NUNAVUT - The plan was for young dancers from Pangnirtung and Qikiqtarjuaq to meet halfway between the two communities at Summit Lake in Auyuittuq National Park but even though the trip didn't go according to plan and the teams never met, the dance groups bonded with their fellow members and enjoyed a weekend in the great outdoors.

This was one of the many times during their time to Summit Lake in Auyuittuq National Park when one of Qikiqtarjuaq's Inuksuit School Dance Club's qamutiit got stuck in the slush. From left, Lissie Anaviapik, Jenny Mosesie, Billy Arnaquq and Daisy Arnaquq work to pull it out. - photo courtesy of Karen Versluys

"We went out on the land and it was great," said Karen Kooneeliusie, a Grade 9 student from Qikiqtarjuaq’s Inuksuit School Dance Club who went on the trip.

Five members of the school's dance club and two chaperones left for Summit Lake on April 17.

"It turned out it was a slushy, slushy mess," said Karen Versluys, Grade 8/9 teacher and co-founder of the club.

The group was unable to make it to a cabin at Summit Lake because deep slush in the North Pangnirtung Fiord prevented them from going through the Pangnirtung Pass.

Around the same time four members of the Pangnirtung Hip Hop Crew "Sikus" left the community with outfitter Joavi Alivaktuk with chaperone and organizer Chris Heide. After nine hours on the trail, the group from Pangnirtung reached the cabin at Summit Lake. Heide said the crew had fun and enjoyed the warm weather.

Instead of returning to the community, the Inuksuit Dance Club carried on their adventure closer to home. Versluys said the group visited parts of the park that they had not seen before. They stayed in the outfitters' cabin, played traditional games and enjoyed being out on the land.

"The kids just really had a good time, it was good to do something outside the school as a dance group and it was something that was more culturally relevant," she said.

Kooneeliusie has been in the dance club for about a year. She said she and the other girls randomly danced on the trails as they were helping to pull and push the Ski-Doos and qamutiit out of the slush.

There was also a moment she said she will never forget. She described how Versluys fell off the qamutik when she was trying to take her jacket off.

"The sled started to go and she was not holding on," said Kooneeliusie.

Versluys was unhurt and everyone had a good laugh.

Fellow dance club member and Grade 9 student Jenny Mosesie said this was the first time she and the other members of the club had been out on the land together. While they spent six to seven hours a day on Ski-Doos and got stuck in the slush, she said she enjoyed hanging out with the other girls.

"We were laughing all the way," said Mosesie, a dance club member for the last two years.

The plan for the trip stemmed from a meeting between the two dance clubs in November when 12 members of the Pangnirtung Hip Hop Crew went to Qikiqtarjuaq for a workshop and a performance.

The trip was made possible through a grant from Sports and Recreation Nunavut. Heide and Versluys both said they hope for more reunions between their dancers in the future and will try to meet at Summit Lake next year.