Lahori Choreographer

Omar was his name. It was year 2005. I had just gotten lost on a rainy Friday early evening driving from Baltimore to Washington D.C. With my family in a rental car. I was driving towards downtown D.C. hoping to make it to Raas Chaos on time. My son (who did not have a clue about where I was) was trying desperately to help me get to the place. My wife tells me I have a keen sense of direction. I can "smell places" and drive like a hound to my destination. I guess it is a matter of instincts. I am about to talk about a truely instinctive man.
I made it to the auditorium on time, even got a great parking spot with no help and a Small map. With my old training from the city (Manhattan I mean), I managed to squeeze in.
Place was loud and crazy. One could smell alcohol on some of the patronls breath all around. I felt as if I was at a kick boxing event. I even managed to get hit on the back of my bald head with a bottle by some disgruntled fan who did not care that I was cheering for some one other than his team. I was not hurt. Like all the good uncles I had my video ready to film my little "Beta" showing his skills. Skills he did show. GW won.
I was introduced to "Omar", the unlikely choreographer of this Raas team. "Where are you from in Pakistan?"I asked. I was warned earlier that this choreographer was a Pakistani kid. I assumed he must be son of some Muslim Guju from Karachi, where lot of Gujaratis have settled. Boy was I wrong. "Lahore" he said. "He knows Bhangra" my son informed me. Omar was a lovely soft spoken unassuming young man. I had to wear my uncle hat and start asking him all sort of questions. I did not care if my son was embarrassed. Besides we had come all the way from Dallas. I was even ready to feed the team like a good uncle should. I felt entitled to ask these questions. After all I was not sure If I ever will see a Lahori Raas choreographer in my life time again. It turns out that he did not see this as a big deal. He did not see that the big issue was about going from up and down step of Bhangra to Baroda style skipping (probably my son's gift to this his team as my wife always made sure that all her students learned skipping).
After talking to Omar Majid and his team it was obvious that this man survived and prospered on his instinct about dance. He knew what was traditional and what was not by his gut feeling. Other participants looked up to him and worked hard under his leadership. Participants came up with Individual steps but he put it all together. He opened the Raas with music from one of A.R. Rehman's drumming piece. It felt as if you were in the middle of "Urs" or "Tajia" (Muslim functions from my home town of Bhavnagar India) for a few seconds. It felt spiritual just as a deep night Navratri Raas would. After all Urs and Tajia are quite intense experiences. It was not a typical Gujju 8 beat peace. It was five beats in a four. Skipping was fast. How this man came up with what he did will always be a mystery. They went on to come second at GWA and first at BOB. Next year Omar was gone and the 2006 team did not do well. Omar was a Bhangra guy but his Raas did not look like Bhangra. you can find him on youtube.com/omarmajid. I assume that is the guy because he has the 2005 GW videos on his site.
I wish I headed a foundation that could pay for the Omars of America to visit some distant place in Gujarat and expose them to more traditional Raaas groups. They are still out htere. What may evolve from that may truly be great Raas.

BOB 2007 Out on a limb with my foot in the mouth

I did some thing terrible. I saw videos of Penn state and Michigan. I had seen Berkeley live at GBA. who will win? one of the three for sure. I have to say that my opinions are based on poorly shot videos from audience (thanks U tube, even with Google stock being down).
Penn: Very good choreography. Choreographer is not afraid to "go slow". She or he knows that his dancers are able to show grace no matter what is the speed of execution. Best music selection. a traditional judge would score them high.
Michigan: They won DD. Not an easy task. Berkeley was there if I am not mistaken. I don't know what to make of this one. Vegas theme seemed odd ( I hope I am talking about the right team). I was under the impression that UI Urbana won that competition, but I guess I am wrong.
Berkeley: I have commented about Berkeley in the past. Almost got in trouble for that. If judged by younger judges or non traditional judges, Berkeley is a winner. They did have more energy than Penn. Creative choreography in a different way. My sense is that the "flow is about to change as newer judges come on the scene and help create new traditions.
Penn has better music, more creative but closer to traditional choreography. Berkeley, very energetic, creative but departing from tradition.
All three teams are close and should be proud of their performance. My favourite all time winner? 2005 G' dawgs; George Washignton from D.C. (choreographed by a wonderful young Muslim guy from Lahor Pakistan who was originally a Bhangra choreographer, but really understood dance. God bless him wherever he is. More about him later.)

