Montreal circus camp for Inuit youth flies high with public performance

A young group of Inuit in Montreal are ready to fly.

They are planning to take the stage Friday evening at the newly built Sanaaq Centre for an hour-long circus performance that includes flying trapeze, Inuit drumming and Inuit games, all set to music by musicians such as Elisapie.

The performance is a culmination of what the group learned this summer during a two-week circus camp called Nikurrautaq, led by Tupiq Arctic Circus Troupe.

The camp, led by a group of Inuit circus performers who come from Kativik Regional Government’s Cirqiniq program, is aimed at urban Inuit between the ages of 12 and 17 years old. 

“It came simply out of desire to transmit our knowledge and skills to Inuit youth that live here,” said Saali Kuata, a co-ordinator of the camp.

“These children crave more,” he added. “Trying to respond to that, we look within ourselves, to make ourselves available, and find the right spaces.”

This is the second rendition of the camp.

Last year, as a pilot project, most of the activities were hosted outside, and the camp only lasted a few days. This year the troupe upgraded its curriculum by hosting activities at the Verdun Circus School and the Sanaaq Centre’s 255-seat performance hall. 

Changing to an official performance venue makes a difference for the kids, said Kuata.

“Coming to a space like this really ties the whole thing together,” he said, pointing to production capabilities like lights and music. “It is going to be a lasting memory for them, it is really a privilege.”

To start a program like this is no easy task, Kuata said. He and his team were taught by senior instructors with decades of experience.

Now, “we are going into that foray of becoming the facilitators, becoming the animators, becoming the scheduler,” he said.

For Kuata, the circus teaches youth important lessons about confidence and self-expression.

“Like exposure therapy, it is forcing ourselves to be embarrassed or to fail,” he said. “[We want] to continue fostering these skills and abilities that they are going to carry for the rest of their lives.”