INUVIK
Community members anticipating the return of the sun to Inuvik in January might consider joining a special dance project that will be performed at the 2017 Inuvik Sunrise Festival.

Chanda Brietzke is pictured here skinning a muskrat. She is researching the decline in muskrat populations in the delta, while another project by Tracey Proverbs looks at change in fishing trends in the area. - photo courtesy of Chanda Brietzke

Kate Franklin and Meredith Thompson, two lifelong professional dancers, have just arrived in town to organize their Incandescent dance project, which will be a choreographed community dance during the festival.

"This was on our wish list to come this far north in Canada," said Franklin, who with Thompson has never been to Canada's North.

But though they're new to the North, they're not new to organizing community dances, having completed five since 2012.

They researched the North and came across the sunrise festival, e-mailed a few communities and Inuvik was particularly receptive to the idea.

"One of the themes we want to work with is light," said Franklin.

"The piece is 'incandescent' and the idea is there's a light inside each of us and people get lit up, have a special spark."

The final dance will be a 10-minute contemporary-style routine set to music.

Franklin compared the routine to a poem or piece of modern art in dance form.

Now she and Thompson are trying to recruit as many community members as possible to join. They hope to have at least two dozen, with a dream goal of 50 people involved.

All skill levels and ages are welcome, Thompson said. In the past, everyone from toddlers to 80-year-olds have taken part in the pair's dance projects.

"We all have it in us," said Thompson.

"Someone who hasn't had a lot of experience with dance, very beautiful things can come from their choices and their bodies. It feels like a celebration of that idea."

Franklin said dance can have healing effects.

"Dance has the power to change people when they see it and also when they do it," she said.

"Confidence is another thing that we've heard from participants.

"They show up very shy and unsure if they can do this, almost not believing they're going to be able to perform, and then of course they do. It's a little something they can hold onto."

The only requirement is participants put in at least 12 hours of practice while Thompson and Franklin are in Inuvik until mid-December.

Then in the first week of January 2017 leading up to the festival, some last-minute preparation will be required.

Funding from the Canada Council for the Arts is helping make the project a reality.

Franklin and Thompson both want their experience in Inuvik to be a two-way street, learning how people live up here and hearing some northern stories.

Practices will be held several times over the next two weeks.

Anyone interested should email them at meredithjthompson@gmail.com.

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