynasty) (I was still on MBT at this point). That was actually where I first met one of our dancers, Gurjit, but he has zero recollection of this meeting. I remember where we met (the lobby), what I was wearing (blue MBT shirt, white pants and red, white and blue sneakers). And I remember that Gurjit was carrying the daangs. But mostly, I just remember his braces. (HA! How much do you hate me for bringing those up on a blog?) But again, I think these guys are cool cats. Tandiyaan billiyaan, if you will. Feel free to take that and spread it around.

Next, I saw LBC compete at CSUN in March of 2005. By now, I am in full on love with their style, their performance, everything. I decide that I will make them my friends. Those of you who have been the victim of this decision know that I don’t take this task lightly. I will attack full force-talk to you, wave at you (with both hands if you are lucky), ask you ridiculous questions, pretty much do whatever I can to get to know you. And get to know them I did. I hung out with them after the show, at the after party and at the hotel. Annay just reminded me that I was wearing a "funny green jacket" at CSUN. That's cool. At least it was memorable.

In particular, I came to know a one of the nicest guys on LBC—Hans. He was an LBC member from Northern Cali that happened to be moving to AZ to do some real estate investment work. How fortunate for me that my parents are from Arizona! So, I befriended Hans, inviting him to my family’s house (even though I wasn’t there) to kick it with the fam. To this day, my parents still ask how Hans is doing.

So during this time of getting to know Hans, I was graduating from undergrad and was starting my first year of law school, going through major bhangra withdrawal and going through major school-related stress (the first year of law school is seriously rough, for those that don’t know). So I start to joke around with Hans about dancing with LBC. Literally, I would say stuff like “Man Hans, wouldn’t it be cool if I danced with LBC?” He would give me a weird nervous laugh and change the subject.

Then in January of 2006 I went to Vancouver to get my bhangra fix and watch the VIBC competition, where LBC was competing. I sat in the third row with my lovely friend Harmeet and cheered louder than I had cheered in my life. Not only because I loved these bears but also because I was fully engaged in Operation Make LBC My Friends. I am pretty sure I scared them. Nonetheless, I kicked it with those guys, got to know them a little better, and continued my joking about dancing on their team. Enter Friendster. Man o man. Remember Friendster!? I recently was reminded of it and looked back at some of the messages between me and the LBC guys--they were awesome. And how appropriate that I found them in the midst of writing this blog. Fate, I say. FATE. One of my favorite messages was from Bill. It said "Jasmine + LBC = History." And that's it.

The Call.
Lo and behold, over Spring Break (March of 2006) I was studying in the law library and got a call from Hans. I went outside to the benches in front of the library and called him back to see what was going on. I was studying torts that day. Shudder. Sidenote: I am like Rainman status with all these memories. Side, sidenote: I actually have never seen Rainman and many other important movies—I just know what they are about and reference them to be in the cool crowd. So Hans calls and says, “So Jazz, were you serious about dancing with LBC?” I am lying. I don’t know exactly what he said. But I said something along the lines of HECK YEAH. And the rest, as they say, is history.

But I will still tell that history. So a couple back and forth phone calls later Hans and I discuss a couple things—how will I dance with LBC? Will I put a pagg (turban) on and just pretend I am a guy? (No seriously, we considered that.) Will I dance the entire time? Will I be a surprise at the end? We chose the latter option, obviously.

It’s Bruin Time, Baby!
So I finish my first year of law school and take my last final. Immediately after my last final, I go home, pack and get myself to LA. Once there, my wonderful friends Harmeet and PJ pick me up and we begin our journey driving up north for my first ever LBC practice. It is the second week of May 2006. We arrive in Walnut Creek on Friday night. The competition is in two weeks. Practice begins in the Walnut Creek BART station parking lot. At this point, I had met most of the guys on the team but had not hung out with them for that much time. So, I get to talking.

One of my most distinct memories from this fine Saturday afternoon was Annay’s purple shirt and bright green shorts. He will be SHOCKED that I remember this. Rainman, remember? Plus, I like bright colors. Throw a little neon and sparkle at me and I will be distracted for hours. (Actually Annay won’t be as shocked anymore because I ended up telling him I remembered all of this the other day when we were drinking Coconut Waters and now it is kind of anti-climactic. Oops.) So when I met Annay, I knew we’d be buddy bears for life. Six years later, I still think that is the case. Annay was my ultimate defender. Slight break in the chronology to give props to the little bear: when people would post negative things about me on POL (inevitable when you are the only girl dancing on an all guys team), he would be the first to reply. He'd call me family in the face of people calling me a gimmick. When I'd get weird about continuing to dance on all-guys team and maybe wearing out my welcome, he'd be the first to say "No Jasmine, No Annay."

