Dancers snapped wooden sapps, twisted kundes and leaped in the air amid a flurry of vibrant, flowing colors during the 21st PAO Bhangra exhibition on March 16.
“I like to say that PAO is called PAO Bhangra because that is the sound of your mind being blown,” said Joshua Samuel ’25, co-president of Cornell Bhangra.
The event, which is the largest bhangra showcase in the nation, brought together five intercollegiate bhangra dance teams and Cornell special guest performances along with students, faculty and families who supported performers from the audience.
“Cornell [Bhangra] is insane,” said Anika Rajagopal ’27, who attended the event. “[The team is] super close, dedicated and diligent.”
Entering its 26th year of celebrating traditional Punjabi folk dance, Cornell Bhangra is the longest-running collegiate team in North America.
The 30-member, gender-inclusive team recently performed at the November 2023 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, the February 2024 East Coast Showdown and the March 2024 Naach Di Cleveland performance, where they placed third in the bhangra category. In 2014, Cornell Bhangra performed on America’s Got Talent in the show’s quarterfinals.
Five other collegiate Bhangra teams performed in the showcase — Nova Southeastern University Bhangra, Binghamton Bhangra, New England Bhangra Club, Buffalo Bhangra and MIT Bhangra – each offering unique choreography, creativity and music.
The event opened with a performance from Rochester Jawani, a youth bhangra group. But they were not the only ones dancing — in the audience, young children danced along to the music, inspired by what they saw on stage.
“[It is] so fulfilling to see everyone have a good time, not only [on] our team, but [also with] the other teams coming and the audience members who bought their tickets and want to see this happen,” Samuel said.
The New England Bhangra Club is an all-female Bhangra group. The showcase also featured two other all-female performance troupes from Cornell — Illuminations, a Chinese cultural dance troupe and the Touchtones, an acapella group.
The female representation in bhangra teams on stage excited many audience members.
“Bhangra is a pretty male-dominated field, and women’s teams are traditionally seen as less powerful and less strong, and the [New England Bhangra Club] actually ate and they were so good [and] so energetic, redefining boundaries,” Rajagopal said.
Before intermission, Cornell Bhangra’s competitive team performed, executing its own choreography with precision and synchronicity. The team’s competitive set received whoops from the audience as they explosively leaped into a series of low squats.
Following a brief intermission filled with samosas and mango lassis, Yamatai, a Cornell taiko drumming group, performed, followed by Binghamton Bhangra and NSU Bhangra. Then, Cornell Bhangra alumni took the stage, reliving their memories of dance and community at Cornell. To conclude the show, Cornell Bhangra divided into their male (mundey) and female (kudiyan) groups in friendly competition.
“[The subgroups, mundey and kudiyan,] allow the underclassmen to learn from the upperclassmen. And that way, the legacy of bhangra continues,” Cornell Bhangra dancer Sejal Sekhar ’27 said.
Cornell Bhangra donated all ticket proceeds to Ithaca Welcomes Refugees, a volunteer-led organization that fosters a welcoming environment for refugees and immigrants in the region. IWR helps refugees obtain housing, find employment, enroll in English as a Second Language classes, access doctors and enroll their children in school.
IWR and Cornell Bhangra’s relationship started in 2019 when Cornell Bhangra performed for children and their families at IWR’s Global Roots Play School, an IWR program designed to provide childcare for refugee parents attending ESL classes, according to Casey Verderosa, the executive director of IWR.
Verderosa thanked Cornell Bhangra for its longstanding philanthropy before the event in an email to The Sun.
“Last year they donated $5,000 to IWR. This support is so crucial because it allows us to deliver the important programs that help newcomers become steady on their feet and we are so thankful for our partnership,” Verderosa wrote.
Cornell Bhangra members like Samuel similarly said they appreciate the opportunity to make a positive difference through dance.
“It is rewarding to see that a huge event like this [PAO Bhangra] can have a good cause,” Samuel added.