Music fest opens to sell-out crowd – above expectations

The fourth edition of Iqaluit's Alianait arts festival enjoyed record crowds and sparkling performances this past week, but for a few tense hours June 20, the whole thing teetered on the edge of cancellation.

Someone broke into the brand-new $50,000 circus tent purchased specifically for the festival, stole sound and lighting equipment and one-of-a-kind marionette puppets, and then broke a huge stage backdrop created by Iqaluit artist Claude Roussel.

"I was absolutely devastated to see this beautiful set in pieces," said organizer Heather Daley. "It was almost tragic."

Despite a few minutes of panic, Roussel jumped into action and repaired the backdrop, a huge pair of stylized snow goggles.

"I just screwed it together with some pieces of plywood and a little bit of paint [and it was] good as new," he said. "It just took a little bit of time. It was just frustrating to see."

Within hours, police found all the stolen goods, no worse for wear, stashed under nearby Nakasuk School.

Despite the near miss, Daley said crowds for the festival have been above expectations. Ticket sales on the first weekend nearly doubled the $8,000 in sales that last year's festival brought in. Organizers set a goal of $20,000 in ticket sales for this year.

"I think we'll exceed that," Daley said.

The opening night, held June 21, saw the big purple and yellow tent packed to its 600-seat capacity for a massive opening show.

Russian-Mongolian act Namgar got everyone's attention with the stunning voice of vocalist Namgar Lhasaranova singing Buryat and Mongolian folk music.

Former Iqaluit residents Marie-Hélène Massy-Émond and Véronique Trudel, performing as Roots And Wings, returned from their hometown of Abitibi, Quebec to charm the crowd with an acoustic set that featured a song about climate change turning Nunavut into a tropical tourist destination.

And Nunavut's own main-stage stars, fiddler Colin Adjun from Kugluktuk and accordionist Simieonie Keenainak of Igloolik, drew roars from an appreciative audience.

Keenainak, clearly caught up in the fun, yelled "Alianait!" into the microphone between each song.

The show also featured stellar sets from American roots rockers Rani Arbo and Daisy Mayhem and Quebec's Kleztory, not to mention a circus performance, though three hours into the five-hour show, the temperature inside the tent started to drop and the crowd began to thin.

On Sunday, June 22, residents packed into the big-top again to watch a feature performance by the Fibonacci Project – a collaboration between Igloolik's Artcirq, Mexico's Circo de Mente and Quebec's Les Sept Doigt de la Main.

The show was a hit. It dazzled the crowd with a mixture of acrobatics, juggling, clowning and dance.

Artcirq performed one of the more unusual, and surprisingly scary, stunts by tethering a rather heavy-looking boulder to a rope that dangled over the stage to create a huge, rocking pendulum, and then taking turns narrowly diving out of harm's way.

A Quebec clown played to the crowd and provoked ­chuckles from children as he played at trying to hunt a seal unsuccessfully.

And Mexico's Andrea Pelaez awed the audience as she dangled from the ceiling, suspended by ropes and drapes, to effortlessly twirl and spin about.

The performance ended with music that combined Mexican guitar, Inuit throat-singing and eclectic tap-dancing. The event received a standing ovation.

Alianait continues with afternoon performances this Saturday and Sunday by local musicians and former Rheostatic guitarist Dave Bidini, a youth concert Saturday night and a marionette performance at Nakasuk School Sunday.

A massive closing concert is set for June 30, with performances by Bomba, The Gjoa Band, John Ningark, Little Miss Higgins, Nathan Rogers, Pacific Curls and Searson.

For full program details, visit www.alianait.ca, or stop by the tent in front of Nakasuk School.