Best Malwai Gidha Studios in Edmonton - Punjabi Heritage & Folk

PHF is a registered foundation and has been providing quality dance education in a fun friendly environment since 2011. Positive motivation combined with teaching styles that are nurturing and supportive. We teach children ages 4 and up in: GIDHA, BHANGRA, JHUMMER, LUDDI, SAMMI, MALWAI GIDHA, DHAMAAL, AND FITNESS CLASSES. Bhangra is an energetic, folk dance and music form that originated from Punjab, India. Today, it’s the newest dance, music, and fitness phenomenon spreading all over the world. Bhangra has made its way to America’s Got Talent, the London Olympics, and even the White House.

THE BEGINNING OF BHANGRA

The first mentions of Bhangra as a dance entity start to show up in historical records around the late-1800s. The current style and form of Bhangra formed together in the 1940s and have evolved since. It originated as a folk dance celebrated during the time of the harvest.  Bhangra is traditionally danced to the dhol instrument, a large drum, and boliyan, short sets of lyrics that describe scenes or stories from Punjab. These lyrics most commonly reference themes of love, patriotism, strength, and celebration. Bhangra is an amalgamation of various folk dances from all across the region of Punjab, many of which can trace their roots far back before the existence of the term Bhangra in the late 1800s. These dances include Sammi, Jhummar, Luddi, Giddha, Dhamaal, Sialkot, and many more. 

For example, Sialkoti developed in the region of Sialkot and is performed with one leg in the air. Jhummar, from Jhang-Sial, can arguably be traced back to the Aryan period and consists of a 16-beat dhol cycle. Sammi is a dance specifically dedicated to singing about a fabled girl. In the 1940s, communication between villages and regions in Punjab sharply increased due to independence movements across the area. As a result, due to several celebrated dance pioneers, these dances were shared, both in times of celebration and to ease in times of hardship. Each region quickly adapted the shared dance forms into their own folk traditions. Eventually, a standard Bhangra routine across Punjab came to consist of certain components, such as a Jhummar segment, or a Dhamaal segment. Due to the exponential rise in communication in Punjab and across India, Bhangra spread throughout the country. The Bollywood industry began to depict Bhangra in its movies while celebrated Bhangra pioneers emerged to actively spread and share the dance form. As a result, Bhangra music is now quite mainstream throughout India, and throughout the world!

At two locations

SOUTH SIDE BURNWOOD CUMMUNITY HALL (4118-41 AVE) & NORTH SIDE NORTHGATE LION CENTRE (7524-139 AVE)