3.8 Break dancers from Russia at the Hamarøy Night

better understanding of internal organisational issues and the true motives on the Russian side. The division of roles of the project partners in Russia appears to be somewhat unclear. On the Russian side insecurity in terms of developments in the NGO sector and centralization of the YMCA appear to be a serious concern.

Another issue exemplified by this project is the extent one should use interpreters for the communication between Norwegians and Russians in these types of activities. The Norwegian project leader is convinced that the use of Norwegian and Russian and the use of interpreter give the best opportunity to communicate in order not to exclude anyone (not everyone is fully capable of speaking English, especially among the Russian youth). On the other hand, the communication then tends to become more formal, less spontaneous and creates a filter in the contact between the two groups. The quality of the interpretation also is of relevance. The Russian leaders were inclined to support the use of English without interpretation, even if it would affect the opportunity of some of the Russians to participate fully in the event.

# Institutions involved and funding. Hamarøy Church Office and North YMCA Council (Murmansk). The project took place in 2006, and was supported by the Barents Secretariat with a total sum of 20,000 NOK.

Background. The region in which Hamarøy belongs has experienced ethnic tensions among young local people among others between Lule Saami and non-Saami youth. Besides, Hamarøy has young people with a background from Russia living there permanently. The young Russian break dancers were invited to Hamarøy to take part in the traditional Hamarøy Night, which is an annual event for youth between 14 and 18 years old. The Hamarøy Night is the biggest youth event arranged by the Church in Northern Norway. Usually 700 young people take part (Hamarøy has 1750 inhabitants).