Back to the story. We  were in the Walnut Creek BART parking lot and practice started with Gurdeep teaching me the choreography to Sardaar, the song that pretty much defines my career with LBC. I just about melted. Gurdeep is one of the illest dancers ever. EVER. And the man does a mean Jazzy B impression to top it off. Then I saw Gurdeep and his brother Ambi (aka Phil Jackson) do the choreo together, and I almost melted again. Ambi is a force to be reckoned with. His grace is unmatchable. And his humor is side splitting. More on that later.

Then I saw the rest of the guys—Bill, Hans, Manna, Harps, Gurjit, Sukh, Turbo—learn the dance in about 30 seconds. I was impressed, to say the least. Every single one of these guys was an ill dancer. And every single one had a unique quality that I appreciated. Hans is/was focused, directed and efficient. Bill was practical, respectful and random (anyone who knows him knows this is true!) Manna is one of the nicest human beings alive. Harps has an amazing work ethic. Gurjit is absolutely hilarious--I laugh at every single thing he says. Turbo is a ridiculously talented dancer with an honest and fresh perspective. And Sukh--aka 40, aka Sukh Dawg, aka Rawhna, aka 40, aka Sukhy Wukhy, is one of the most generous and genuine people I have met in life. More on team personality later.

So I practiced as much as I could with those guys for my two days in Walnut Creek. I learned a lot that weekend—first and foremost that I was not in Michigan anymore. No more drill sergeant practices, no more cleaning until you are blue in the face. I also learned about grace. And on a corny tip-I also learned then and there that I would be forging relationships with some of the coolest and nicest dudes I would ever meet.

So Bruin 2006 rolled around and I met the guys in LA. I WAS SO EXCITED. I literally brought every single white and red item of clothing I owned. (Don’t front like ya’ll don’t pack every item of clothing in your team colors for bhangra competition weekends.) Literally, I could not wait to dance again, to be part of a team again. Literally, I could use the word literally 5 times right now and be okay with it. Literally. I had been waiting for this moment for an entire year. An entire lifetime. It had finally arrived.

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Thanks people!

You don't get anywhere without some help right? Thanks to Harjot at gabroo.tv, Reena at reena.me, and Joe at his new bhangra Tumblr for the links and support!

Gabroo.tv

reena.me

giuseppecampanella.tumblr.com

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Explored The World To Return To Where My Soul Begun, Never Look Back Or Too Far In Front Of Me

[Post title refers to: Common, "Be"]

I am hoping friends and strangers alike are reading this blog. So by now, many of you might be asking who the heck I am. I am a long-time, and proud-about-how-long-it-has-been, competitive dancer. I grew up doing semi-bhangra, semi-hind filmy, but all-bad dances in Arizona. I danced at random Vaisakhi shows, cultural events, birthday parties, anniversaries, etcetera. Same as most other Punjabi kids. (I really hope none of those videos surface.)

I started dancing bhangra competitively in college the University of Michigan (Go Blue!) in the Fall of 2001, but I had not exactly intended to join the team. As a matter of fact, when I got to Michigan, I did not even know that bhangra teams existed.

It’s Great! To Be! A Michigan Wolverine!
I met the captains of the Michigan Bhangra Team (MBT), Jasmina and Palak, about a month into my first semester at Michigan, when I absolutely hated the school and was confused by everyone from Michigan pointing to their stupid hands to show me where they were from (that changed very quickly and I now use the hand to show where in the City I live). I thought Jasmine and Palak were two of the funniest people I had ever met in my life (I still do). I wanted to be like them. But I still was not convinced that I should try out. So I resisted.

But a fine gentleman by the name of Raji (the sardar on MBT for those who watched our videos) convinced me to try out the afternoon of the tryouts. Raji and I had met in our Sikh History class at the beginning of the semester. He was just as weird as I was. So I knew we'd be friends. He didn't have a choice in the matter.

So Raji told me about tryouts the day they were happening. Unfortunately, I was wearing a skirt to school that day and lived on North Campus, which meant it was too far for me to go home and change before tryouts started (I still have a serious love-hate relationship with North Campus and). Somehow, I managed to borrow clothes from another girl trying out for the team that day. It was November of 2001.

