Bhangra: dance, stage and a changing sound
Follow the relationship between Punjabi dance and the later British music scene, while keeping their histories distinct.
Punjab and international performance networks
Culture · A guide to the archive
Music, dance and performance
Follow named performers, instruments and dance traditions through recordings, biographies and changing performance settings.
How to approach this subject
Compare the performer, the repertoire and the setting rather than combining them into one timeless tradition. A biographical record can identify a career milestone; a recording or performance account supports a different kind of observation. Keep the date and version visible when moving between a living performance and a later account of it.
An intentional selection
Begin with these entries
Giddha: dance, boliyan and changing performance spaces
Sung verse and movement make giddha a collective performance. Arts documentation, an anthropological essay and festival rules show different ways it is practised and interpreted.
Punjab and diaspora performance spaces
Dhol: hearing history through a drum
Examine a Punjabi dhol through its construction, performance and the museum records that help distinguish regional instruments.
Punjab, with comparative South Asian records
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan: qawwali between shrine and world stage
Nusrat sustained a family performance tradition while extending the reach of qawwali through concerts, film and collaborative recordings.
Faisalabad, Pakistan and international stages
Noor Jehan: a voice across Punjabi film, song and public memory
Born in Kasur, Noor Jehan became an actor and singer whose Punjabi and Urdu work crossed regional media and national histories.
Kasur, Lahore, Calcutta, Bombay and Karachi
Surinder Kaur: Punjabi song from Lahore Radio to the concert stage
Surinder Kaur brought folk repertoire and modern Punjabi poetry to recordings, cinema and audiences far beyond a household gathering.
Lahore, Delhi, Bombay and international stages