Clyde River (Aug 28/06) - Like a virus, hip hop is spreading its way around the North.

Instead of the sniffles, symptoms find youth gathering to breakdance, beat-box, DJ and learn about social responsibility.

Ilisaqsivik society director Jake Gearhead tries his hand at a breakdancing move during a hip hop workshop in Clyde River. The society was responsible for bringing hip hop crew the Canadian Floor Masters to town. - photo courtesy of Saila Qayaq

"It was great," said Shari Gearhead, one of the organizers who had a hand in bringing the Ottawa-based Canadian Floor Masters (CFM) to Clyde River to teach a week-long workshop.

"We heard about all the great things (CFM) had been doing, combining hip hop and breakdancing with social work," she said.

While the workshop was sponsored by the Ilisaqsivik Society, she said the idea came from the kids themselves.

It started with a crew of Clyde dancers, calling themselves the Storm Squad. With interest building, organizers saw the workshop as a way to show the youth something more, she said.

"It shows the kids the positive side of what they're interested in, instead of just what they see in the videos."

With the CFM came members of the Nunavut Floor Masters (NFM), which grew out of a similar workshop in Iqaluit. Recently, the NFM went to Ontario, training and taking part in a series of hip-hop competitions.

"It was tough at first," said Nunavut Floor Masters leader Jonathan Cruz. "Once they got more comfortable, they started opening up and more colour started coming out.

"A lot of kids have a lot to express and it's awesome when you see it come together like that."

He said learning at the workshop went both ways, as a group of Clyde elders came to watch the festivities, incorporating throat singing and drumming.

"At once point we even had one of the elders on the turntables," he said.

"It was funny. We were all laughing and the elders were laughing," said Gearhead of witnessing an elder bopping her head and scratching along with the beat.

"It made the kids feel really good that the elders came out to support them, that their interests, even if they're not traditional, still matter."

With crews appearing in Iqaluit and Clyde River, and another trying to get underway in Cambridge Bay through NFM member Quentin Crockatt, hip hop might be here to stay.

Gearhead said she would love to see the communities come together for "battles," friendly competitions between different dance crews.

"They can take out aggression and feelings on the dance floor. We had a couple of kids who weren't really friends. In the end they kind of battled it out and they were okay."