BOB Chicago 2007 who is there?

I would love to hear from all of you who know anything about the four teams. I heard that Penn State is very good. I heard that there is a team from Chicago area and some on from Michigan. I would love to post more information. If you happen to have videos, please give me the link. I would love to comment or post them here.

Berkeley and Tripple stepping

In his or her response, some one mentioned "triple stepping". Now I know skipping as they do in Baroda style. I know "Thes" as in Saurashtra style and I know that north Indians like to kick their legs in front. But American Raas seems to have developed its own terms. What exactly do you call tripple stepping? Are there any other terms that others are using? I would like to know. Please help me in documenting these terms. By the way, if you are not skipping, you are too slow. Skipping helps you cover more ground and it looks very graceful. If you bend enough it looks very powerful too. Please tell me names of more terms and also reference with some videos.

BOB 2007 Response from Berkley

What a refreshing view from Berkley Raas team! I am proud of you guys and I respect you and all the other Raas team for the following (These are called affirmations I suppose).
1 I know you guys work hard; all of you including ones who did not make it to any competition.
2 Raas keeps you closer to your culture.
3 You don't get paid for doing it. You do it because you love it.
Now coming back to your comments. Please do not apologise. People have right to their opinions. Some get very emotional. 70% of participants generally leave the auditorium unhappy after any competition! it would be nice if we are polite and kind to each other. The point I was trying to make was that the judging on east and west cost is very different. Judging is very different if some of the judges are not familiar with the original Raas. This is the reason I wrote two blogs on history of Raas. I mostly agree with where you are coming from.
I think time has come to where some one will differentiate between traditional and non traditional and eliminate the props (except for props that represent the school). Props distract from the dance itself. I still remember the huge back drop that Stanford used a few years back. Reminded me of "Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam".
One thing I hope Rass teams would consider not doing. Opening mouth and showing your tongue is considered an insulting gesture in Indian culture. In some cultures such as Polynesian culture, it is done during dances to scare bad spirits. It has not place in raas. I saw this being done in some dances recently.
Again, for a guy who used to dance in college ** years ago and someone who managed winning teams in F.O.G.N.A. for tem plus years, I am jst happpy that you folks are dancing.
Any comments from judges?

BOB 2007

Does any one know who is going to BOB 2007? If the teams could give me some information about themselves I would like to post it here. I would like to know your views about your regional competitions. You can also send me other website information.

Raas, a historical perspective Part Two

So what is traditional Raas? ask me 50 years later and my answer will be different. I will try to answer that question as best as I know.
Can a bunch of "Sidi" (sufi Muslims of African origin who settled around town of Junagadh in Saurastra) dancing to African instruments be considered a form of Raas? absolutely. They did stick to a circle, started slow, only men danced and kept their tradition for years. These guys look like African Americans and talk like people from Saurashtra, but they kept their musical tradition.
If you go to North Gujarat the style is different from Saurashtra. In general men used to do Dandia Raas but it all changed in the thirties or forties and women joined men in this dance. I am sure in 2500 B.C. when Lord Krishna was around, men and women danced together. I remember in 1950's in my hometown ( I grew up in Bhavnagar Saurashtra, part of Gujarat), they used to dance to a brass band (known as Mithu Band). They would play tunes on clarinet and various band instruments. It was a lovely experience. A Rass can be very slow. Fast and vigorous dancing is not necessary. Grace (even for guys) and coordination, along with manly execution are important. Mumbai developed their own style of Raas and then came Gujarati movies and Bollywood. "Head bobbing" is not part of Raas and actually is considered uncouth. Movement of head while one is singing folksong like Raas is OK, but not for the dancers. Head bobbing inhibits body movements. It originated in Gujarati movies. "Twirling" the sticks is cool and experienced dancers can do all sorts of moves. Basic formation of Raas is round. There are two lines, one of men and one of women.
There is one particular style of Raas that was done during Navratri by pious worshippers of Godess Bhavani (Durga). They would tie one hand to the ceiling, and have a stick in another hand. They would keep dancing till the rope got teight and they could not move, and then go in the opposite direction. This would go on all night during Navratri season. I saw it in a coastal town of Saurashtra when I was a child. There was no electricity in the town so they would light "petromax" a camping type light. They must be very dedicated to keep doing this year after year. No work next day after the dance and no after Raas party!. So, the first Raas to be done to western instruments was in 1950's by my account.

