Yup'ik dance or Yuraq, also Yuraqing (Yup'ik yuraq /juʁaq/ sg yurak dual yurat pl) is a traditional Eskimo style dancing form usually performed to songs in Yup'ik, with dances choreographed for specific songs which the Yup'ik people of southwestern Alaska.

Yup’ik villages maintained a tradition of seasonal dance performances, lasting several hours, days, or whole weeks, that involved the entire village. These might be celebrated for shamanistic purposes, as a form of prayer among villagers, especially in times of need, sickness, or in preparation for an important hunt.

In Yup'ik cultures, musicians play the drum and sing while dancers tell a story with their movements. Their dance fans (tegumiak) help draw attention to the movements of their arms. Watch videos of Yup'ik dancers, linked below. Observe how they use their dance fans to help tell a story! What story do you think each dance group is telling?

A seal dance composed by John Pingayak of Chevak, performed in 2009 at the Alaska Native Heritage Center in Anchorage by the Heritage Center Dancers.

All Yup´ik dance is accompanied by cauyaq (drumming) and yuarutet (singing). A cauyaq is a tambour-style drum with a driftwood frame and a membrane made of walrus stomach, which is beaten with a slender wooden wand.

Traditional Yúpik dance performed by youth at the Morris Thompson Cultural and Visitor's Center in Fairbanks, Alaska. The dance tells the story of the walrus...

3 天之前 · This song was composed by Laakkuluk Bathory and I during the Qooqqut Festival in Greenland. If you're looking for a festival to attend to in Greenland, I hig...

The Yup’ik people of Alaska use hand-held dance fans, called tegumiak, to emphasize the graceful motions of dancers’ arms during ceremonial dances. Yup’ik dancing is most commonly performed during the winter ceremony known as Kelek , or the Inviting-In Feast.

Every year, the Yupiit of the Qaluuyaaq (Nelson Island) and the surrounding villages of Nelson Island gather up every weekend in each village. Each village hosts a Yupik dance festival which they call the festival Yurarpak (you-rawr-puk). The qelutviaq is a one-string fiddle or lute played by the Yupʼik of Nelson Island.

Yup'ik Dance: Old and New In the following pages, I will describe some features of early and contemporary Yup'ik Eskimo culture as recorded by outside investigators and as told to me by elders. Briefly, I will describe some linguistic, environmental …