Back to blog
News

Royal Academy of Punjab Goes International to Teach Bhangra in Greece

August 5, 2022

In July, Royal Academy of Punjab’s founder and General Manager, Hardeep Singh Sahota travelled to Athens Greece for the 58th World Congress of Dance Research, where he facilitated a workshop titled, ‘Bhangra: Mystics, Music and Migration’ to the world’s most influential and acclaimed dance professionals.

Here, important knowledge keepers of global dance forms were exposed to the intricacies of the dance form as well as their deep historical and cultural roots - all stemming from across South Asia. This epic moment allowed for Punjabi Folk Art to take centre stage in the global conversation, alongside mainstream dance forms like ballet, kathak, and salsa, as well as modern, contemporary dance forms emerging from technology, such as kinetics and theatrics.

The 58th World Congress of Dance Research is the world’s oldest dance forum. Produced by the International Dance Council, this forum brings together dance specialists from over 40 countries around the world. Annually, over 300 international dancers, world dance leaders, and dance knowledge keepers attend the event to lead and participate in workshops, research, studies, exhibitions and performances.

As Punjabi’s and artists fight for survival and their rights to expression, this intercultural dialogue shattered social barriers between the Punjabi Folk Art form and mainstream dance forms that have been centre stage for decades. Through this engagement, Hardeep’s participation in the Congress of Dance Research as a knowledge keeper seeking to elevate the platforms of Punjabi Folk Art not only disrupted the norm, but created a safe space for a global community of dancers to explore Punjabi culture and meaningfully engage with Punjabi Folk Art.

“As artists and cultural knowledge keepers, we are very honoured to be able to attend these conferences and present Punjabi Folk Art as the robust, rich and dynamic art form that it is. The opportunities for learning and sharing, for creating and pushing boundaries, while at the same time researching and preserving our art form is important.  We are in a very unique space to do all this, and we are looking forward to continuing to lead the way.” – Hardeep Singh Sahota
No items found.
No items found.
No items found.
No items found.
COVID-19 Health & Safety Plan
X
Royal Academy of Punjab

Covid-19 Health and Safety Plan

Safe Physical Distancing: The dance floor has been marked into safe distance zones whichare at least 2 metres apart or more. Only one person is permitted per marker, and please stayin your marked area.

Hand washing: Please wash your hands or sanitize before your class and after your class.Use the sinks in the washrooms (one person at a time)

Masks: The most recent recommendation from Canada’s public health is that of wearing anon-medical masks or face covering as an additional layer of protection, even when physicaldistancing is active at the studio.

We recommend you wear a mask while attending a class if you are comfortable doing so, but do take it offif you experience dizziness or a shortness of breath while wearing it.

Our Cleaning and Disinfecting Protocols: We have implemented enhanced antibacterialand antiviral cleaning and sanitizing protocols for all common areas and surfaces, includingwashrooms, light switches, door handles. etc. This includes increasing the frequency thatthese items are cleaned (number of times per day) as well as the timing (before and afterclasses).

If You Feel Unwell: If you are experiencing symptoms such as fever, chills, a cough, sorethroat, stuffy or runny nose, etc, or if you are in proximity with someone who is ill, please stayhome and DO NOT attend classes (This will be strictly enforced).

Class Times: We are staggering our class start times with a break between classes to allowfor cleaning and sanitization as well as to prevent large groups from congregating in thestudio during class cross over.

Limited contact: Staff and students are asked to please refrain from high fives and hugs forthe time being from public health advisors.

Travel: If you have recently travelled internationally, please stay home, self - isolate yourself,and refrain from attending the classes. Also, if you have travelled across different provinceswith-in Canada, it is mandatory to let us know in advance.

PARENTS: You can help! Please help your children read and understand these guidelines if youdecide to send them for their classes at the studio.We have given the full control to ourparents to make the decision of whether to send the children to the studio or continue theirclasses on ZOOM. We recommend to encourage the students to take safety as a priority andthen learn to keep themselves safe.