Raas, a historical perspective Part One

Raas is a form of folk dance. One we call Raas is actually Dandia Raas. Generally speaking, I know of following types of Raas.
Garba Raas: Garba, originally to be only done by women. Also known as Raasdo.
Dandia Raas: One we all know about this one. Sticks are to be used, originally done by lord Krishna and the women or Vraj. Since Gujarati people descended to Gujarat from up north, they brought this form of dance with them. More about this later.
Daang (Single stick) Raas: done in Rajasthan only men do it. My wife choreographed one in 1992.
Manjira Raas: some thing that I have never seen in USA, this is a dying form of art. Here only men dance. They wear Manjia on various parts of their body, sometimes on legs, arms, they may be stuck to their vest. I have seen videos from Tarnetar fair of Saurastra. (done in seventies) and as a child I have seen some performances. In Gujarat there were two tribes who did Manjira dances, one would be considered Raas, as it is done by men. The "Padhora" tribe lives near the famous "Nal lake". They used to be sailers in the past. Critical element of this Raas is that the beat that is played on Dhol is kept up by the players with Manjira, often they would be up side down with their feet in the air, Manjira tied to the feet and they make wonderful visual. There is significant degree of acrobatics as well as coordination. Some times one guy will have his feet around another guy's waist (no homophobia here) doing circles. This is some thing that can be easily adopted to American Raas, as long as judges know that this is accepted form of Raas but not Dandia Raas. They would some times adopt from the british policemen and wrap cloth around their feet (albeit colorful and not just Khakhi). They would sing if they felt like it. What is most striking is that they are very relaxed and in a state of trance. Musicians are typically playing Bhajans.

Well, here is my take on Berkley (and for that matter on winners of last three years at GWA). California Judges judge differently and as a result, winners of GWA have not done well at BOB against teams from Midwest and north east. Only time will tell if I am right. Let us see what happens at next BOB. As some one who took Raas items to FOGANA and always placed first or second, I know a thing or two about traditional. I don't deny that Berkley did not have lot of energy. They all did. That is not the only thing that differentiates a winner. I thought the second place winner had stayed closer to traditional Raas. This is not necessarily a statement against GWA. They are the best organizers as far as I am concerned.
This debate has always been there for any type of folk art form. There is a group of oldies like use who like for the traditional stuff to be there so that the roots of the dance form are not lost and at the same time we do want the new stuff. My point is this; before the competition it would be helpful for the teams to know what is the push of the organizers. For example R2B2 judges were dominated by different type of judges than GWA. Personally what I would like to see is not first or second prize but most traditional and most innovative.
Thanks for reading my blog and being civil to me.

Rythmnflow.com

Now this is a novel idea. Dance for the sake of dance. It turns out that that is what folk dance is all about. That is how it has been done since the start of Indian civilization. Check out rythmnflow.com. They are looking for items for their upcoming program on 27 April. I hope you college Raas teams show up there. We used to go to competitions and compete like crazy. Later we figured out that for the cost of air fare and other expenses we can rent an auditorium, charge a minimum fee and do a nice dance program. Participants loved it, families can take all the videos that they want and every one has fun. Food for participants is free. Other cities and Indian student associations should follow the lead.

Spears: Bipolar? Meth? Coke?

