Pure Bhangra
Pure Bhangra is a bhangra crew based in the Middle East. The crew came into action in November, 2011 in an attempt to re-establish the essence of Punjabi culture in the Gulf. The team evolved from a group of university students to a diverse group of members with a common love for the Punjabi folklore. They were recognised regionally after sharing the stage with the leading artist of the Punjabi music industry, Diljit Dosanjh at his debut concert[1] in Dubai. Since 2011, the team has evolved as a North-Indian brand in the Middle East. They’ve taken over many projects that inculcate promoting Punjabi culture.
Early Years[edit]
The team was brought into the limelight under the leadership of Hardeep Singh[2], a Sikh blogger and entrepreneur based in the Middle East. Their first performance marked the official start to Pure Bhangra’s journey at Manipal University’s Dubai Campus.[3] After receiving an enthralling response from the audience, the crew started preparing for their final audition which led to their recognition as the very first official bhangra crew in the Middle East.
Initially the team wasn’t abundant of resources and managed to practice on building roofs. In 2013, the team found it’s very first studio to practice for events and performances.
Established in 2011, after an absolutely unexpected response from the students and faculty of Manipal University, Dubai the team as small as eight members began structuring an image of the only bhangra dance team in the Middle East.
Happy New Year[edit]
Main Article: Happy New Year (2014 film)
In 2014, Pure Bhangra also made an appearance in Bollywood in Happy New Year, directed by Farah Khan and produced by Gauri Khan. The team initially was going to be casted as a competing team as per the script but after critical thought the team was embedded as background dancers.
Diljit Dosanjh in Dubai[edit]
Punjabi popstar and actor, Diljit Dosanjh made his debut performance in UAE at Al Nasr Leisureland on February 11th, 2011. Pure Bhangra made their very first live appearance with a power-packed, eight-minute performance.[4]
Truckers DXB[edit]
Truckers DXB refers to the food trucks community in UAE and have been organising food truck jams at different locations[5] in an attempt to bring together a multi-cultural crowd under one roof.
In 2017, Truckers DXB brought the very first Baisakhi festival carnival to Dubai. The carnival lasted for an entire weekend, from the 6th to 7th April[6]. Pure Bhangra co-hosted the event along with Truckers bringing Punjabi festivities to the heart of Downtown Dubai in premises of Burj Park and Dubai Opera House.
RAK Happiness Festival[edit]
Truckers DXB set up food trucks at Al Marjan Island, RAK on 16th February 2017.[7] The carnival also invited numerous performers to take up the stage in an attempt to add more life to the gig. Pure Bhangra put up an authentic bhangra performance with more than 15 dancers on stage for a crowd of more than 16K viewers.
PB at Global Village, Dubai[edit]
The crew took over the Talent stage at the largest tourism, leisure and entertainment project with a professional bhangra performance in absolute ethnic attire on the 1st February 2017[8]. The performance was choreographed by international bhangra artist, Sukhwinder Singh who became an official member of the crew in 2014. The performance was put up by nine dancers who began practicing for the final execution 3 months ago.
Unique Connection with Monster Crew[edit]
Monster Crew is an independent hip-hop dance crew[9] based in the Middle-East. Extremely similar to the evolution of Pure Bhangra, Monster Crew also came into action after a bunch of university students identified a common love for hip-hop.[10] Both the dance crews come from the same foundation of abundant determination amongst young students.
In the current tenure of time, both the crews are closely knitted and manage to support each other marvellously.
Press Appearances[edit]
The team has been identified by the Middle Eastern media as well as international media numerous times.
Weekend Out Review[edit]
Pure Bhangra was featured in an episode of Weekend Out with Gaurav[11] which is a reality show broadcasted on Sony Television. Three members from the team were interviewed of their experience over the years being a part of the team.
PB MAX Workshops[edit]
Over the past eight years the team has evolved extensively in terms of its target audiences as well as services. In 2017, Pure Bhangra conducted it’s very first ‘bhangra’ workshop of the PB MAX series. The workshop encourages all bhangra enthusiasts to attend and learn basic bhangra routines to the latest upbeat Punjabi songs.
The workshops are conducted monthly, sometimes several times in a month.
