Students celebrate Bhangra Resurrection

February 8th, 2010 | By Crankdatdu1

Indian music interspersed with songs like Michael Jackson's "Beat It" and Soulja Boy's "Crank That" filled HUB Alumni Hall on Friday night.

Despite the weather, students weren't deterred from attending the Bhangra Resurrection dance party and practicing their Bollywood-style moves.

Sponsored by the Sikh Student Association (SSA), the dance began after 10 p.m., with singer and headliner Bikram Singh arriving around 12:30 a.m. Bhangra Resurrection was held as the pre-party for Saturday's Dandia On fire dance competition, held in Eisenhower Auditorium.

Though organizer Sim Grewal (sophomore-bioengineering) said he expected 100-200 people to attend, about 500 people ended up in Eisenhower Auditorium.

Bhangra, an ancient folk dance from the Indian state of Punjab, is a representation of what Punjab culture is all about, said Hartej Singh Sawhney, president of SSA.

Sawhney (senior-finance) said the event was lucky to book Singh, an artist very popular in England and India. His performance was widely anticipated and enjoyed by those in attendance.

Large groups of friends danced in circles together to the music played by DJs and performed by Singh. They were sometimes accompanied by a drummer emphasizing the beat of the songs.

There are no specific steps to the dance, Navneet Kaur (senior-psychology and business) said -- it mostly consists of the coordination of your feet and hands.

"You can move anything you can move in your body... if you can do that, you're fine," she said.

For those still unsure of the dance, there was plenty of opportunity to learn from more experienced dancers.

"People are really willing to teach their dance moves," Steffany McDougal (sophomore-Japanese) said. "It's a lot of fun."

While some students opted to wear modern garb, others wore more traditional Indian clothing with bright colors and patterns reflecting the cross between Indian and American culture.

Both Indian and English songs were played by the DJ, with many popular English songs remixed with Indian songs.

"I like the familiarity of the English songs, and you add another element into it, and it's like rediscovering your favorite song," Hannah Ward (freshman-English) said.