Now this has nothing to do with Raas. This is about Ms. Spears who has been caught up in a fire storm. Three guesses: Bipolar? Meth dependent? Cocaine induced problems? Perhaps a combination of some sort. I am sure glad the girl is getting help. She needs it.

R2B2 (Rass Rave and Bhangra Blitz 2007 Dallas TX

This competition was held at McFarlin Auditorium on February 17, 2007. I consider Dallas home. My comments may seem a bit biased but I will try to stay as neutral as possible. Let us first start with the competition itself. There were four Raas groups (SMU Stix, UT Austin Kachi Kerinuh Raas, John Hopkins R.A.G.E. and Mitrass UC Irvine). There were four Bhangra groups (Stanford Chardi Jawani, University of Michigan Bhangra team, Emory Karma and UT Austin Texas Bhangra). There was a guest act by H.K. Gidda team. Grand prizes for Raas and Bhangara were $ 2000 each and second prizes were $ 1000 each.
Judges included two seasoned judges who were very familiar with Raas scene, two seasoned judges who seemed very familiar with Bhangra and one that seemed to know a little bit about both. I will refrain from commenting about the judges because I know some of the judges quite well.
SMU won the first prize and Hopkins came second in Raas category. Emory won the first prize and Michigan came second in Bhangra.
Let us talk about the Mustangs (SMU) first. Several of their participants are known to me for last five to ten years. It was refreshing to see some of the moves that they learned in their early days being incorprated in the dance. Their clothes matched the stage because unlike many stages in west and north east, the floor was black and the dresses were black and blue. What did differentiate them was the intensity, innovative choreography and "phinishing" as a desi would say. They were without a doubt the best coached team. I later found out that they had one of the most demanding managers in Dallas. Well, it paid off. They were the best Raas act of the evening. Their lighting was not I would have preferred and they did use a piece of music that I as a judge would have not liked but they were the best. Gidda team did very well to keep the audience happy while scores were being tabulated.
Second prize went to Hopkins. They were creative with their theme of Kites, but their creativity was not matched by precision and basic Raas choreography.
I personally liked both UT and Mitraas which had great deal of precision and good theme. I probably would have given second prize to one of those teams.
I am not knowledgeable about Bhangra but my daughter danced this year with Boston Bhangra. I have seen quite a few videos (around 30 or 40 on Internet, TV and live). I am biased towards Stanford because there was a girl on that team with same last name as mine. I did like Emory a lot. To me they were all very close but I liked UT and Stanford slightly more than Michigan. It would be interesting to see what the judges with more Bhangra experience thought.
There are a few things SMU could have done differently. They need a seasoned team to handle the back stage. There are many experienced stage hands in the Indian community who are known to have done an outstanding job in the past for various events. India Association runs 45 to 50 items in four and a half hours and their precision as far as stage management is flawless. Video projection was particularly bad. We could not read the themes of many of the teams, including that of SMU. Lighting was somewhat unusual. McFarlin stage is very unique and light designer had to be careful. If you are an Indian program and you left the lighting to them you will get too many color changes and disco type effect. If you are the choreographer you will probably wind up confused because they use lights from the trees on the sides as their primary source. They can do absolutely the best professional lighting if you pay them and give them enough time. I have seen them do some amazing things for T.I.T.U.S., a local dance organization. Timing was off at times. I don't care for too many light effects in a competition unless they are there for a good reason. I like to see faces and expressions. I don't mind night life effect for a few seconds if the theme is about moon light or night. I heard rumblings that the participants had to pay a lot for motel rooms. Some of them felth that did not get the kind of service that they had expected. r2B2 was compared to GWA and Raas Dhamaka butthen again two years ago I heard similar comments about them. Time, experience and better funding will make things better in the future. I know that Krishna and her team worked relentlessly and made many personal sacrifices. This is the third time that SMU has done a competition like this. They will do better next year. They did get quite a few sponsors. After program party was not publicized a lot. My son's Friend said that it was OK, just like any Indian party. I don't know what that means. All in all I have high hopes from SMU next year. As a Texan I would like to thank teams that came from out of state. I hope you will come back.If you need anything while you are in town next year, just contact me here. Make sure you visit Sunny Brian's Barbeque on Inwood (original location) and Harrera's on Maple for Tex max food. Go to Billy Bob's for country dancing. Let yourself loose. Y'all come back now, and remember pardner, What happens in Texas stays in Texas.

