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Clyde River dancers pen true story

Karen Mackenzie
Northern News Services
Published Monday, June 9, 2008

KANGIQTUGAAPIK/CLYDE RIVER - A group of Clyde River youth transferred their passion for dance onto the page with the creation of a new book.

The Hip Hop(e) Dancer, which they self-published on lulu.com, can now be downloaded or purchased in paperback form.

"And I know that book, as soon as it gets out, will help a lot of youth in Nunavut," said hip hop co-ordinator Meeka Paniloo.

The book is based on the true story of a local dancer who overcame an addiction to drugs.

In it, a character named Isapee eschews traditional drum dancing for hip hop, following a visit from the Canadian Floormasters dance group.

Unable to finish a single dance, he seeks help from members of his community without success.

In the end, his drum dancing grandfather gives him the advice he needs: you can't continue to do drugs and dance.

"A lot of kids were into hip hop when they came here first. Almost every kid wanted to go to practice instead of the other things they were doing, like drugs," said Grade 8 student Lee Anne Hainnu.

Hainnu and seven of her peers spent nearly a year writing the story in Inuktitut and English and creating illustrations.

With the help of teachers and Grade 12 mentor Benny Sanguya, they put together a 21-page book filled with drawings and photographs of local and visiting hip hop dancers.

"We were hip hop dancers and after we practised we started thinking about doing these pictures," said Grade 9 student Gina Paniloo.

"Some parts of it were hard, like the drawing, and it was almost Christmas when we were trying to finish it," added Hainnu.

The idea for a book initially stemmed from a group of students in the Kivalliq, according to Quluaq school teacher Dawn Doyle, who co-ordinated the project.

"I had read a book to the class called The Lonely Inukshuk, written by a group of kids in Whale Cove," she said.

The Whale Cove work, which had won Scholastic's Create-a-Book contest in 1998-1999, got the students thinking about making their own book, according to Doyle.

Although the story was ultimately unsuccessful in this year's Scholastic competition, the group wasn't willing to give up.

"We just love the message," Doyle said.

About 40 copies have been printed so far and the young writers hope to distribute it around the community to start.

"It's going to help them stop doing drugs and start doing better things," Paniloo said.