At first, I thought to myself, okay I will do this bhangra thing for a semester but I am all the way I Michigan to study (my Dad’s lectures were replaying in my head over and over and over again). I wasn’t there to mess around, to dance, to have fun—I was there to win, win, win (in studies), no matter what, what, what. So my first year on the team, I didn’t tell my parents I had made it. Duh, I was scared. And then I was hooked. HOOKED. I knew then and there, after Bhangra Fusion in January of 2002, that I had met my fate. This is what I would be doing for a large chunk of my young life. I was on the Michigan Bhangra Team for four years (2001 to 2005) and was a captain and choreographer for three of those four years.

For those that care and are following this crazy story closely, my parents realized I was on the team the summer after my freshman year when I performed at their 25th wedding anniversary party. They commented that my choreography seemed a bit more rehearsed than usual. Way to give it away, khao piyo aish karo choreography. So I admitted my transgression and was greeted with a deal: I can stay on the team if I get straight A’s. No, I am not kidding. And yes, I thought they were serious. Apparently fear goes a long way with me.

Defining Moments.
Being on MBT was an amazing experience. One of my defining college experiences, to be exact. I met some of my closest friends on the team and experienced some amazing moments while performing. Like I said above, the captains of the team were Jasmina and Palak—two strong willed women. MBT was a team that was started by women and led by strong women leaders. Through these women, I felt empowered to contribute my opinion, my choreography and my ideas. And contribute I did.

MBT went through a transition period—we started as a full-fledged modern team and from 2002 to 2005 we attempted to shift the direction of the team, while still being creative and having fun. For knowledge of bhangra at the time, I’d say we weren’t too shabby. (We weren’t perfect though. The imperfection I get called out the most for being our use of a questionable Lehmber song to which I vehemently sing the lyrics whilst having the camera zoomed in on my face. And for the record, YES, I knew exactly what it meant. You don’t get love at a whore’s house. Which you don’t. You also can’t light a candle in the wind. I sang that part too but nobody wants to talk about that, now do they? Doooo they? If you have no idea what I am talking about, it’s probably better that way.)

I digress.

Beyond competing at and placing at some of the largest North American bhangra competitions, MBT was largely involved in the Michigan community. We performed EVERWHERE. After September 11, we thought we had a unique opportunity to use dance as an avenue for discourse about identity, social justice and to use our performances as teachable moments. We always dressed in full outfits, paggan (turbans) and all for the guys, no matter where we performed. We always discussed the significance of paggan and told the history of a culture and of a people. We performed at half time shows, hip hop shows, sorority and fraternity events, in grocery stores (yes, I am serious), outside in the snow, inside for elementary students. You name it, we did it.

While I was on MBT I was also a member of a co-ed hip hop group called Dance 2XS (later Encore Dance). I was a director and choreographer for this group, too, and ran MBT practices much like we ran our hip-hop practices. When people used to say that MBT was like school of fish (apparently I remember praise), I attribute it to the hip hop experience. And in case you are wondering, yes—it was completely and totally exhausting going from one three hour dance practice to the next and then going to the library afterwards. But it was also completely exhilarating and I don’t regret a second of it. But I digress, yet again. Am I writing my self-absorbed, auto-biography or a blog over here?

So I was all set to graduate from Michigan in December of 2004 and my parents, thinking that my performance at the Zee TV competition in November of 2004 would be my last performance ever in life flew all the way from AZ to NY to see me dance. It was an awesome weekend. My parents watched us get ready to practice in the lobby the morning of the show. I distinctly my mom expressing exasperation over the fact that I was yelling at our guys to get into formation, saying "You yell at those tall guys?" As if their height was the key factor.  

But I wasn’t ready to leave Ann Arbor a semester before I had to. So, despite my early graduation, I stayed in Ann Arbor for the next semester with the rest of my class, working for an attorney during the day and dancing at night. It was splendid. I danced with MBT a few more times before hanging up the maize and blues (I literally died when the team changed their outfits to pink and white. I mean seriously?! Pink and white?!). All in all, I competed at Bhangra Fusion (four times), PCS, Zee TV, Bhangra Blowout (two times), VIBC, and Bruin with MBT.

