Photos: With thanks to Punjab2000 for the Capital Bhangra competition photos.
Last month, 12 students from our Liverpool Bhangra Society danced their way to success in the national Capital Bhangra competition.
Not only did the group achieve third place in the competition, but one of the troop’s members, Paven Kachala, was also awarded Best Female Dancer.
Speaking about their victory, President of the Bhangra Society Raj Khera, said: “This means a lot to us. We were the underdogs this year, but we worked extremely, extremely hard.
“Behind the scenes, about 100 hours minimum goes into choreography, sorting out the music and liaising with the professional DJ (inaiksbeats), ensuring formations will look good, analysing individual dancers’ technique from videos and sending them feedback.”
Best Female Dancer, Paven, commented: “I’m still in shock that I won it! It’s such an honour to have been awarded this. I have been practicing hard over the past year to improve my Bhangra dancing for the competition, but actually winning this title is an even bigger achievement for which I am grateful for.”
FACT BOX: What is Bhangra?
Bhangra is a traditional folk dance that is made up of specific moves that stem from folk roots grounded in Punjab. For a competition, you are usually asked to do a traditional performance.
Liverpool Bhangra Society spent four months training for the competition and, as the event neared, the team began dancing six days a week for up to five hours each night. You may even have seen the Society practising on campus outside Blackwell’s bookshop.
Over 700 people attended the competition, which was held in London. The overall winner was a joint team of students who study at the University of Leicester University and De Montfort University.
If you’re feeling inspired, Liverpool Bhangra Society are currently looking for new members and, when the new academic year begins again in September, they will be holding a fun beginner class once a week. Raj explains: “Some of our best dancers on the team now were some of the most challenging dancers I’ve had to develop and teach, but they managed to do it.
“We are all a friendly bunch and everyone gets on so well. We genuinely feel like a massive family. After many weeks of long and intense rehearsals you get to know each other so well and the bond between us is really strong.”
If you’d like to find out more, visit the Liverpool Bhangra Society’s webpage on the Guild site, or visit the Society’s Facebook page. The group are also on Instagram @livbhangrasoc.
