Decades after his Iqaluit dancing days, Audley Coley honoured with lifetime achievement award

Audley Coley is well rested. He has to be, he says, because pacing himself is a key ingredient in his self-care plan as a professional dancer and community organizer who has experienced the lows of depression and bipolar disorder.

Coley, 66, accepted the Sankofa Lifetime Achievement Award from the Nunavut Black History Society Sunday for his work in mental health advocacy, philanthropy, arts and culture during the Black History Month opening gala and awards ceremony at Iqaluit’s Francophone Centre.

The honour shares its name with the Sankofa bird of Ghana, long a symbol of the need to reflect on the past to enrich the future among those in the African diaspora.

Coley described himself as “over the moon” at being honoured.

“It’s humbling,” he said. “I was overwhelmed. I was touched.”

Coley and his family emigrated from Jamaica to Toronto in 1968, where he turned his affection for dance into the beginnings of a career.

When his downstairs neighbours complained about the constant tippety-tap of dance steps coming from above, Coley moved north in 1979 to the then-village of Frobisher Bay. He brought with him his ambition and an aptitude for sharing his love of dance with others.

“When I went up north there were, like, five Black people,” he said. “Now they have a Black History Month. So it’s pretty amazing. We’ve come a long way.”

Back then, Coley worked as a short-order cook at the Frobisher Inn. Off the clock, he played basketball and hockey and established a dance program for young people to keep them similarly occupied and out of mischief. The program was supported by the newly founded Kativik Ilisarniliriniq.

“There weren’t a lot of activities for the kids at that time,” he recalled. “It took off really, really well.”

Up to 25 students would attend each class, dancing to Bee Gees songs and other contemporary hits in the community hall above the ice rink. Coley also volunteered to teach dance in the schools.

“And the rest is history,” he said.

Not so fast.

Coley also laid down roots in the community that have kept him coming back through subsequent decades. He has a daughter, Miali-Elise Coley-Sudlovenick, and now two granddaughters in Iqaluit, whom he enjoyed visiting this past weekend.

He left Iqaluit in 1982 to pursue high-performance dance instruction in the south, including a stint at The Ailey School of dance in New York. He ended up in Montreal, where he became a prominent choreographer and dancer with the likes of francophone pop star Mitsou, while appearing in commercials and other dance projects.

Coley advocated for the Bell Let’s Talk campaign for mental health awareness for five years and continues to speak and write about his success rising above his mental illness through medication and a healthy lifestyle.

Following the weekend awards gala, Coley returned to Montreal where he was booked for dance classes and other commitments later this week.