Event
Saturday November 5th, 2011
Soldiers and Sailors Memorial
4141 Fifth Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA
Doors open at 5:30pm
Show starts at 6:30pm
Venue:
Soldiers and Sailors is one of the Pittsburgh's oldest and best known historical landmarks and the nation's only military museum dedicated to honoring the men and women of all branches of service, the citizen as well as the professional soldier. Within this stately structure are exhibits displaying military artifacts and personal mementos, a concert hall that seats 2300 guests, a classically elegant ballroom, The Gettysburg Room dedicated to the Civil War and the Hall of Valor which pays tribute to American heroes.
Judges:
Bhangra in the Burgh is proud to have some of the top names from across the nation coming to judge our competition. They are all well respected names in the bhangra community and will be assessing the competing teams on areas such as creativity, choreography, and traditional elements.
Shaunjeet Gill
Shaunjeet Gill has been an active member of the bhangra scene for several years as a dancer, a spectator, and a judge. He co-founded the team, Bhangra Empire, and has danced for many other successful all male and co-ed teams in his career such as Duniya All Stars and Virse De Waris and has participated in many notable competitions such as Nachda Punjab, Boston Bhangra, Bhangra Idols, and Dhol Di Awaaz. Shaunjeet was privileged to be taken under the wings of great teachers from Northern California and the Vancouver area who taught him the finer points of the dance and the numerous elements involved. Learning from these teachers as well as being involved in the scene as a dancer, Shaunjeet brings with him an open mind to creativity and entertainment while retaining an essence of the art form. He is an alumnus of Cal State University at East Bay and is currently working in the financial services industry. Shaunjeet is excited to judge Bhangra in the Burgh 2011 and is looking forward to seeing some amazing performances as well as providing constructive feedback!
Atinder Cloty
Atinder is actively involved in the Bhangra Community as he has become a part of Canadian Punjabi Dance Academy in Toronto for past three years where he is one of the co-organizers of Bhangra Masti Competition that takes place in Toronto every year. In addition to that, Atinder has been involved in providing media coverage for past six years at majority of the Bhangra competitions on the East Coast (Taking pictures/making videos for the teams) and has given them constructive criticism to help get better in the future. He has done Traditional Bhangra for his high school team 5 years in a row but due to further studies, he was unable to continue Bhangra professionally. In the past, he has judged several competitions including Big Apple Bhangra, Bayside Bhangra 2010 & 2011, Jashan Bhangra 2010 & 2011, Bhangra in the Burgh 2009 & 2010, Virsa Punjab Da, Bhangra Blowout, Bhangra Allstars & Desi Dhamaka.
Baljit Toor
Before venturing off to the States, Baljit was immersed in her heritage growing up in Punjab. She received classical training in gidha and bhangra from elementary school until she attended Punjab University in Chandigarh. She brought her cultural pride and acquired skills to the United States. This is evident from her experiences with various gidha and bhangra teams across the United States. Aside from teaching bhangra and gidha to children and adults, she has worked as the Educational Director at a Riverside County Museum for the last twenty years. While working at the museum, she organizes several cultural dance festivals and the annual "Rhythms of the East" Indian musical program for the South Asian community.
As past President and Vice President of the India Association of the Inland Empire, as well as President of Virsa American Punjabi club, she tries to bring cultural awareness to the general public. She is also very involved in the collegiate gidha and bhangra scene from coast to coast.
Waleed Mahmood
Waleed Mahmood has been involved in the competitive Bhangra circuit in many ways for the past 8 years. As the Founder and Captain of Geneseo Bhangra at the State University of New York at Geneseo, he formed the team in 2004 and took them to several competitions. After being with the team for over 3 years, he moved to Washington DC after graduation from his undergraduate College and was selected as a dancer for Mitar Albeleyan Da Bhangra Group (MAD). Currently he is one of the team leaders for Lalkaare Sheran De (LSD), one of the only folk live Bhangra teams on the east coast, they are dedicated to preserving this cultural art form in its truest and most authentic form. Along with his team at Emdo Entertainment, his latest venture was Elite 8 Bhangra Invitational - a revolutionary event concept that brought North America's top 8 teams to compete on the same stage with a regional format and on an invite only basis. Waleed continues to be very involved in the Bhangra scene and is always looking for ways to help preserve this art and help bring it to the forefront.
Master of Ceremonies:
Suraj Baxi
Our head Master of Ceremonies, back for a second year, is none other than Carnegie Mellon student, Suraj Baxi. Since his debut at this competition last year, he has seen great success, emceeing many competitions across the country. He's one of funniest people on you'll ever know and it is our pleasure to have him back this year. As a past Co-Chair for the show, Suraj's love for the dance and this competition is unwavering. Suraj (and his brother Guraj) will be taking his comedy to the Soldier's and Sailors stage and will be leading you through another night of excitement and energy. If you thought he was entertaining last year for Bhangra in the Burgh 4, think again because he's back this year! Hold onto your seats, stomachs and samosas because its going to be a night you're going to be laughing for a good amount of time tonight! Also stay tuned for a collaborative stand-up routine featuring Carnegie Mellon's very own Stefan Denzil.
