We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Colorado Bhangra Team. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Colorado Bhangra Team below.

Alright, Colorado Bhangra Team thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

One of the most meaningful projects we’ve worked on as a team was setting up a fundraising workshop for the International Rescue Committee to donate funds for those in Gaza suffering from the Israel-Palestine war. We wanted to try a find a way to use our platform to do more than just perform and compete, and we thought organizing a workshop that not only allows people to learn more about bhangra, but be able to use their ticket sale to donate to a cause we believed in might be a good way to do so. We decided to give this a shot in February of last year, and we were able to host a great workshop with around 20 attendees. With a combination of their ticket sales and a company contribution, we were able to successfully donate $900 for the International Rescue Committee!

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

The Colorado Bhangra Team is a statewide adult bhangra team (a type of cultural folk dance) that aims to spread awareness about the beauty and joy of bhangra through performances, workshops, camps, and competitions. We perform at a wide variety of events throughout the state of Colorado as well as outside the state, ranging from cultural events to professional events. As a team, we aim to challenge the notion that one would have to be of a certain demographic to enjoy and excel at bhangra, and we keep an open mind for anyone who is interested in joining our team, regardless of their demographic or skill level.

One thing that sets us apart is that we are a growth-mindset team, meaning we believe that with enough dedication, passion, and determination, anyone can develop their skills and abilities to become an exceptional dancer. We don’t set limits on anyone’s potential, and ultimately, we do everything we can to make sure that not only do our members enjoy their experience on the team, but that we provide energy and enthusiasm for every event we perform at and give a platform for those who are interested in learning more about bhangra.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Back when we were a college team in 2022, we ran into some internal conflicts among team members as well as some other issues that prevented a large portion of our team from performing for the rest of the academic year, which unfortunately caused us to end our season earlier than expected. This was quite a problem for us because our roster size significantly decreased to a point where we were not sure if we would be able to continue as a team. Part of our foundation at the time was having enough students available for our team in order to recruit new members for the following year, but because of that conflict, we ended up only having 1 student left on the team, so that left us a bit uncertain as to how we might be able to build our team back up and continue doing what we set out to do since our main strategy to recruit people on our team would no longer work for us. At the time, it felt as if there were a number of outside forces that would prevent us from being able to build our team back up, which left us a bit torn.

Although we encountered this situation, we did not let the adversity we faced deter us from doing what we felt we needed to do in order to re-build the team. We knew that at the end of the day, we cared enough about our mission, and we cared enough about the team to continue to do what we needed to do in order for us to build ourselves back up. We didn’t let those outside forces stop us from believing that we could build the team back up, and so we decided to keep going. We knew recruitment was going to take a bit of extra effort, and we came up with a few strategies in order for us to get people who are interested in being a part of the team that we hadn’t tried before. At first, those efforts weren’t very successful as we had minimal engagement for practices, but even with the adversity we faced, we never wavered. We stayed persistent until we were finally able to get enough engagement for practices to the point where we were able to get a roster going again, and eventually be able to start performing and doing what we set out to do. Because of that experience, we are now able to continue spreading awareness about bhangra throughout the state of Colorado, and have built a much stronger foundation for our team.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

Absolutely! Our mission to spread awareness about bhangra and provide joy and energy to each event we perform at is a huge driver for our creative journey. One of the most satisfying things as a team is to be able to introduce a dance form that isn’t well recognized throughout the state of Colorado as well as help people learn more about the dance. Being able to do that at a wide variety of events is one of the best things about being a part of this team. On top of that, being able to provide a community of adults who are looking to be a part of an adult bhangra team, which isn’t common in our country, is especially gratifying as it allows us to give people a platform where they can either fulfill their dreams of being a part of an official team after having learned the dance, or even be able to join a community looking to learn more about the dance in general.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://coloradobhangrateam.weebly.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/coloradobhangra/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/coloradobhangra/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@coloradobhangra3625