Bhangra Empire, San Francisco

It's not often that anyone outside of the Beltway gets to visit the White House twice, but that's just what happened to Bhangra Empire. The co-ed troupe performs bhangra, a style of Punjabi folk dance, and when it's not putting on shows for VIPs, it teaches classes throughout the Bay Area. Read on to learn more:

Notable Appearances

• In 2009, Bhangra Empire performed at a state dinner hosted by President Obama for the Indian prime minister. “I felt that we were bridging the cultural gap between the U.S. and India,” troupe cofounder Michelle Puneet Gill told Santa Clara Magazine. “We were representing a piece of Indian culture as Americans and helping President Obama showcase this to the prime minister of India.”
• The group was back again a year later. This time, they weren't dancing, but were photographed at the White House with Michelle Obama for an article in Harper's Bazaar about her favorite performers.
• Also in 2010, Bhangra Empire auditioned for America's Got Talent, where judge Howie Mandel proclaimed, "It was fun. It was colorful. You made me a fan."
• The group has danced at San Francisco Giants and Golden State Warriors games, and in Canada, the United Kingdom, Bahrain, and Kenya.

Classes

Bhangra Empire teaches classes to beginner and intermediate children and adults. It fuses traditional bhangra moves with contemporary touches, such as performing to modern Western and Indian music. The one-hour classes are taught by members of the troupe and meet weekly. At the end of the lengthier courses, students perform in the Dance Off to show off all the dance moves and smack talk they worked on for eight weeks.