GWA (Garba with attitude)

This was my third trip to GWA, held at Harriet and Charles Luckman Fine Arts Complex. I have to say that as far as arrangements and hospitality was concerned ISC (Indian sub-continental club) and UC Irvine did a fantastic job. Program was flawless. Participants were expected to "clean up" after themselves or they would lose points. For last two years I have ordered my tickets in advance and both the times the ticket coordinators were very helpful and accommodating. We "lost" our FEDEX package and Ms Patel was very kind to even offer duplicate tickets. It turned out that the package was not lost.
We visited Sheraton hotel and everything seemed very nice. Food portions that were offered to the participants could have been bigger but they did have food and there were fast food Establishments near by.
GWA has really matured in their attitude towards their guest teams. I have seen a huge improvement in last three years.
All teams seemed to do well. They all seemed to have worked hard. Let me preface the next few paragraphs with a few caveats and disclosures. Both my children performed Raas in college. My daughter is still performing for BU. She is also a part of Bhangre team in Boston. My son won Raas Chaos and BOB from the GWU team in 2005. I have attended GBA three times, Raas Chaos once, seen all the tapes of BOB 2005, Attended Raas Dhamaka in 2004 (my wife was a judge) gone to two SMU Raas competition and have managed several FOGANA teams that won nationals. One of them was a team from UT that I and my wife brought under our banner of Nrutyashala dance school. I have seen University of Miami team perform at Tampa festival (again my wife was judging). I come from town of Bhavnagar. Our local Raas group (Ghogha circle group) has performed all over the world and won numerous competitions (I was never a part of it but knew several team members and had the fortune of getting a taped copy of their work in late seventies). I really believe that Raas in America will be able to stand as a unique Gujarati folk dance entity. I would like to call it American Raas. Before I digress too much, more about 2007 GWA. I will come back to American Raas later.
I take several issues with California Raas organizers. Have you ever wondered why California Raas teams have not won BOB? (by the time you read this blog I may have been proven wrong in my assumptions since Berkley could win theoretically). In 2005 GWU came second at GWA but went on to win BOB, the mother of all Raas competitions for now. In 2007 winner of GWA did not come first at BOB. My prediction is that same will happen this year, unless there is a change in judging.
California is different from rest of the world. The judges for GWA have not performed well at picking a winner at national level. I see a problem here. Many of the judges seemed to have a lot of interest in dance but their qualifications at judging Rass competition were somewhat weak at best. This affects the results. Teams with as lot of fluff tend to do better. The real meat of a Raas performance is the energy and grace (traditional or not). Teams that won in last three years looked cute on the stage but they lacked the grace that I would expect from a national winner. Judges in North east by in large are more traditional. One solution is to bring people in who are not mere practitioners of art of dance but who have actively choreographed Raas. If a new form of folk art is to develop, there need to be some standards. There needs to be a connection between tradition and innovation (reminds me of Rutger's Raas in 2005 where they played Pink Panther and had a scene of Dandia being stolen from high above the ground, a variation of Shri Krishna theme). If you do innovate remember that Krishna, love and Mela (fair) are the three basic Raas themes, may be Amba (Godess Gurga). Since we are in America there can be more, such as BU's theme of Boston Raas party, which nicely connected the American History and the mischievous nature of Shepherds performing Raas with Lord Krishna. Judges should have working knowledge of Gujarati language and traditions of Gujarat. part of the money that is earned needs to be spent on educating choreographers to learn more.
In summery, I would have given first prize to Illinois. If they are in BOB (I am not sure if they won somewhere else), watch out California. They will bite Berkley. All bets are off if the Bhangra Judges start judging Raas. I hope BOB does maintain different set of judges with a single judge for best item catagory.