Researcher delves into Bhangra’s Yorkshire roots

Tue, 16 Sep 2014 15:32:00 BST

Huddersfield’s Sikh Social and Cultural Bhangra Group formed in 1968 was the first of its kind in Britain 

‌BHANGRA – a spectacular style of music and dance deeply rooted in the traditions of India’s Panjabi region – has gained global popularity, with the UK playing a key role in its evolution.  

Huddersfield has had a widely unknown story of bhangra from the 1960s, and now a research fellow at the town’s University has published a lavishly-illustrated book that delves deeply into the past, present and future of the art form. 

The author of Bhangra: Mystics, Music and Migration is Hardeep Singh Sahota (as seen in the video), who has been a passionate bhangra dancer since his childhood in Huddersfield.  He completed a research-based Master’s degree at the University and followed it up with a Heritage Lottery Fund project named Bhangra Renaissance, which probed the origins of the form in India and how migrants brought it to Yorkshire towns.  Hardeep also formed a community group named VIRSA – a word meaning “heritage” in the Panjabi language – and launched World Bhangra Day, which featured a festival of music and dance at Huddersfield Town Hall. 

Now his new book pulls together all the strands of his research and traces the origins of bhangra in the folk traditions and religious rituals of the Panjab.  Hardeep also deals with the etymology of the word “bhangra” and he explores alternative definitions, such as “bhangra” being a derivative from the verb meaning to break or dissolve.  The music and dance was associated with the harvest cycle and celebrations by hard-working farmers as a break from their labours. 

Bhangra in Huddersfield 

The book covers the evolution of the mysticism, music and dance of bhangra on its home soil and in the UK, where cross-fertilisation with rock and hip-hop had a transformative effect.  The contribution made by leading performers and innovators, such as Malkit Singh and A.S. Kang, is analysed in detail.  The book is packed with pictures, including original artwork and photographs from Sara Rizvi, Tim Smith and Zara Hussain. 

One of the historic photographs shows the Sikh Social and Cultural Bhangra Group that was formed in Huddersfield in 1968 (pictured left).  Hardeep believes this was the first of its kind in Britain.  The group members wear traditional costume and have the drum named a dhol that is emblematic of bhangra. 

As a boy growing up in Huddersfield, Hardeep was very close to his grandfather, Phuman Singh, who had come to the UK in the 1950s.  He performed religious songs at the local Gurudwara and folk songs at weddings and was the lead singer for the 1970’s bhangra group Dewana Mastana. 

“He was primarily a singer, but my passion lay much more with dance.  Since I was very little, every time there would be a family celebration I would be the first one dancing!” says Hardeep, who trained in art at the former Bretton Hall College and taught the subject at secondary school.  Currently, he is the formal learning co-ordinator at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park. 

‌Bhangra Renaissance 

Bhangra performance and research have been the other major strands of his life.  The University of Huddersfield – noted for its strengths in oral history – has been a fulcrum, with Hardeep’s Master’s degree followed by the Bhangra Renaissance project and now the ground-breaking new book, which is published by the University’s Press. 

In his opening chapter, Hardeep expresses the essence of the art form that has “formed an integral part of my life and my identity”. 

“It is a natural, earthy dance with warrior rhythms that seduce the dancer and the audience.  Bhangra is about being able to shed your inhibitions completely, to move to the music without any hesitation.  Gesturing through bhangra moves with fellow dancers inspires a connection with them, and for me, personally, the realisation of a connection to a higher spiritual plane.”

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