Dancing has the power to connect communities from across the world. Two dance groups—one from Unalakleet and one from Chicago—met in Nome in late July in an effort to blend contemporary and Alaska Native dance styles.
Amber Cunningham is one of the cofounders of Uŋalaqłiq Iñuutchak, meaning Unalakleet Comes To Life.
The dance group was founded in 2022, after more than a century without traditional dance in the community. Cunningham explained by 1915, dance and other cultural practices had been banned in Unalakleet.
“All of us would watch dance, and we just yearn for it,” she said. “Opportunities that just come up where we can [collaborate] with other groups is really, really cool.”
On July 30, Unalakleet Comes To Life took to the stage alongside Winifred Haun & Dancers, a contemporary dance group based in Chicago. It was the grand finale of the Nome Dance Project, a weeklong collaborative effort blending contemporary and Alaska Native dance styles.
Though thousands of miles normally separate the two groups, there seems to be a special connection between them.
Winifred Haun, founder of Winifred Haun & Dancers said she feels many dancers share similar life philosophies, no matter where they come from.
“My art form of contemporary dance, it’s so open and fluid and flaky. It encompasses everything from ballet to hippy dippy modern dance, and I feel like I can just borrow from everybody,” she explained. “It fascinates me, how to take something and break it down to its essence. I feel like that’s what Native Alaskan dance does.”
Both group leaders said they’ve learned a lot from one another through the project.
For Cunningham, the rare opportunity to dance alongside one another has been a confidence boost for herself and the young dancers who took part in the project.
“It’s actually pretty cool that we get the opportunity to be heard,” Cunningham said. “Initially we’re told, ‘No, you cannot dance’, and now they’re asking us to dance, and we’re like okay, cool. Let’s go. Let’s work together. Let’s do this.”
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