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?