After a week like this one we could all use a distraction, a smile, a few moments to breathe or to – as Lady Gaga once said – just dance.
Enter Gurdeep Pandher of Yukon.
According to one of his tweets, Pandher has committed to “dancing every single day through the pandemic and converting all the newsfeed into positivity/happiness.”
The Punjab native came to Canada in 2006, became a citizen in 2011 and settled in Whitehorse, Yukon in 2012. He shares his passion for Bhangra, a type of dance he started learning when he was 17.
On Twitter, Pandher regularly posts clips showcasing the pure joy of dancing at various sites in his beautiful adopted homeland, rain or shine. Alone or with someone else and with music or without, he spreads positive energy simply by sharing something he loves.
Pandher’s Twitter feed is decidedly void of political commentary, mean-spirited memes and vitriol of any kind. (The closest he came to complaining about anything? “Hope one day Twitter will allow us to do some editing,” he wrote after tweeting a typo – followed by smiling, rosy-cheek emoji.)
Forget every headline you’ve seen this week… if only for a few moments… and scroll through some highlights from the Twitter feed of Gurdeep Pandher of Yukon:
Joyful solo-show in social-distancing! pic.twitter.com/q4dMkvJkxW
— Gurdeep Pandher of Yukon (@GurdeepPandher) March 28, 2020
In the Yukon wilderness, Jordan Lincez is my nearest neighbour. He is an educator and also plays bagpipes. We decided to combine bhangra to bagpipe tunes while keeping 'social distancing' intact. pic.twitter.com/M3DcQ52g5f
— Gurdeep Pandher of Yukon (@GurdeepPandher) April 5, 2020
We filmed this video two weeks before COVID-19, and social-distancing measures started to emerge. My students visited me at my cabin, and we danced Bhangra together. Who knew what would happen after two weeks! The world would change forever! pic.twitter.com/oU3IOZqs6P
— Gurdeep Pandher of Yukon (@GurdeepPandher) April 24, 2020
Boreal forest dance in the beautiful spring day to wish wholesome joy to everyone! pic.twitter.com/bV8tIE7Yax
— Gurdeep Pandher of Yukon (@GurdeepPandher) April 27, 2020
How social distancing Bhangra in the Yukon's boreal forest goes when a Québécoise joins in! pic.twitter.com/zOCyeHReM2
— Gurdeep Pandher of Yukon (@GurdeepPandher) May 1, 2020
Dancing in complete silence and with no human around in Carcross, Yukon, due to no Canadian or international tourism to the Yukon this year. This special place, otherwise, would have been so busy with tourists by this time of year. COVID changed the world. Enjoy the happy dance! pic.twitter.com/aEJFAnDLsm
— Gurdeep Pandher of Yukon (@GurdeepPandher) May 11, 2020
It has been raining today in the Yukon. I danced Bhangra to the song which my friend and singer Sarah MacDougall and I had created.
— Gurdeep Pandher of Yukon (@GurdeepPandher) May 14, 2020
Rain or shine,
Positivity will chime. pic.twitter.com/2yARtLZg6k
Ana Rita Garcia was born & grew up at Azores islands in Portugal. After completing education, she decided to move to the Yukon. Our paths crossed, we became friends, and later she became my Bhangra student too. At the end of the video, she speaks in Portuguese about her passion. pic.twitter.com/gX3yojFs8y
— Gurdeep Pandher of Yukon (@GurdeepPandher) May 21, 2020
No music. Listen to the energy of feet, sound of wind and breath of life! pic.twitter.com/qx8M4tF2t8
— Gurdeep Pandher of Yukon (@GurdeepPandher) May 27, 2020
Last evening I was practicing my dance at Alaska Highway. A woman from local Indigenous community saw me and asked if she could join to dance bhangra with me. Dance brings people together, dissolves power-dynamics and creates harmonious cross-cultural friendships. pic.twitter.com/p2idh3G6dc
— Gurdeep Pandher of Yukon (@GurdeepPandher) May 29, 2020