Garba Training in Uk

Garba-Fusion research - a research of Garba and contemporary

My journey

Hello, everyone. I'm back with fresh and wonderful experiences. As I mentioned in my initial post, I've been attending weekly Garba classes in Harrow with Garbaflow, one of the top Garba companies in the UK.

I also attended a last minute workshop with one of the leading Garba companies Thangaat Garba from India who came especially to London to host a workshop. As well as I took private classes in Bedford from Sagar Patel who has extensive experience and knowledge in this ambit.

Furthermore, I took part in a week of intensive workshops in Milton Keynes during the OUdance Festival, where I had the opportunity to meet numerous artists for networking and learning.

Garbaflow and Thangaat Garba company logos

Classes emphasized technique, musicality, and creating an enjoyable experience. Each session introduced new material to learn, gradually increasing in speed and difficulty by the end of the class. This approach helped me feel that my skills and stamina in performing dynamic Garba improved progressively.

Learning in depth traditional Garba allows me to understand the body mechanics that can later be translated later in my own creative way.

This video shares some moments of my training with these 2 companies in UK:

Intensive workshop

Thangaat Garba is a dance company based in Mumbai, India that focuses on teaching nationally and internationally Garba with a great and easy pedagogic structure.

This workshop was a two-day intensive session focusing on Garba dance, where we learned about the various styles of Garba in depth. Each region has its distinct style, ranging from more gestural to more dynamic and powerful movements.

GarbaFlow Team, me and other participants during the Thangaat Garba Workshop in London September 2024

Click here to enter in the websites of Garbaflow and Thangaat Garba:

Thangaat Garba Art – Thangaat Garba Art | Ankit Upadhyay & Parth Patel

Home | Garba Flow | Garba Class And Events In London, UK

Sagar Patel private classes:

As an addition to my training I included private classes and mentoring of my Garba technique with Sagar Patel.

He guided me through details of Garba movement vocabulary outdoors and indoors before my trip to India, Gujarat in order to feel prepared in advance.

video footage of training

My Conclusion is....

Circles an circling is one of the main characteristics of Garba which focuses on creating circular patterns in the space through repetitive pathways, foot patterns and expressive arms.

I felt there was a juxtaposition in the idea of circling that maintains quite a linear and symmetrical upper body as opposite to contemporary improvisation tasks which looks to find all kinds of circular articulation through the body, allowing to create an asymmetrical and fluid body image.

This made me think of the possibility to explore these 2 ideas together while researching a new movement language, a Garba-Fusion.

Nevertheless, I noticed that Garba and contemporary dance share numerous similarities, including connecting with people, discovering circular patterns, feeling grounded, continuous movement, and portraying powerful and dynamic motions that showcase human strength and capabilities.

Next Post...

In my next post, I'll be traveling to the beautiful India! I'll arrive in Gujarat, the birthplace of Garba.

Keep Updated :)