Jorge Barrera
Northern News Services

Fort Resolution (July 22/02) - You can dance if you want to, but can you dance like they can?

Head spins, hand-stands, back-flips are just some of the moves the Fort Resolution break dancers pulled off in Fort Simpson, during the Open Sky Festival dance July 13.

The six-person group has been around for a little over two years and was started by Randy Mandaville.

The 19-year-old began the group after the Magoo Crew, a sobriety dance troupe from Edmonton, put on a show in Fort Resolution in 2000.

"They showed us the dance stuff," said Mandaville.

Mandaville along with his friend Sam O'Reilly, 18, began to teach the moves to their friends and the group was born.

"We do it to inspire youth and get people into (dancing)," said Mandaville.

The group includes Mandaville and O'Reilly along with Tony Mercredi, 16, Arlo McDermott, 18, Lloyd Giroux, 14, Jeff Sanderson, 16, and Jennifer Simons, their manager.

During the dance, in the red glow of lights, one by one the group performed their routines to techno beats.

The young men had the moves and most of the young women in the crowd dug the performance.

The group has slowly gained popularity around the territory. They've recently visited Fort Smith, Hay River and Yellowknife.