| Summary: | This study explores the elements of South Asian American youths' identity formation, reformation and reification through engagement with the Punjabi folk music and dance of Bhangra. As a popular manifestation of South Asian, diasporic culture Bhangra has come to symbolize a connection to individual participants' South Asian heritage while allowing for the integration of musical and dance elements representative of individual's present realities. This fusion of traditional and contemporary South Asian identities has contributed to the furtherance of a united pan-South Asian American identity, inclusive of non-traditional practices within the context of a traditional artform. This hybridity is embodied by Kirapa ate Sakati Bhangra (KSB) [Grace and Power Bhangra]; an all-female Bhangra team based in an urban area in the northeastern United States. Through observation and rhetorical analysis, qualitative infographics were produced to reflect the verbal expressions and associations made by individual dancers for the identification of broader thematic trends discussed by team members and the existing literature concerning South Asia, South Asian Americans, and the South Asian diasporic experience. Bhangra dancers from other teams composed a comparison group and served as a control. The data analysis and results are used to provide further insight into the dynamics which allow Bhangra to both serve the needs of and reflect the experiences of South Asian American youths while identifying Bhangra's existing and emerging potential to provide a cathartic, cultural medium from which to both derive and make meaning.
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