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Dancers were gathering in Nova Hotel

The Multicultural Community of Yellowknife held its Multicultural Dance Gala at the Chateau Nova on Nov. 19, marking a return after a two-year break due to Covid-19.
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Mario Rogers, the president of Multicultural Community of Yellowknife, said that he’s so excited to have everyone back together to share their culture and vibe. Kaicheng Xin/NNSL photo

The Multicultural Community of Yellowknife held its Multicultural Dance Gala at the Chateau Nova on Nov. 19, marking a return after a two-year break due to Covid-19.

Cindy Kimove, a member of the organization, expressed excitement over people getting together again following pandemic restrictions.

“This is a really good opportunity to show people that we’re back,” said Kimove, who also runs CK Dance Company and its local Scottish highland dance lessons.

Multicultural Community of Yellowknife was created in 2017 as a non-profit organization that promotes multiculturalism in Yellowknife and the broader territory through arts such as music, dance and story-telling.

“We want people to be more integrated in our community,” said Mario Rogers, the president of Multicultural Community of Yellowknife. “When they come to Canada from their country and they don’t know anybody, they want to be in that community and they (don’t) always know how to do that — and we provide a safe place to be your safe place.”

The organization would like to help newcomers settle in, and Rogers said the way they approach it is unique because it’s through dance and music. He hope everybody can enjoy the diversity of Yellowknife and he doesn’t want anyone to be excluded.

The group has benefitted from funding through Canadian Heritage and City of Yellowknife, but securing enough money to meet objectives can be difficult.

“We have projects and we have people to work on those projects… to meet the goal that we have, which is sharing culture knowledge in our specific way, which is empower our diversity of our community,” said Rogers. “But finding the funds to work on those projects is sometimes challenging.”

He added that inflation only makes it harder.

The events will be held yearly ay the beginning of November, and Rogers said he’s looking forward to expanding the organization to bring even more diversity.

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Mayor Rebecca Alty attended the event for the third time and she’s glad to see residents sharing their culture and dancing skills. Kaicheng Xin/NNSL photo
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A Mongolian dance performance titled “Never Forget” by Oyuka Bernabe expresses how much she misses grown son. Bernabe figuratively drew her son’s face throughout the dance. Kaicheng Xin/NNSL photo
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Guests raise their phones and cameras to snap shots of the performance. Kaicheng Xin/NNSL photo
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Dancers wait in line to take the stage at the Chateau Nova on Saturday. Kaicheng/NNSL photo
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Cindy Kimove, a member of Multicultural Community of Yellowknife, offers Scottish highland dance lessons in Yellowknife. Kaicheng Xin/NNSL photo
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“The Soul of Calypso” is what dancer Muriel Essebou described as a “killer” performance. Kaicheng Xin/NNSL
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A performance by Dene drummers opened the event to welcome people to their land. Kaicheng Xin/NNSL photo