Urban Mixer Blog

Saturday, January 20th, 2007, the Orpheum Theatre hosted the Vancouver International Bhangra Celebration (VIBC).

(From Wikipedia) Bhangra (Punjabi: ਭੰਗੜਾ, بھنگڑا, bhaṅgṛā) is a lively dance originating from the region of Punjab, now divided between North India and Pakistan. Bhangra has developed from a variety of popular music while rooted in the region’s traditions and has a strong youth following around the world. (read more on Wikipedia HERE).

Urban Mixer members, Raj Taneja and Nina Sohi were there to catch the action. The results of the competition were as follows:

3rd Place – VCU Bhangra (Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia)
2nd Place – United Bhangra (Vancouver, BC)
1st Place – UBC Girlz (University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC)

Peoples Choice: United Bhangra (Vancouver, BC)

Sadly, other teams which did really well such as Duniya Allstars Boys (Surrey, BC) didn’t place.

Some photos from the compeition:

Click HERE to see all the photos we took at the compeition.

Some video from the competition:

… and the finale, Juggy D and his ‘bubble gum’ style of bhangra…

Highlights from the event:

• MC’s Jessica Reddy from 969/Razer and Riaz Meghdi from Sun TV take a pledge to learn how to speak Punjabi after mis-pronouncing both ‘Bhangra’ and ‘Dhol’
• A sold-out show at the Orpheum and subsequent sold-out afterparty at the Croatian Cultural Centre
• Awesome performances from all the teams and musical guests

Stay tuned for Bhangra Nation which makes its debut appearance May 2007 in Vancouver after ten successful years in Toronto. More details are forthcoming and shall be available HERE but expect no less than world class teams coming from as far as India to participate in this event.

See you there!