The Next Chapter
In 2005, along with four other women, I performed with the infamous Khalsa Junction at Bruin Bhangra. Yes, we were the girls that came in on the truck and hit the switches. I fondly recall being booed as we came in on the truck (you can hear it in the video if you listen closely). But what else did I expect from a fickle LA crowd? Ya’ll take your booing seriously. (I was at this game! And was shocked and told the crowd around me to leave Kwame and his small hands alone!)

Then, in 2006, I joined the Lethal Bhangra Crew, better known as LBC. I am still dancing with those fine fellows to this day. And I use the term “dancing” lightly since the most we have done in the last year is boogie in Sukh-dawg’s garage at like 3am. But whatever. That’s my team. Ride or die. Just kidding, I’m not that hard. With them, I have competed at Boston (twice), VIBC, Bruin (thrice), Best of the Best and Elite 8. A lot of people ask me how I ended up dancing on an all guys’ team. I will save that for the next post! I have to keep you coming back somehow, don't I?

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If You’re Fresh To Death Then I’m Deceased

[Post title refers to: Slum Village featuring Kanye West, "Selfish"]

Yippee, a bhangra history lesson! For those of you that have lived this bhangra past with me, it won’t be a lesson so much as a walk through memory lane. Lace up those sneaks and let’s get to strolling.

Competitions
One of the first major bhangra competitions in the US was Bhangra Blowout. This competition, now in its 18th year, is put on by the students of George Washington University. Another early competition, Dhol Di Awaz, lovingly known as DDA, started in 1998. This was put on by the students of Cal (what I like to call the “other” blue, since I went to Michigan). In the early days, competitions were filled with what today’s competitors call “modern bhangra,” which is essentially code talk for “they didn’t what the heck they were doing and they were just making whatever up as they went along.” (I mean, you can look at my old team, MBT, in 2002 for a perfectly good, and perfectly terrible, example of that.) I have no issues with self criticism, for the record.

So part of that making stuff up was doing crazy stunts. And when I say stunts, yes I mean stunts. Like cheerleading stunts. See Cornell circa 2002 where a tall dude (Clint) weaves a shorter girl between his legs like a basketball. Nope, I am not kidding. I wish I could hyper link to that video but I cannot seem to find it. If a Cornell person is reading this, please post! So the late 1990s and early 2000s were filled with “modern,” “hyper,” “stunt” type bhangra, according to us current competitors looking back. A lot of today’s “Bollywood” dance scene still does this type of “primitive” bhangra, stylistically speaking (minus the stunts). Watch this awesomely hilarious video about Bollywood movies for a quick note from us bhangra dancers and how we feel about bhangra in Bollywood.

Aside from DDA, the other major competitions included Bruin Bhangra, thrown by the UCLA team, and Bhangra Fusion, thrown by Hype Productions in Detroit. Of course, I am omitting some details (okay several details) but I got a blog to write, people.

Eyebrows and Smiles > Stunts
Around 2003-2005, things started to change a little bit. The influence of teams like Gabroo Shokeen taught dancers that there were other, more graceful ways to do bhangra. We all envied Steve’s smile and eyebrow. Those around the scene at the time or those who watch videos know exactly what I am talking about. And then along came Khalsa Junction, a team that revolutionized the scene (video). They combined some elements of what at the time was considered “traditional” bhangra with a modern flare . This, in turn, encouraged other teams to follow suit. Khalsa Junction led a movement in the bhangra community. Movements in the scene will be the topic of another blog post. Stay tuned.

Contemporaneously, teams began to push the envelope further and further, more teams popped up, and more competitions arose. Teams like UBC Girlz, Phulorida, Sher Foundation, Rutgers, Boston, Duniya, Punjabi Soormay, DRP, Irvine and Riverside fiercely competed to take the title of best bhangra team.

Internet Warriors!
After every major competition and after ever bhangra event, everyone went to one central online source to discuss the performances, the teams, and the drama. Enter punjabonline.com. Punjab Online was the ultimate go-to place for information on who was who in the bhangra scene—what teams mattered, what teams were loved, what teams were hated, and who deserved to be recognized. Punjab Online is a gold mine for hilarious, dramatic conversations. Some non-competitors made themselves famous in the bhangra community just through their commentary (Hi Vik!). Go check it out if you get a moment. Run a quick search for me if you’d like some confirmation that I’ve been around for as long as I say I have.

Today, thanks to the internet stylings of a certain current Michigan Wolverine (Hi Saleem!) we have a new online forum that has revolutionized the way we talk about bhangra: bhangrateamsforum.com. This online forum is genius-there are moderators, organized discussions and resources all in one place. People talk about team performances, who “top dancers” are, whatever that means, what competitions are good and bad, etcetera.

