Traditional Bhangra Dancing

This is the famous folk dance from the Punjab in North India. This dance is mainly performed at joyous occasions such as weddings and festivals. Bhangra is closely associated with farming, the main occupation of the Punjab.

Bhangra as a dance reflects the spirited animation of the Punjabi farmer happy at the results of his toil. During the course of a typical performance the group would portray the farming element, which is then followed by the celebrations and general party atmosphere at the festival of Vaisakhi (April 13).

The dancers are accompanied by a drum, which is known as a dhol. The person who plays it is known as a dholi. The dhol is a large two headed barrel shaped wooden drum played with 2 sticks, a dagga which is played on the base side, and a tilly which is played on the treble side. In India the drum skins are traditionally made of goat skin, however in England there have some modifications, so that the treble is now played by many dhol players with a traditional English drum kit skin. This gives many of them a better sound, and a sharper contrast between the western sound and the traditional eastern sound. The dancers follow the beats of the drum, and the dhol plays a beat called torha, which gives the dancers a cue to change the step. This live element means all performances are different, and can cater for the different needs of the audience. The dance is performed bare foot.

In addition to the dholi, at big performances the dancers are supported by a singer who will sing boliyaan, which are essentially folk songs, which give actual meaning to the dance steps being performed. Bhangra as a dance cuts across all divisions of class, caste and education.

Costumes

Bhangra dancing as stated earlier orginates from the Punjab, which traditionally has been a rural state, made up of a network of villages. The costumes worn by the dancers can be seen worn by people in their day to day work in the villages, although they are obviously not as colorful as the dancer's costumes. A traditional costume is made up of the following-

• Kurta: Similar to a silk shirt, with about 4 buttons, very loose with embroiled patterns.
• Chadar: This is a loose loincloth tied around the dancers waist. Again it would be decorated.
• Jugi: A waistcoat, with no buttons.
• Turban: This is tied different to the traditional type of turban which you can see Sikh's wearing in the street. The turban has to be tied before each show, and is not ready made like a hat. Torla This is placed within the turban, and is like a fan. You would not see people wearing this in the street, as this is essentially an extra decoration to make the costume stand out.
• Rammal: These are essentially scarves worn on the fingers, they look very effective when the hands move during the course of the performance.

Free Style Bhangra

This is a new phenomenon, which was first seen in Britain around 1986. The members of Four by Four created this dance. Freestyle is a fusion of traditional bhangra dancing and modern western dance and music. The dance resulted from the fact that the members of Four by Four had been brought up in Britain, and thus were influenced not only by their cultural roots, but also western culture. They decided to fuse the two forms of dance and music together, and freestyle bhangra was created.

Freestyle is performed to a combination of backing tracks and live percussion. This is a very popular type of dance, and is very specialist. Four by Four are one of a handful of groups who perform this. In recent times freestyle has seen more and fusion and experimentation take place. This is essentially a British phenomenon, and has proven to be very popular with youngsters as well as adults.

Four by Four initially used to perform to backing tracks provided by other artists. Now however they only perform to their own tracks, and released their debut album "Here and Now" in September 1999.

The costumes worn by the dancers are essentially similar to the types of clothes worn by people who go clubbing. However when the traditional element of the freestyle dance is performed, some of the traditional costumes are combined with the club clothes to further reinforce the fusion element of this dance.