Currently, we’re all most likely sitting in our houses urging to get out and do something besides just sitting. We can’t go to our favorite restaurants, shops, and even the gym. Without the gym, we find ourselves trying to think of our own workout routines that we can do at home. We may have a couple weight sets or a treadmill in our houses, but its nothing compared to what we can find at a gym. We want to maintain a healthy lifestyle and not gain too much from just lounging. Well, I have an option that might help you with that. Do some bhangra!

Dancing as a whole is a great exercise that helps your whole body. There are so many different styles of dance, and they all have different levels of energy involved. Bhangra is known to be a high intensity dance that coordinates multiple movements. This will ensure that you get a proper full body workout. You will get a great cardio warmup as you dance the different moves. Some moves will be fast paced which will make you tired faster while other moves allow for a quick breather as they are not as intense. When you put all of your effort into the dance, you will maximize your heart beats and you will feel even more energized.

As I started to learn the dance, I was surprised to hear that you can even target certain parts of the body while dancing. As you move you shoulders and arms repetitively, you will be working out different muscles in the upper body. This can mimic a light weights session since you are constantly moving those arms around. Furthermore, you can work out your lower body from the constant jumping and leg turns you will learn. From personal experience, if you continually do the style of jumps that bhangra dancers do, your legs will be begging for you to stop. You can go beyond these basics of the dance exercise too. If you choose, you can contract the muscles in your back. The muscles will be more engaged, and it can also help with the appearance of the dance. Beyond the back muscles, you can tone your core as well. Keeping these muscles engaged will allow you to flow into consecutive moves much more smoothly. It not only helps with the appearance of the dance, it can also help with you posture. Engaging both the back and core muscles, you stand taller. Bhangra is all about making yourself look big and energetic which can be accomplished by engaging these muscles. Lastly, you can also build on your coordination and focus through practice of this dance. The music is very coordinated and all of the beats are enunciated in the songs. Because of this, you can work on your coordination by making each move you execute match up to each beat of a song.

This idea of dancing and performing bhangra isn’t something new. In fact, there are already groups and gyms that hold workshops. I mentioned in my previous post that there numerous bhangra workshops across the country, and these focus on the true style of the dance. Some other organizations have opened up shops to encourage physical activity in a fun way. So what are you waiting for? Go ahead and start exercising!

As I sit in my room, quarantined from the rest of the world, I have spent a lot more time on the internet browsing through some random content. I’ll keep exploring and exploring, and I often find myself back or eventually searching something about bhangra. Lately, I have become more interested in the culture that has formed in the United States and how the competitions have taken shape here. I have been looking at multiple videos of bhangra competitions in the past few years, and I wondered how it became formalized and organized like this. Bhangra was traditionally a small affair in towns and villages, and now, we see the world dancing!

In the start of the 90s, college students began to band together and form bhangra teams. The students simply wanted to form a community where they felt they could have fun dancing together. Soon enough however, this began to spread across the nation. Teams began popping up at numerous colleges with big South Asian populations. Beyond the South Asian community, all communities were excited by the dance and some joined the teams too. Originally, there were a few teams that would simply perform at local cultural events as exhibitions. When the growth of teams swept the nation, there began to be competitions popping across the country as well.

The first bhangra collegiate competition to start in the United States is Bhangra Blowout. Formed in 1993, a group of Indians at The George Washington University decided to create a space for students on these bhangra teams to showcase their talent. Similar to running a business, the competition organizers had to coordinate multiple components of the competition including lodging, funding, sponsorships, and ultimately teams. In the beginning, it was a local community effort. As it started to grow and word began to spread, more teams began to form and compete as well. The competition has been running for 27 years now and is considered to be one of the biggest South Asian events. People from around the country and the world will come to watch the competition and cheer on the teams.

More competitions were organized across the nation, and teams were able to continue their expression of happiness and joy through bhangra on numerous stages. To be able to do this is very exciting for college students. They are able to stay connected to their culture or be introduced to a new culture. Furthermore, they dedicate a lot of time and effort to dancing, and it feels exhilarating to finally show this time and effort to the world. Teams will often have practices 3-4 days a week for 2 hours each day. A few weeks before competitions, practices may jump to 6 days a week and might be longer.

Beyond collegiate and independent teams, there has also been a spark in dance classes and workshops centered around the bhangra dance style. Indian studios have been opening up to teach younger generations about the dance in hopes that they will keep the spirit alive. Some pre-existing dance organizations have also incorporated some elements of bhangra into their style as well. Ultimately, bhangra has spread across the nation. Whether you are at a college campus or in a city, look for bhangra events. Chances are, you’ll find something.

Currently, I am sitting with my headphones on listening to some Punjabi music, and I just have the urge to get up and start dancing. Perhaps after this post, I may be able to do so. My music shuffles from one song to another spanning many different kinds of Punjabi songs. Some are slow tempo, but still have a modern and contemporary style of beat. Others are very traditional sounding with pure instruments and no electronic musical components. Between each song that I listen through, there is a quite a shift in the tones, moods, and meanings.

This is perfectly indicative of the shifts that music in Bhangra has experienced. The root of these shifts can be attributed to the general globalization and spread of Bhangra around the world. As I have discussed in a few of my previous posts, the original music was very traditional. It reflected the traditional lifestyles of the Punjabi farmers. They used the songs as a form of entertainment, and it spread throughout the local villages. The farmers would create lyrics based on their daily tasks, family lives, and occasionally, there would be the romantic song as well. The farmers were mostly male, so they were not the most emotional with their songs. As girls began to write songs themselves, there was an increase in the romantic styles of songs. These songs consisted of lyrics referred to as “boliyan”, and they would only be accompanied by a dhol, a double sided drum to set the beat of the music.

Bhangra became popular in the start of the 20th century. In the early 1900s, the music had spread across the country from Punjab and gained popularity. It wasn’t growing internationally just yet due to several new music being introduced in the western world such as jazz. Moving into the 1950s and 60s, there was a great migration of Punjabis moving to the UK. They were mostly male, and they moved with their relatives and friends in groups of 10-20. The hope was that they would be able to find jobs and be able to provide for their families back home by returning after a few years. However, while they are there, they began to miss home. They began to miss all aspects of the culture from food to the music. In order to hone in on that culture, the Punjabis began singing and dancing in small groups. Eventually, they began to formalize and meet in bigger groups. They would also begin to perform at numerous public events such as community celebrations.

It was at this moment that people on a completely different continent began to hear the amazing beat of Bhangra. They began to spread this beat across the country, and it started changing slightly. Some argue in a better way that keeps up with the changing world while others wish it would remain traditional. Regardless, the music became more contemporary and the dhol beat would be paired with other instruments. It was further introduced into movies, and then music videos began to be created with Punjabi music. Now, the Bhangra and Punjabi music you hear is now a compilation of several styles such as the traditional Bhangra, hip-hop, rap, and more. All of this together still produces a unique style of Punjabi music.