 |
|
|
|
|
   
|
Camp exposes youth to music Nicole Veerman Northern News Services Published Wednesday, August 3, 2011
The 2011 Rankin Inlet Arts and Music Camp, targeted at kids aged eight to 16, gave each participant the opportunity to try two of the four classes over the course of a week. Eleven-year-old Lexi Okpatayak signed up for hip-hop dance and throat-singing. Tuesday morning, after having her first dance class the day before, Okpatayak said she could feel the burn. "My legs were sore," she said while demonstrating some of her new moves. Despite the pain, she said she was having fun and was even getting the hang of throat-singing. "I'm the lead and my friend is the follower," she said, explaining how music is made through throat-singing - a mixture of throat, voice and breath to make one sound. Kathleen Merritt and Nancy Mike, of the throat-singing group Kulavak, were teaching the class. Merritt said the best way to teach kids is to get them to make the sounds as a group first. That way, they're not shy to try, she said. "We try to get them out of their shell right away." Andrew Morrison was the guitar instructor and the facilitator of the camp. He said the idea behind the project is to expose kids to different forms of expression and get them excited about music. "It's important to give them exposure so they can find what they're naturally good at," he said. Morrison attended his first music camp in Iqaluit when he was seven years old and that's where he picked up the guitar, his instrument of choice. After that first year, he kept going back and eventually became a junior instructor, an instructor and now the facilitator of camps in other communities, including Pangnirtung, Iglulik, Clyde River and now Rankin Inlet. Morrison said he was really impressed with the talent and dedication the kids showed in Rankin Inlet. "Holy jeez! It's incredible how naturally inclined they are to rhythm and tone," he said. "I heard from people that Rankin's not a music town, but I don't believe it." To keep the momentum going and kids learning once the week was up, Morrison and the other instructors met with musicians in the community to give them the tools to teach lessons. "It's very important to build on the local music scene that is already there," he said, noting that he's spoken with a lot of musicians who say they don't have the know-how to teach. With the success of the camps, Morrison said he hopes to add more communities next year. "There's a lot of potential," he said. "It's been really successful so far."
|
