AUSUITTUQ/GRISE FIORD - Hip hop has arrived in the High Arctic.

"I never liked dancing but when I tried hip hop I fell in love with it. There's a lot of different moves," said 14-year-old Saalia Pijamini of Grise Fiord.

"It's just fun."

Blueprint for Life is the group of hip-hop dance instructors and social workers who midwifed the birth of Arctic hip hop in Clyde River. The crew was in Grise Fiord for the first time in mid-August, teaching a mix of dance instruction and counselling to help local youth deal with issues in their lives.

"We didn't only do hip hop, but we talked about suicide prevention and bullying and health and stuff like that," said Daniel Flaherty, age 16. "The talks were my favourite. They made me realize things. When I see bullying, that made me want to stop it."

The age range was broad, with kids as young as 11 and adults up to 30 years old attending. Grise Fiord's recreation co-ordinator Melissa Patey estimated 25 to 30 people took part, but some had to drop out early because of sore bodies from the intense physical activity.

The culmination of the workshop was a dance battle on Sept. 15. Two crews, the Polar Posse and the Ummimak Stompers, faced off in front of the community in the Ummimak School gym. Many youth who had never danced hip hop before strutted their stuff for their friends, families, teachers and elders.

"I was nervous at first but when I was in there to battle I wasn't nervous anymore," Pijamini recalled. "I just kept going and going."

But the show almost didn't go on. The infamous challenge of just getting to Grise Fiord nearly derailed the whole thing. Bad weather kept the southern instructors from getting into the community for two days, so the lessons didn't start until Sept. 12 and Blueprint for Life couldn't stay past Sept. 16.

"Our kids, they don't have anything do and the kids that could get into bad things, they are in this program with me," said Patey. "I want to help them be better in life and not turn to drugs or alcohol or things like that. They can do other things. I'm even learning, myself."