Lose Yourself (and Find a Space for Free Play)

Last night, once we'd finished supper, Brooke and I headed back up the hill to Nasivvik High for an after school hip-hop group. We were greeted immediately and enthusiastically by a small group of students who opted into the club and were eager to show us all of their dance moves. I was taken under the tutelage of one particularly skilled dancer who had, as I told her, a considerable amount of swag.

The group is a once-a-week activity that combines a small amount of hip-hop dancing with leadership activities, games, and, most importantly, a loosely supervised space in which students can socialize, play, and express themselves. It was an incredible environment -- all the students in attendance wanted to be there and were excited for the dancing (ranging from The Hustle to The Six Step -- we did try to learn a few other moves that were hip-hoppier, but it was difficult to teach ourselves from videos!).

It's so important that the youth here have space in which to just visit with each other and have fun. And, although we were there with another teacher as supervisors, our role was very limited: the students led the activities, came up with choreographed dances/dance moves for a "Battle," and played and socialized without needing us to dictate their behaviour. Some of the students are phenomenal dancers and each and every one of them came to the group with a laudable eagerness to have a positive experience.

We'll definitely be going back next week and have recommended introducing the Cha-Cha Slide and another leadership-type game. I may also be putting together a playlist of some of my favourite hip hop pieces, although the students are pretty set on their favourites -- and by favourite I mean, in this case, Eminem, almost exclusively. They were very impressed that Brooke and I had heard "Lose Yourself," and were blown away when we said that we'd seen 8 Mile years ago.

Two photographs from this morning: the first is the iceberg in the early morning light (taken around 7:30am), and the second is the sunrise as pictured from a window in Nasivvik High.

Blue morning.

Sunrise, at the top of the hill in Pond Inlet.