Arviat (June 25/03) - Eight 17-year-olds from Arviat danced their way into the hearts of Calgarians from June 11 to 15.

The Eskimo Point Dancers from the Kivalliq Hamlet attended the Glenbow Museum's Inusivut (Our way of life) exhibition.

During the exhibition, the four boys and four girls in the troupe performed throat singing, drum dancing and square dancing demonstrations.

Troupe leader Annie Olli, said the kids had a great time.

"It was their first time to the city," said Ollie.

The dance group performed four times at the exhibition and Ollie said the performances were well received by audiences numbering 300 to 400.

"Our performance was so touching it touched their hearts and some of them started crying," said Ollie.

Charlotte Kuksuk, one of the dancers, said the trip was very exciting and she enjoyed dancing in front of the big crowds.

"I liked it, especially the VIP people. I didn't know who they were, but I liked performing to them," she said.

The Arviat teens were not used to the weather, though.

"It was too hot to dance, especially with our uniforms on," said Kuksuk.

When the group arrived in Calgary it was raining. The next day she said temperatures soared to nearly 30 degrees.

The trip wasn't all dancing. They did get a chance to explore the city, riding in style in a limousine.

"It's pretty cool. We went to the Calgary Tower and to the Calgary Stampede grounds and we saw the Saddledome arena," she said.

The group also took a trip to Chinook Centre, a shopping mall with over 200 retail outlets.

They did also, however, experience some of the city's darker side while on the trip.

"What broke my heart was my group is not used to seeing homeless people, so we were sort of heartbroken to see that," said Ollie.

But, even that was turned into a positive.

One homeless man, named Adam, that the group met on their tour was treated to some Northern hospitality.

"The second night we got there we first saw him. He asked us for some spare change and we gave him some," Kuksuk said.

The dancers saw the man a few more times during the trip and got to know him.

"His name was Adam and on our last day we took him for supper," she said.

Before heading to the airport to come back to Arviat, the group stopped to say good-bye to Adam one last time.

"He cried, and that touched me a lot and I cried," said Kuksuk.