Arctic Talent: Malachai Angulalik launches solo performance career

At age 21, drum dancer Malachai Angulalik of Cambridge Bay has achieved a career many artists three times his age could only dream of.

Drum dancer Malachai Angulalik performs at Iqaluit’s Qaggiq festival in 2018. (Photo courtesy of Malachai Angulalik)

“Drum dancing is my thing,” Angulalik said Tuesday during an interview in Iqaluit. “It’s beautiful and people appreciate it.”

Already a veteran of the stage, Angulalik has performed across Nunavut and Alberta, on a massive cruise ship and for the late Pope Francis when he visited Iqaluit in July 2022.

The territory’s capital is where Angulalik moved this spring to launch his solo performance career. He is off to a busy start.

He entertained at the Storehouse Bar and Grill on Sunday evening, backed by guitarist J.P. Dupont. 

Bar manager Valerie Hill booked him to return in July.

“Everyone loved him,” she said.

Angulalik’s next Iqaluit gig will be Friday at the Franco Centre with The Trade Offs’ frontman, Joshua Qaumariaq.

In June, Angulalik will perform at the Alianait Arts Festival.

Angulalik explained how his dance career blew up a decade after he picked up his first drum.

Winter 2016: Aopak Angulalik walks her grandson Malachai Angulalik to Kullik Ilihakvik Elementary School in Cambridge Bay, where he attends his first Tuesday evening drum dance practice in the gymnasium.

“It gave me shivers through my whole body,” he said of watching dancers drum for the first time. “Right then I knew that I was going to be a drum dancer.”

Spring 2016-winter 2017: Angulalik returns to practise drum dancing every Tuesday as a member of the celebrated Huqqullaaqatigiit drum dancing group.

He borrows a drum and learns everything he can about western Arctic styles of drum dancing from mentors Julia Haogak Ogina and her husband Jerry Puglik.

Spring 2017: For his first public performance, Angulalik dances with Huqqullaaqatigiit in front of hundreds of people at a community feast.

Nervous at first, 12-year-old Angulalik glowed with pride by night’s end.

“It was so awesome,” he said. “Drum dancing takes the bad energy away. My soul felt so much lighter.”

Summer 2017: Angulalik performed with Huqqullaaqatigiit in front of 600 cruise passengers aboard the Crystal Serenity, while en route through the Northwest Passage.

Summer 2018: Angulalik performs at Iqaluit’s Qaggiq festival. He goes on to perform at many more community gatherings from Iqaluit to Rankin Inlet, including military events, corporate gigs and community gatherings.

July 29, 2022: Angulalik performs solo in front of the former Pope Francis and a crowd of more than 1,000 people during the pope’s visit to Iqaluit.

2024-2025: Angulalik heads to Edmonton, where he teams up with his older cousin, drum dancer Scotty Tologanak. The pair perform at conferences, festivals, museums and campuses throughout Alberta.

January 2026: Angulalik teams up with Toronto-based YouTuber Din Muktar (Agent 00) during the influencer’s visit to Cambridge Bay. A video of Angulalik’s performance reaches more than 30,000 likes online.

Talent tip: “Keep the culture going and make our ancestors proud. There’s a lot of opportunities to perform at cultural events. You can make money and travel.”