Around 35-40 people generally tend to attend each of these workshops. Each workshop focuses on a 1-2-minute dance routine taught thoroughly in about 3 hours. All the workshops are filmed professionally and featured on Pure Bhangra's official YouTube channel for the participants to view the final outcome. The workshops are usually taken by 2 or 3 members from the team, who usually vary every time.
Current Members[edit]
The team led by Hardeep Singh currently constitutes 27 active members and around 11 other inactive but previously active and crucial members. Which totals to 38 members.
The names of all the members are as follows:
| Name of the member | Age |
|---|---|
| Hardeep Singh (Founder and Team leader) | 25 |
| Sukhwinder Singh (Senior Choreographer) | 30 |
| Brendan Lopez (Director of Photography) | 26 |
| Sarbjeet Kaur | 28 |
| Akhil Mahajan | 24 |
| Ankushpreet Singh | 20 |
| Guruwinder Singh | 25 |
| Jaspal Singh | 38 |
| Gurjit Singh Sandhu | 31 |
| Karan Vir Singh | 19 |
| Karambir Singh | 30 |
| Harsh Chowdary | 26 |
| Prabjot Singh | 19 |
| Sahejdeep Singh | 19 |
| Hardy Saini | 29 |
| Davinderpal Singh | 28 |
| Yashpreet Singh | 20 |
| Jaspreet Singh | 20 |
| Krishna Ravishankar | 25 |
| Manpreet Singh | 27 |
| Kanwar Tushar Punj | 23 |
| Hetika Sanjay Sampat | 23 |
| Jessica Jolly | 23 |
| Davinder Pal Singh | 28 |
| Aanchal Rohilla | 30 |
| Drishya Dinesh | 23 |
| Jennifer Richard | 28 |
| Ria Kaur | 17 |
| Jaskirat Kaur | 15 |
| Pradeep Kaur | 24 |
| Anika Goel | 27 |
| Kavleen Kaur Kohli | 20 |
| Sneha Sivanand | 20 |
| Saanya Sharma | 19 |
| Himanshi | 8 |
| Mannat Kaur | 9 |
| Karthik Sangar | 25 |
| Mahima Sharma | 26 |
| Pavneet Kaur | 19 |
Awards and Nominations[edit]
Till date, Pure Bhangra has participated in multiple university competitions. Enlisted below is a table of the trophies and ranks they've acquired till date.
| Year | Organisation | Competition Title | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Manipal University, Dubai | Inter-Department, Dance | First Place |
| 2012 | Manipal University, Dubai | Inter-Department, Dance | 1st Runner Up |
| 2013 | Manipal University, Dubai | Inter- University Carnival | First Place |
| 2014 | Manipal University, Dubai | Inter- University Carnival | First Place |
| 2017 | Middlesex University, Dubai | Youth Festival | First Place |
| 2018 | Middlesex University, Dubai | Youth Festival | First Place |
PB was also nominated for the 'Best International Artist' in the UK Bhangra Awards, alongside Diljit Dosanjh.
References list[edit]
- ↑ "Diljit Dosanjh Live in Dubai". dubai.platinumlist.net. Retrieved 2018-07-08.
- ↑ "Hardeep Singh". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2018-07-08.
- ↑ Hardeep Singh (2012-09-07), Pure Bhangra 2011 at Manipal University Dubai Campus Inter Department Competition, retrieved 2018-07-08
- ↑ Pure Bhangra (2016-03-08), Diljit Dosanjh Live in Dubai 2016 - Pure Bhangra Performance, retrieved 2018-07-08
- ↑ "truckersdxb". truckersdxb. Retrieved 2018-07-08.
- ↑ "Truckers - Punjabi Edition - Dubai Events". Dubai Events. Retrieved 2018-07-08.
- ↑ Report, Guides Staff (2018-02-05). "There will be a happiness festival in RAK". GulfNews. Retrieved 2018-07-08.
- ↑ "Pure Bhangra on Instagram: "Got our turla and paranda swag all set for tomorrow.😍See you all…"". Instagram. Retrieved 2018-07-08.
- ↑ "Monster Crew". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2018-07-08.
- ↑ Dadlani, Disha. "Have you met UAEs dance crews and the Kala Chasma girl". khaleejtimes.com.
- ↑ kkompanymfze (2016-11-05), Weekend Out with Gaurav - Pure Bhangra, retrieved 2018-07-08
External Links[edit]
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