#288 Bhangra Goes Global with Hardy Singh

We meet Hardy Singh in Edmonton during his first Canada tour with Karan Aujla, and trace how a kid raised in Dubai turns family celebrations into a global Bhangra mission. We talk about building teams worldwide, pushing dancers into headline slots, and what it takes to make passion pay. 

• First Canada tour energy and why Edmonton crowds matter 
• Early Bhangra influence through family celebrations in Dubai 
• Starting a Bhangra group in 2011 and learning online when local teachers were scarce 
• Growing from college competitions to paid performances and bigger opportunities 
• Taking Bhangra workshops worldwide and teaching in more than 56 countries 
• Mentoring local groups so Bhangra scenes keep moving year-round 
• Making dancers the main act and demanding professional respect and fair pay 
• Concert-day ritual and the music that gets Hardy into his zone 
• How Hardy becomes an official tour choreographer for Karan Aujla and what that milestone means 
• Designing a standout vest to blend Punjabi tradition with P-pop Culture

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Transcript

Welcome And Canada Tour Energy

SPEAKER_01 0:12

Hi, it's Sapreed and welcome to the Universal Radio Network. Today we're joined by Hardy Singh. We've all seen him in socials, but today we're meeting him in person right here in Edmonton. Welcome, Hardy. How are you?

SPEAKER_02 0:24

I'm very well. Thank you so much for having me here in Canada, and I'm quite excited for this.

SPEAKER_01 0:29

No, I'm excited. It's your first Canada tour, I can say officially. Yes. The India the Success Tabot, welcome. We're looking forward to tonight. It's a big day for Edmonton.

SPEAKER_02 0:37

Yes, certainly. Um, this is the third show of a Canada tour, and Vancouver was insane, and I think we're gonna have the same energy in Edmonton as well. So I'm quite looking forward to it.

SPEAKER_01 0:47

I take pride in Edmonton. So the energy is usually better now.

SPEAKER_02 0:51

Yes, yes. I've heard a lot about that. So I'm really looking forward to that today. When you're on stage and we see that audience hyping up, oh, that feeling is insane.

Growing Up With Bhangra In Dubai

SPEAKER_01 1:07

Right? You have been a trendsetter. You are setting the stage of Pangra on global platforms. But I will say, so today I really want to get you acquainted with all our listeners. So Hardief sing the hardy sing. Tell me about this journey. How did it all start?

SPEAKER_02 1:24

Well, um, I'm born and brought up in Dubai, so that's firstly, and I and then uh staying connected with Pangra was always because of mom and dad. And they used to do a lot of my birthday celebrations and everything. So, I sarebbe uh celebrate. I think when I would see them just raising their hands up and dancing, I think that was like my first introduction to Pangara. And I think I just kept going on with that in my school, college, and college. I really wanted to learn Pangara at that time. And at that time, when I did my Lib Petobi research in Dubai, and I figured that there's nobody who teaches Pangara in Dubai, there's no dance group in Dubai. So we learned online, I performed in the college, and we placed first in our competition. And the whole of Dubai started to know there is a Pangra group now here. So people started reaching out to us to perform at events, movies, music videos, and other cars. So that's how like it was like opportunities. We kept progressing that way. So I started the group in 2011. It's 15 years now, and uh Dubai being a city that always teaches to do things big. I think I built Sega. I really wanted to take Pangra Global, as you said. And in 2022, I did my first world tour by doing Pangra workshops. I visited about 36 countries, and then for Hory Karde, that passion kept growing and growing, and then I ended up going to South America, Japan, all that, and now I've taught Pangra in more than 56 countries. And now working with Karn Ojsi as choreographer. So I think uh that's what I can say. Haldeep sing to Hardy Singh and Nago Chogia.

SPEAKER_01 3:14

That is beautiful. Subtavilla, congratulations! That is amazing. So many countries, so many milestones. You must be so proud. And like I said, Pangra is getting a lot of attention. We've seen it on mainstream now, we're seeing it on socials, it's getting put on a global stage. So to see Pangra se on what is, what do you want?

Building Teams Across 56 Countries

SPEAKER_02 3:36

Well, um, that's rightly said. Pangra is getting more uh value and more people want to learn it. So I feel that everybody has a role to play in this, right? From the musicians, from the singing artists to the choreographers, they are making it available everywhere. So if I've been to 56 countries, I am not a very good idea. I went there, I did a workshop, and then for another one year, nothing happened over there. So I'm trying to like make sure that I mentor some groups in different countries, which I'm doing in Europe, in South America, in Japan, so that every month or every few weeks there is an activity happening there. And I'll be more than happy if one day there's a Pangra team in every country in this world. I think that's uh what we should aim at. The Kafi Thapak globally Pangra is like known everywhere. And even when I visited places like Latvia, Estonia, Iceland, Poland, Pangre was overwhelming. And thanks to our music that is going global, it's everywhere.

SPEAKER_01 4:55

No, totally. I know to see mentioned as a young hearty single. I want to become him, or I want to see and try to lead the path with him.

