Photo: Greenlandic, Nunavut artists take the stage in Iqaluit

Greenland’s Jaaku Sørensen performs with the Inuksuk drum dancers March 9 during an Arctic Winter Games cultural showcase at Nakasuk School. Sørensen, who was joined by bandmates Jaakooq Joelsen on guitar and the irrepressible Jens Nielsen on drums, performed before an appreciative, mid-week, standing-room-only crowd of more than 200 in Iqaluit. Nielsen started the show by playing his drumsticks on a ladder and then joined his fellow musicians for a set of Inuit folk and pop songs with the help of Iqaluit musician Charlie Panipak. Igloolik’s Joshua Haulli also joined the performance, breaking it down on the stage steps with some Inuktitut folk. Joelson and Sørensen will perform an acoustic set at the elders’ Qammaq March 10 at 2:00 p.m. followed by a 5:30 p.m. public workshop and jam session at the Qammaq that’s open to all musicians. (PHOTO BY LISA GREGOIRE)