Looking to make a splash in Buffalo's cultural scene this weekend, UB's Bhangra dance club will host the first-ever Bhangra Blizzard Dance Competition on Saturday night with teams from across the East Coast competing at the Center for the Arts.
The Bhangra club is only about a year old now, but event organizers hope Saturday's competition will mark something of a breakout for the group.
While the club does emphasize the bhangra style, the group is also dedicated to promoting other types of Indian dance from the excitedly fast-paced to the soothingly slow, according to group members.
Rena Malik, the president of UB Bhangra, said the club is looking forward to bringing the art of bhangra to the university community with its first competition.
"Bhangra is a type of North Indian dance that originates from the state of Punjab, which is often recognized from the song by Jay-Z and Punjabi MC, Beware of the Boys," Malik said.
Though the competition is Saturday, the Bhangra Blizzard 2005 festivities start Friday night with a dinner at South Campus' Harriman Hall. Malik said the North Indian dinner and music event is open to anyone, and tickets can be purchased at the door for $5.
The pre-party following the dinner is a semi-formal dance at the Buffalo Niagara Marriot ballroom called the "Calm Before the Storm Pre-Party."
All the weekend's events have a larger purpose than just offering people the chance to party, however.
"The celebrations prior to the Bhangra Blizzard competition are designed to give members of the Buffalo community a taste of North Indian culture," Malik said.
The competition on Saturday will include competitive acts from Cornell University, Columbia University, New Jersey Institute of Technology, University of Virginia, Virginia Tech, Villanova University, Siena College, Lehigh University, Boston University and UB.
"We also have an exhibition act from a dance team from Johns Hopkins University and a special performance by two of the top dhol players in the nation all the way from California," Malik said, referring to the large dhol drums that are popular in Punjabi culture. "Our teams are competing for a $1,000 first prize, $500 second prize and $250 third prize."
The high-profile dhol players who will grace the CFA main stage are brother and sister Malinder and Jesse Tooray, who are ranked as two of the top dhol players in North America, according to the Bhangra club members.
Malinder is North America's first and only female dhol player and Jesse has played with many notable names in the business, including RDB, Sukhbir, B21, and Sukshinder Shinda.
When the curtains close on Jesse and Malinder, there's still more to do Saturday night with the Bhangra club. An after-party will follow at Club Level on West Chippewa Street, and proper ID is required at the door.
Tickets for the kickoff dinner and after-party can be purchased in the Sub-Board I ticket office and at the door of each event. Bhangra Blizzard tickets are available at the Center for the Arts ticket office or on www.ticketmaster.com for $10. The Bhangra club is also offering reduced ticket packages for students attending all three events.