Why Dancers Deserve The Spotlight

SPEAKER_02 5:13

So back in 2011, when we actually started doing Pangram, I was modeling Sikha Sidana. So that was not enough, to be very honest. And then in 2013, I figured if I want to do something in this line of work or career-wise, I need to learn this properly. And then God has been kind. He put me in touch with uh Raja Paji from my coach, from my first coach from whom I learned Pangra. And the way he dances, the way he performs, I'll I think I was very happy to achieve that. And all thanks to him that I'm here today. He taught me everything he could, and um I think that's that's my idol, and I think forever he will stay.

SPEAKER_01 5:56

So, how does it feel? But for you it's a profession. So, the collaboration of these two worlds, seeing that you've been able to take your passion and make that into your career, how does that feel for you?

SPEAKER_02 6:09

Well, yes, wow, that's it's a difficult question. The reason why this passion turned into profession was I wanted Pangra dancers to be seen as headliners, as the main act, not a supporting act. Now, what I mean by that is that if let's say a music festival is happening, if there's like name of DJs, artists, everyone, why is there never a dance group that is putting up a show? Why are they not getting a spot? So, dancers. But I think that's what I've done. So, when we did the tour, world tour in 2022, we saw that big response. And I did a workshop which started off from a small room, but we got so many registrations, we ended up doing a workshop, a night of 5,000 people. So that's when I felt that dance importance mills are there if you're doing it the right way. And now we've performed at Untold Music Festival, we were the act over there, and we put up a 20-30-minute show. We performed at an expo in Japan, we performed an expo in Dubai. So we are doing these headline acts. That's what I'm proud about. That's where like that passion turned into profession. That was the very thin line.

SPEAKER_01 7:38

And it is so important, it's a good cause of you. And I the reason why I'm saying this is we've heard a lot of controversy. But you're setting a precedent. Hey, we own the stage, you're here to see us, and we're part of the performance. Yes, we are, right? That's a big thing.

Landing The Big Tour Choreographer Role

SPEAKER_02 7:59

Exactly. And uh Kaffee, Time Thai, I would say even dancers forget this that they are probably the third most important people on stage. You know, it's the artists, it's the musicians, and it's the dancers. And there's like 20,000, 30,000 people watching you. So you have to put up that big show. And uh, if you do it professionally, you do it the right way, then you should stand up for your things and get compensated for what hard work you're doing.

SPEAKER_00 8:24

So, Hardy, tell me, what are your concert day rituals?

SPEAKER_02 8:28

Concert day rituals are basically just one. I listen to a particular music before I go on stage, so that my zone is. And I always listen to a mix by BC Frenzy. It's called Hum for Punjab, or mix on the I feel really good. I just um sort of get into my element and zone. So that really helps me. I've been doing that for some time, and I really enjoy listening to a very soothing music just before going on stage.

SPEAKER_01 8:58

Absolutely. Now, the question I really want to ask Gar Nagula's choreographer official. You just toured India with them. We saw the shows. It felt like everyone in the world was in India because those concerts were massive. The extent of Delhi, the extent of Mumbai, now it's Canada tour, two sold-out shows in Vancouver. Now we're in Edmonton. How did this become? How did you officially become the choreographer for Gar Nodula?

The Signature Vest And Edmonton Close

SPEAKER_02 9:23

Wow, that's I think this is the first time I'll be answering this anywhere. Uh and uh we've I've been following Karan Paji for a while. Even Deepaji and here and there, I think we've exchanged uh contacts. And then um Deepaji had seen my work that I've been across the globe with Pangara and um with epop culture tour coming up. They I think Paji felt like that maybe this is the right guy to work with. Uh he knows people, he can work with teams globally, different people, and um can put up a big show together. So first show was and um I didn't know that um it probably was my like audition, let's say. So November 2025, I think we were taking a group picture, and then the current goes like I was like so happy internally that finally it's happening because 15 years you've worked on an art, you've given everything to it. I quit my job also at a given point, and then I went all in. Because you get such an opportunity, you feel very rewarded that decisions in life for like quitting job or giving full-time to an industry which was never for choreographers. They eventually making it into a professional, then you are even setting an example for a lot of people out there because a lot of times your family doubts you if you're not in the right spot or not. Yeah, so that's how it happened.

SPEAKER_00 11:08

During this tour, we have seen you wearing a particular vest. Can you tell us more about this?

SPEAKER_02 11:13

This is a special vest. We just made it for P Pop Culture Tour. The reason was simple, Punjabi pop culture. So we wanted Punjabi Element Strand, traditional Vardire, and we are able to bring in some pop. So that's what we did with our leather vest, adding some spikes, of uh Karan Hajla. We got a little sculpture of Karan Paji here and the whole bit P pop culture put up bling because that's what Karan Paji is all about the playing and pop. So yeah, we're quite proud of this. The outfit has been standing out on stages and performing in them, it gives a different look, gives it more makes it more edgy. So, yeah, that's all about our wests.

SPEAKER_01 11:57

That's a well-deserved recognition. Now, Edmonton, let's take Hardy around. Edmonton, let's go.