Get the book
When Bhangra Met the Gym
Now to the part of the story where I have some firsthand experience.
A natural fit
It is not hard to see why bhangra and exercise found each other. The dance is energetic, joyful and full-bodied. It uses big arm movements, jumps, shoulder work and a driving rhythm that makes people want to move. A class set to dhol music can burn calories and lift moods in a way that a treadmill rarely manages.
From the 1990s onward, fitness instructors in Britain, North America and elsewhere started to build classes around it. Some were Punjabi, many were not. Some were trained dancers, many were trained fitness professionals. Some started with deep knowledge of the culture and some started with a great playlist.
Two very different things
It helps to separate two things that can look similar on a timetable.
Dance performance is about the dance itself: technique, choreography, authenticity, stagecraft. The measure of success is how well the dance is performed, and the audience watches.
Dance fitness is about the participant: movement, heart rate, enjoyment, confidence and consistency. The measure of success is whether people leave feeling better and come back next week. Nobody is watching. Everyone is taking part.
Both are valuable. Problems begin when they are confused. A performer who teaches a fitness class as though it were a rehearsal will lose the beginners. A fitness instructor who describes a workout as "authentic bhangra" without understanding the dance is making a claim they cannot support.
The three traps
In my experience the same three traps catch instructors again and again.
The show-off trap. The instructor demonstrates at full intensity, with a lot of complex footwork, to prove skill. The class feels inadequate and quietly leaves. A class is not the place to show off. A good instructor makes everyone feel capable.
The label trap. The class is called "bhangra" because the word sells, though little in the session resembles the dance. Calling a general cardio workout "bhangra fitness" because there is Punjabi music in the background borrows a name without earning it.
The shortcut trap. The instructor learns choreography from a video, teaches it as authoritative and never learns the context. Their students inherit the gaps.
Where Pungra fits
I built Pungra to avoid these traps. The name is deliberately its own: a group exercise concept built around Punjabi music, with no routine to memorise and no performance to give. Classes are designed so a complete beginner can join in the first minute, and the culture is introduced as context, not as a costume. The word "bhangra" is respected, not used as a sales device.
I am not saying that Pungra is the only right way. I am saying that if you take the dance seriously, you have to be honest about what your class is and what it is not.
A simple honesty test
Before you name or advertise a class, answer three questions.
- If a Punjabi grandparent walked in, would the description on the poster make sense to them?
- If someone asked where the music is from, could you tell them?
- If someone asked where your moves came from, could you answer truthfully?
If the answers are comfortable, you are on solid ground. If they are not, the fix is almost always the same: be more specific, give more credit, and describe the class for what it really is.