On Oct. 24, for Princeton Bhangra’s annual show, the jam-packed crowd of Hamilton Murray Theatre was transported to a faraway universe. Titled KAYINAAT: A Journey Across the Cosmos, the performance takes place thousands of years in the future, a time when Bhangra has long been forgotten.
Bhangra, a high-energy traditional dance from the Punjab region of India, has evolved over time and now typically features a fusion of hip-hop elements with its traditional form. Typical dance moves include deep squats, rapid footwork, kicks, and spinning.
This year’s show follows a group of Princeton students, abducted from campus by aliens, into a dystopian future through a series of video vignettes. The students are guided on various missions throughout the universe to recover the “shards of Bhangra” and return the dance to all.
The performance consisted of seven acts — called “missions” — an intermission show by Mariachi Los Tigres de Princeton, an on-stage dance lesson for audience members, and various comical video skits and media montages introducing each act.
The first “mission” titled “Mission I: Halo” set the tone with an explosive energy. In a burst of shining yellow stage lights, the dancers came out, dressed in rose-pink kurtas and holding daangs, stick props with flags on the ends. The dancers kept the audience on its toes: The stage transformed into a whirlwind of spinning daangs, strobing lights, and rapid movements.
The second act was high-energy like the first, but dancers wore casual clothes and danced to a more modern remix of traditional music.
The third spent some time in darkness: The only lights on stage at the start were the dancers’ glowing wristbands, which accentuated the dancers’ movements. The bright white light of their wrists was the only constant as the stage lighting flashed in and out throughout the segment.
After the third act, the show entered intermission with a performance from Mariachi Los Tigres de Princeton and a short dance class for audience members. While the Mariachi band’s lead singer had a solid stage presence, very few members of the audience stayed to watch.
On the other hand, the on-stage dance class that came next had no issue engaging the audience. Two members of Bhangra taught the audience two Bhangra moves and then had the groups perform against each other. While many of the newly taught dancers seemed confused at first and laughed at themselves, they became very spirited during the dance-off, with the losing group erupting in boos when the winners were announced.
After the audience members, winners and losers alike, found their way back to their seats, and the stage darkened once again for another vignette. The Princeton students, blown through a storm, landed on planet Voyager and had to speak to the king to get the next piece.
Throughout the performances, short, humorous video vignettes were shown after a media montage introducing each act, including skits about ordering a shard by accident from an alien McDonald’s and stealing a shard from an alien queen. All were filmed on campus, blending creative editing and an endearing low-budget charm.
During the act, “Mission V: Frontier,” the stage, once again covered in darkness, erupted into a constellation of pink, orange, and blue light. The beginning was a high-energy sapp — an accordion-like device that can be clapped together — segment, with the claps landing on the song’s beats and yellow stage lights bursting out at various times. With complex jumps and spinning daangs, this act’s combination of musicality, dramatic flair, and sharp, symmetrical choreography was the most enjoyable of the performance.
Through the group’s inventive choreography, stirring stage production, and hilarious low-budget video skits, KAYINAAT was a pleasure to watch. Princeton Bhangra’s performance was a vibrant celebration of culture and creativity — a seamless blend of humor, technical precision, and energy that lit up both the stage and the audience.
If you missed last weekend’s performances, I would certainly recommend keeping an eye out for their future shows or watching the livestream on their YouTube channel.
Caroline Naughton is a contributing writer for The Prospect and a member of the Class of 2029. She can be reached at cn8578[at]princeton.edu.
Please send any corrections to corrections@dailyprincetonian.com.
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