Bhangra Dance

Earliest developed of these was a folk dance conducted by Punjabis in the central northern areas of the region to celebrate the harvest, and whose general practice had ended by the Partition, 1947. In the 1950s, a new folkloric dance, representative of the state of Punjab and composed of glimpses of men’s Punjabi dance styles, was created and eventually received the title of bhangra. Bhangra competitions have been held in Punjab for many decades. They are especially associated with college youth festivals. Since the 1990s, universities and other organizations have held annual bhangra dance competitions in many of the main cities of the United States, Canada, and England as well. At these competitions, young Punjabis, other South Asians, and people with no South Asian background compete for money and trophies. In the West, unlike in the Punjab, there is less emphasis on traditional songs and more focus on the flow of a mix; many teams mix traditional bhangra music with hip-hop or rock songs. This synergy of the bhangra dance with other cultures parallels the music’s fusion with different genres. University competitions have experienced an explosion in popularity over the last five years and have helped to promote the dance and music in today’s mainstream culture. U.K.

In the UK the last ever Professional Bhangra Dance competition was in 1989 at the Hummingbird, in Birmingham. There was over 10 teams across the UK competing and the winning team was Jugnu Bhangra (Gravesend) – the award winning dancers who performed for Jugnu, went on to form 4×4 Bhangra Dancers in 1994. 4×4 Bhangra Dancers,[2] are still known as UK’s best Bhangra Dance troupe[citation needed] and have performed with the likes of Diversity (Britains Got Talent winners), Led Zepelin, Omarion (International RnB singer & dancer) and variouse TV and Music videos. 4×4 Bhangra Dancers founder members Gurdish Sall, Gurvinder Sandher, Parwinder Dhinsa and Sukhdeep Randhawa were the pioneers of the Asian freestyle dance style, winning the 1992 UK Asian Freestyle competition at the Dome in Birmingham. 4×4 Dancers also introduced Bhangra workshops to schools

Movements
Musical accompaniment
Bhangra dance is based on music from a dhol, folk singing, and the chimta. The accompanying songs are small couplets written in the Punjabi language called bolis. Bhangra singers employ a high, energetic tone of voice. Singing fiercely and with great pride, they typically add nonsensical, random noises to their singing. Likewise, often people dancing to Bhangra will yell phrases such as hoi, hoi, hoi; balle balle; chak de; oye hoi; bruah (for an extended length of about 2–5 seconds); haripa; or ch-ch (mostly used as slow beats called Jhummar) to the music. Dress

Traditional men wear a chaadra while doing bhangra. A chaadra is a piece of cloth wrapped around the waist. Men also wear a kurta, which is a long shirt. In addition, men wear pagri (turban) to cover their heads. In modern times, men also wear turla, the fan attached to the pagri. Colorful vests are worn above the kurta. Phummans (small balls attached to ropes) are worn on each arm. Women wear a traditional Punjabi dress known as a salwar kameez, long baggy pants tight at the ankle (salwar) and a long colorful shirt (kameez). Women also wear chunnis, colorful pieces of cloth wrapped around the neck. These items are all very colorful and vibrant, representing the rich rural colors of Punjab.[4] Besides the above, the bhangra dress has different parts that are listed below in detail: * Pag (turban, a sign of pride/honor in Punjab). This is tied differently than the traditional turban one sees Sikhs wearing in the street. This turban has to be tied before each show. * Kurta, similar to a silk shirt, with about four buttons, very loose with embroidered hipatterns * Lungi or chadar, a loose loincloth tied around the dancer’s waist, which is usually very decorated * Jugi, a waistcoat with no buttons

* Rumāl, small “scarves” worn on the fingers. They look very elegant and are effective when the hands move during the course of bhangra performance. [edit] Impact in mainstream Western culture

Bhangra dance has expanded into the world of fitness.Yes,Fitness instructors like television host Sarina Jain have developed fitness routines based on bhangra dance moves for their workout programs.[5] Bhangra Empire, a bhangra dance group from California, has appeared on America’s Got Talent and in Harper’s Bazaar. In the MMORPG, Guild Wars 2, the Sylvari’s dance emote (activated by typing /dance) is the Bhangra Dance.

Remember we are discussing bhangha dance in details as oppose to bhangra music Music
Bhaṅgṛā popular music associated with Punjabi culture. It was developed in Britain in the 1980s by first and second generation immigrants from the Punjab region of India and Pakistan forming the Punjabi diaspora, drawing from music and song of the Punjab region as well as various Western musical styles.[1] It is seen by some in the West as an expression of South Asian culture as a whole.[2] Today, bhangra music exists in different forms and styles all over the globe. Today, Birmingham is considered to be the hub of Bhangra music.