Sisterhood, Dance & Punjabi Culture: Wasda Punjab Arts

Born out of a love for the Punjabi culture and Sehgeet Kaur’s vision comes Wasda Punjab Arts, a novel all-girl competitive Bhangra dance team located in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Sehgeet has been a dancer for the last eleven years of her life. At the youthful age of fifteen, this passionate and driven young woman brought together a group of her friends to perform at the Folklorama Festival for the first time. Since their initial performance, the group has continued to grace the stage annually at the summer festival and have danced for the past five consecutive years. Sehgeet enjoys being a part of the Folklorama family and being surrounded by people and audiences that are interested in engaging in conversations to learn more about their culture.

“How much I love Bhangra and how much it means to me- I can’t even put into words. Being on stage has always been my escape. .. At Punjab Pavilion 2018, I received immense feedback for the choreography and set by the audience. It was something I did not expect, but it had a major impact on me. In early 2019, I opened an academy in Winnipeg.”

The dance team is a sisterhood and tight-knit family, held together by their immense love for folk dances and the joy they get from connecting with each other and audiences through movement and preserving their beautiful culture.

Wasda Punjab Arts perform at cultural events throughout the year and have participated in dance competitions locally and abroad. The group holds the title of being the very first all-girls Bhangra team to compete outside of Manitoba.

In light of the current pandemic, the dance team has continued to share their love for the Punjabi culture online through dance videos and hosting virtual practices for the team. The academy continues to grow; in the near future, they will be opening their doors to educate upcoming generations about the Punjabi culture and folk dances through workshops and classes.

To find out where they’ll be performing next, follow @wasdapunjabarts!

If you would like to join Folklorama family as a performing artist, contact Christian at [email protected] or call him at 204-982-6226.