LIIDLII KUE/FORT SIMPSON - While NWT athletes matched court and field skills with Canada's best young athletes at the 2009 Canada Summer Games on Prince Edward Island, one Fort Simpson resident was there for a different reason.

Vanessa Sanguez of Jean Marie River was invited to play the fiddle and dance, sharing the stage with artists from all over Canada on Aug. 15 to 35.

Vanessa Sanguez, left, and Bryce Styan practise dancing in Prince Edward Island as part of the National Artist Program of the Canada Games. They were the two artists selected from the NWT. - photo courtesy of Vanessa Sanguez

"I wanted to experience (Prince Edward Island), get to meet great visual artists and singers, and experience the culture," said Sanguez, who was there as part of the National Artist Program, which is a part of the Canada Games that brings in artists and performers from all around Canada to interpret the themes of the Canada Games

Sanguez attended primarily to play Metis music on the fiddle, which she has been practising for around six years. She also spent her time learning other visual disciplines such as painting, mask making, music composition, percussion and ballet, which turned out to be her favourite.

"It was so intense - you had to be flexible," said Sanguez.

She was also given further instruction in fiddling, and picked up a few Celtic tunes.

Sanguez said Celtic fiddling was "awesome" but a lot harder than some of the stuff she'd been playing before.

Julia Tsetso, a personal friend, presented. Sanguez with the opportunity to take part in the National Artist Program.

"At first I wasn't sure because it's really far away, and (Tsetso) said 'just do it, it's a once-in-a-lifetime experience,'" said Sanguez. She didn't need much more convincing.

Sanguez put together a portfolio and a biography and was selected along with fellow Northern performer Bryce Styan, a singer-songwriter from Yellowknife. The pair were the only youth from the Northwest Territories among the 38 artists attending.

The artists spent their first week in Summerside and their second in Charlottetown, and at the end of their stay they put together a performance for the closing ceremonies in integrating the new artistic disciplines the artists learned.

Sanguez said the performance was broadcast live on CBC and TSN on Aug. 29.

Sanguez, a graduate of Thomas Simpson High School is in Fort Simpson, is studying traditional arts at Aurora College with aspirations of teaching arts in the North.

Sanguez was also selected to be an ambassador for the NWT at the 2010 Olympics and Paralympics, and will be going to Yellowknife in October for training.