PANGNIRTUNG - Some youth in Pangnirtung got a taste of leadership, Blueprint for Life style, last week.

"The idea was triggered after I was the chaperone for three kids who went to the Clyde River project," said Julai Alikatuktuk, manager of the Pangnirtung youth centre.

Students in Pangnirtung formed teams to compete in performances using their lessons in beatboxing and breakdancing. The community recently fundraised enough to bring the Blueprint for Life instructors back, and hope to have them train leaders for their youth. - photo courtesy of Blueprint for Life

Blueprint for Life has been sweeping through Nunavut leaving a trail of self-assurance, life skills, phat beats and breakdance moves since its inception in 2006. They were recently featured in a television documentary that was shot in Cambridge Bay. Founder Stephen Leafloor, who has 25 years of social work experience and can do a mean head-spin, has had his group training leaders in their style and having them continue to help community youth after the southerners have gotten back on the plane.

Alikatuktuk said that's exactly what they were doing on their trip to Pang.

"They were here last year, but it died down in our community after they left. There was no one to lead," he said.

So after the trip to Clyde renewed interest in the positive hip-hop club, Alikatuktuk said he began to lead fundraisers to bring the group back up, this time to teach leaders.

"We set up a meeting at the community centre, and 40 people came," he said.

They arranged for two Blueprint for Life representatives to come and teach older youth how to deliver the Blueprint message and be positive role models for younger kids. The group teaches "b-boying and b-girling," their language for breakdancing, and in Nunavut communities, they also combine many aspects of Inuit culture with the positive aspects of hip-hop culture that kids are already fascinated with. Alikatuktuk said many of the dances choreographed by the Pang kids had traditional themes.

"We have had dances like dog-teams and pretending to be polar bears, and then hunters shoot them and celebrate the hunt," he said.

The goal of the Pangnirtung youth is to have workshops once a month for the rest of the year to create a solid base of youth who can keep the club alive in Pang.

"We have a lot of fundraising to do," said Alikatuktuk.

He said the group also brings together the entire community, as performances and workshops frequently involve elders and other family members.

"It teaches self confidence and respect for other people," he said.