★★★ ARCTIC HIP HOP Documentary Recommended by Video Librarian Magazine In Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, Hip-Hop has been popular for many years. But it’s the glamourized gangsta lifestyle on display in music videos that many of the local kids choose to emulate. Capitalizing on the popularity of Hip-Hop, social worker and longtime B-boy Stephen Leafloor has been bringing positive Hip Hop workshops to Northern Canada. While dancing to the beat, Inuit kids are encouraged to blend their rich, ancient culture with Hip-Hop culture. " *This Canadian documentary revolves around a weeklong hip-hop workshop. In 2007, director Randy Kelly traveled to Cambridge Bay in Nunavuy--a community of 1,477 (2006 census figure)--to document Stephen Leafloor, aka B-boy Buddha, and his crew at work... He uses hip-hop dance as a means to get kids moving. Says Laurence, a student at Kiilinik High School, "I didn't know how to breakdance until this week and I love it." Leafloor also teaches steps with hats and canes that look more like Bob Fosse choreography, but he eschews a purist approach, encouraging kids to merge Inuit traditions (like throat singing) into the mix. The kids also learn about ciphers, circles, scratching, and beat-boxing. In addition, Leafloor teaches them about the origins of B-boy culture, putting an emphasis on creativity and community while also delivering a cautionary message about the violent stance espoused by some rappers, explaining that this doesn't apply to hip-hop as a whole. Kelly also folds in the narratives of two students, 15-year-old Eric Kitgon, who plans to join the military, and 21-year-old Shannon Kemukton, a single mother who works at a bingo hall. Eric, who takes on the rap non de plume Justic-E, spends part of each year with his best friends' family since his mother works in a remote diamond mine. Principal Mike Simms believes the hip-hop program motivates "kids who are often difficult to motivate." At the conclusion, a battle in which everyone shows off their newfound skills while exhibiting enthusiasm appears to bear out the principal's belief in Leafloor's efforts. Recommended.* " Aud: C, P. (K. Fennessy) HOW TO ORDER: Website: http://www.twn.org/catalog/pages/cpage.aspx?rec=1364&card=price Telephone: (212) 947-9277 Fax: (212) 594-6417 Email: [log in to unmask] Third World Newsreel (TWN) is an alternative media arts organization that fosters the creation, appreciation and dissemination of independent film and video by and about people of color and social justice issues. ---- To sign off Screen-L, e-mail [log in to unmask] and put SIGNOFF Screen-L in the message. Problems? Contact [log in to unmask]