Nunavik’s Cirqiniq plays to southern audiences

Students clown around at a Cirque du Monde training session at Kangiqsujuaq’s Arsaniq school in February 2010. (FILE PHOTO)

Youth involved in Nunavik’s Cirqiniq circus arts program got a glimpse at the larger world of circus during a recent trip to southern Quebec, where they performed for big audiences and took in the newest Cirque du Soleil show.

Each spring, Cirque du Monde, the community outreach of Quebec’s Cirque du Soleil circus, hosts an annual meeting for all its social circus groups in the province, with this year meeting scheduled for May 4 to 6 in Drummondville.

And for this event, a group from Cirqiniq, Nunavik’s social circus program, was invited to present a six-minute performance.

To develop their performance around theme of recycling, six junior instructors and two apprentice junior instructors (Richard Annanack from Kangiqsualujjuaq, Paulassie Pinguapik and Minnie Ningiuruvik from Kangirsuk, Paulussie Inukpuk from Umiujaq, Alasie Sakiagak and Manu Uqittuq from Kangiqsujuaq, and Gerard Mesher and Alex Tukkiapik from Kuujjuaq) worked from April 24 to May 1 in Kuujjjuaq with two senior instructors Emmanuel Cyr and Rebecca Leonard, a May 8 Kativik Regional Government news release said.

Cirqiniq youth decided to take their inspiration from the Inuit legend of Sedna, the sea goddess, as a way of talking about the water cycle, which sees water from lakes and rivers ending up in household faucets. For their props and costumes, they used a pool liner, plastic water bottles, rubber hoses, and re-used costumes from previous shows.

On May 1 the youth performed for students at Kuujjuaq’s Jaanimmarik School in the afternoon and again in the evening for a small group of supporters.

They then flew to Montreal where they toured the National Circus School, attended a meet-and-greet luncheon with representatives from Cirque du Monde, and travelled to Sherbrooke to meet the social circus group in that city for a workshop and local performance.

Cirque du Soleil also made special arrangements for the Cirqiniq youth to attend the Cirque’s current show, Amaluna, under the big top tent in Old Montreal May 6, when they also met some of the Amaluna performers back-stage.

The social circus program launched throughout Nunavik in 2009.

That’s when Cirque du Monde trainers first began to visit communities to introduce acrobatics, aerials and clowning and also to recruit and train local youth instructors.

The KRG helps pay for Cirqiniq with money provided by Nunavik’s Ungaluk safer communities program, which gave $1 million to kickstart the program in 2009-10.

In addition to promoting talent and creativity, part of the Cirqiniq’s mandate supports suicide prevention and crime prevention.

This group of Nunavik youth who are involved in the Cirqiniq social circus program recently wrapped up a trip to southern Quebec. (PHOTO COURTESY OF THE KATIVIK REGIONAL GOVERNMENT)