I have a big task directly in front of me that must be done in a short time and then I have to hop on another airplane, so I will very quickly go through the pictures from the Eskimo dance held on the final night of the Healthy Communities Summit in Kaktovik.
Anyway, after the meetings had ended and supper had been eaten, participants gathered in the community center, along with the Kaktovik drummers, singers and dancers.
When it comes time to dance, some people are not at all frightened and shy.
Always, there is grace and beauty in the dance.
Always.
Much to be seen.
There she is again - in the middle of everything.
Motion dance.
Sometimes, ravens will appear on the floor.
Not all the fun happens in the dance.
Couples dance.
There is something about dancing...
...that makes people smile.
Final dance.
Afterward, there was more gospel singing. Just before it began, someone told me that the mural on the wall behind her had been created by Flora Rexford. I asked Flora about it and she said it was the work of many people in the community. She sketched everything out but then was joined by many other villagers, young and older, in the painting.
She would instruct them on where to place such colors until the mural was done.
So when she stepped up to the mic to sing, I knew that I had to get a photo of Flora with the whole mural behind her and the musicians.
It was a difficult picture to take, because when I found the angle that seemed to best show the mural, Flora's face was obscured by the mic. Other angles created other problems.
So I shot a bunch, and in the end was not happy with any of them. But here is this one, anyway.
Maybe I should have used this one instead. There are many things about it that I like better than the one I chose, but I don't like the placement of the mic.
But there's the mural, and here's the artist whose mind it came out of.
they will appear larger and look better