But Bhangra Teams Forum (BTF) and Punjab Online (POL) would have been largely useless without the influence of another major factor-Gabroo TV(insert cheers and applause here). Since most of the bhangra competitions are spread throughout the US and a lot of the competitors and the people posting on these sites and don’t have the time/money/energy to go flying around watching them all, we rely completely on Youtube (previously other file sharing mechanisms) to watch performances. The man behind Gabroo TV, Harjot Hundal, revolutionized the bhangra video upload. He made the videos sing. SING. Not literally. But they became more accessible and just plain old more beautiful. Beautifuller. The man is a saint. We in the bhangra community owe him big time. As you can see by the videos I link to above, there is a huge difference in both quality and quantity of videos, largely due to the influence of the one and only Mr. Hundal.

That brings us to into the last four years or so. And there are just way too many teams for me to talk about, or even mention, that have had a hand in the scene. I can say that in recent times, more and more teams have begun to push the envelope. After 2004, Canadian teams started to storm the scene. Teams like Duniya Allstars, AVA, PCBCA and PANJ, Nachdi Jawani and SGPD had and have a huge role in the changing scene. They have revolutionized the notion of creativity in bhangra and brought a uniquely competitive edge to the scene. Moreover, teams like VCU, Drexel, Bhangra Empire, APD, SMD, AEG, Heeray and Virsa de Waris have dominated the competitive scene. I’m sitting on an airplane writing this fearing that I am leaving someone big out. I know that I am. Don’t hate me. We are still friends. This is just the preliminary post to get you interested. I hope it is working.

So, that’s the quick and dirty on the scene. Obviously, several details have been omitted. But hopefully this is enough history to keep you interested and for us to keep it moving.

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Even Scuba Steve Would Find It Hard To Breath, Around These Leagues

[Post title refers to: Lupe Fiasco, "Dumb It Down"]

For today’s entry, I provide some basic background. If you are asking yourself, what the heck is this “bhangra” this girl keeps referring to and what is its history—rest assured that will become clear to you as you read on (also, YAY that you are reading this!). For now, I hope it suffices to say that bhangra is a traditional folk dance from the North Western region of India. It was traditionally performed as a celebratory dance around the time of harvest and centers on the beats of a two headed drum, or a dhol.

Wait a minute, there are bhangra teams?
A preliminary note for those non competitors out there who might be asking what a bhangra team is and what a competition entails: A bhangra team often consists of anywhere from 8 to 16 dancers. A team can be co-ed, all-male or all-female. They can be independent or from a university/college. Most competitions will not distinguish between the two. In addition, a team might dance to pre-recorded music or to live music, depending on their preferences. For a typical competition, anywhere from eight to twelve teams are selected. In order to be selected, teams submit an application and a video of a recent performance or practice. With the increase in the number of teams, this can be a challenging process. Once accepted to the competition in question, a team will prepare an eight minute routine.

Showtime!
When competition time comes, a team will travel to the competition location, almost always on their own dime or through the generous funding of donors/schools/ community organizations for a weekend trip. Most teams will arrive at the official team hotel on Friday night. They will then attend a team “mixer” where members will get to interact with members of other teams and the order of the show is selected or revealed. I really love competition mixers. This is where you get to see other teams, hang out, make new friends, do bhangra battles (yes, we battle (we gotta keep it in the battle, right ya’ll?--Jay Z unplugged. Cop it if you don’t have it)). This isn’t exactly the case in the scene today, as teams often leave as soon as they get the order of the show. We can talk about that later.

On the day of the show, the teams take twenty minutes each to rehearse their routine on the stage of the venue where the competition will be held. Those are the only 20 minutes allotted to the teams to run through all logistical issues with sound, lighting, formations—every single element of the performance must either be perfected there or back in the parking lot of the hotel the teams are staying at (I mean, where else can you have 8-16 people do a full-fledged 8 minute routine without causing some sort of major disruption?). This “tech time” almost always runs late. And it almost always is the time when teams have the most opportunity to hang out and get to know each other. Or mean mug each other. Either way. After tech time, teams engage in whatever pre-performance routine they might have, whether it be napping, singing songs, pretending to wrestle, discussing, eating, mean-mugging some more, whatever. Then, the teams get dressed in their full outfits and head to the venue for the show.

Ah, the show.

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