A group of bhangra dancers certain onto the stage in conventional sequined gown and fanned turbans. “Wassup?” says one. “Able to bhangra?” That is Punjabi dance spliced with American highschool musical. Bhangra is a aggressive sport right here, and there are face-offs within the bleachers, whereas dancers’ khundas (bamboo sticks) resemble cheerleading batons.
Directed by Stafford Arima and developed since its 2022 premiere in San Diego, the story pivots round a Michigan high-school bhangra competitors. Teammates Preeti (Zaynah Ahmed) and Mary (Jena Pandya) fall out over what the dance means to them. Preeti is a purist who desires to maintain the routine strictly bhangra; Mary is combined heritage and seeks to, nicely, combine issues up.
Rival dance troupes are shaped out of their fracture and we observe Mary right into a journey for self-definition because the musical explores the complexity of hyphenated identities and what it means to be a South Indian American.
The music by Sam Willmott and dance, choreographed by Rujuta Vaidya, is all the time important, the dholaks (Indian drums) as infectious as a thumping bass. However the central story appears contrived to suit round its themes with messages about colonisation, appropriation and authenticity latched onto dialogue and songs. Projections by David Bengali fill the naked stage however they’re over-excitable (with fire-like glints and psychedelic whirls) and disconnected to the drama at occasions.
The characters really feel too flimsy and generic. There’s a gorgeous kathak dance sequence between Mary and the ghost of her lifeless mom however this relationship is under-explored after being launched in Rehana Lew Mirza and Mike Lew’s e book. A romance between Mary and DJ Billy (Iván Fernández González) is initially bland and Preeti’s story – the stress to stay true to her roots – is explored late within the day, although it’s affecting.
The second half blooms in drama, and each Ahmed and Pandya breathe reality of feeling into their characters’ inside lives. The e book’s humour warms up and there’s a standout efficiency from Siobhan Athwal as Mary’s kooky room-mate, Sunita, even when her radicalism is over-egged.
Some songs bear angsty emo notes, corresponding to Dot Dot Dot, which captures gawky teen love as Billy and Mary textual content one another, whereas others are energy ballads just like the closing Bhangra Nation. The forged have sturdy voices, and essentially the most lovely quantity, Ve Leja Mainu Pind Wal Tu (The Preeti Ballet), is sung in Punjabi because the set cracks open to point out Preeti’s household pind (village). It represents her purist model of Indian identification, drenched in nostalgia, and is exquisitely carried out and shifting in its unhappiness. A thunderously upbeat finale has a lot vitality that the present wins with its attraction and journey in the direction of pleasure.
