KANGIQTUGAAPIK/CLYDE RIVER - Youth from Clyde River were in Ottawa over Aboriginal Day weekend, giving a hip-hop performance for the Governor General.

"They were so happy. For some of the kids, it was their first time in the south," said Meeka Paniloo, who runs and supervises the program.

"We're looking forward to going to other communities."

The 10 dancers and three chaperones returned from Ottawa June 23 after performing at Canada Post June 19, the Canadian Museum of Civilization June 20, and on Victoria Island June 22.

"From what I understand, they were a huge hit; everybody loved them," said Jakob Gearheard, executive director of the Ilisaqsivik Society in Clyde River, out of which the hip-hop program is run.

The group was invited to attend the National Aboriginal Role Model celebrations on June 21, and performed for the Governor General with Canadian Floor Masters and Blueprint For Life.

"The audience was so happy because they could see everything in the choreography," she added of the polar bears, dog teams and Inuit square dances incorporated into their dances.

The group began in August 2006, when Blueprint For Life, an Ottawa-based group that promotes wellness through hip hop, held a week-long workshop in Clyde River.

Besides hip hop, during breaks, the facilitators would speak to the participants about issues such as bullying, taking drugs and abuse.

They also taught the approximately 60 participants hip hop is not about bling or violence, but mutual respect and creating a crew.

"After, the kids were on fire about hip hop. They were really into the whole wellness message," said Gearheard, referring to the idea that you can't be a good hip hop artist if you're smoking or doing drugs.

"A lot of people in the hip hop workshop cut back or quit. At Ilisaqsivik, we saw this and wanted to make it stick," he said.

Ilisaqsivik received funding from the Department of Health and Social Services to create a youth advocate position that would combine hip hop while promoting wellness.

The hamlet donated space at the community hall, and the group has been practising three times a week ever since.

Their practices are open to all ages and dancers run the gamut from seven to 30 years old.

Blueprint For Life has returned twice more, both this spring and last.

Their workshop in 2007 incorporated elements of Inuit culture into the hip hop and involved several elders, as well as youth leaders, drummers and throat singers who were brought to Clyde River from Pond Inlet for the workshop.

This past March, the workshop focused on leadership.

"There was dancing during the day, not just learning the moves, but creating the choreography.

"The idea was they'd learn these leadership skills through doing and creating," Gearheard said.

According to Paniloo, the group is now working on new choreography and plans to incorporate throat singing.