"Tonight"

Here's a little video of a dance we did to kick-off the Face to Face Invisible Children tour at Joe's Place Moose Jaw!

Welcome to Refined/Undignified's official blog!

Hey there! Welcome to the new, definitive, Refined/Undignified blog! If you’re here, chances are you know at least a bit about the ministry of RU, but if not, here’s the deal: we’re a hip-hop dance team based out of Caronport, Saskatchewan, who seek to connect with youth all over North America (and wherever else the Lord takes us) through stories and messages shared in our dance – to meet a broken generation and, with transparency about our own brokenness, lead them towards healing. For more information on who we are and what we do, check out www.refinedundignified.com.

This year so far has been a blast – and it’s been rushing by so quickly. Tryouts were held in the first week of the semester for this year’s team, and after finding out that we made the team we had our RU teambuilding retreat in Swift Current. From the very start, the fifteen of us have had an incredible time getting to know one another, hearing each other’s testimonies, becoming close friends and even regarding each other as family. In this ministry we’ll be experiencing a lot of trial and a lot of victory together (we already have been) and so it’s important for us to have strong relationships. The retreat in Swift Current was huge in laying the foundations for that.

Our first trip/show was out in Lethbridge, Alberta, for Identity Youth Conference at E-Free Lethbridge. We did a kick-off dance (a 5-minute performance called “Tonight” that we’ve done a few times since then) and led some dance workshops over the course of the weekend. It was a really incredible time to get a taste of what’s to come this year.

Returning to Caronport, we got right to work on our 40-minute show, Want More. Want More follows the distinct stories of four different youth (Emily, Trey, Natalie, and Tony) who are struggling with a number of different things, tied together by their longing for more in life. Our team’s first performance of Want More was at Joe’s Place in Moose Jaw, part of a stop on Invisible Children’s Face to Face tour. It was really cool to get to interact with the people from Invisible Children – they were great people and a real blessing to talk to and get to know. For myself it was really cool as I’ve been to a few IC events in the past and really love the cause, so to meet them and see in person some rescued child soldiers was incredible.

Since then, we’ve been doing a few things at once. We have continued to rehearse Want More, which we recently performed at the opening of a new youth centre in Swift Current, which provided a good opportunity for those on the team who did last summer’s camp tour to re-connect with some kids they built relationships with at West Bank Bible Camp through RU’s summer ministry. Jacee in particular had a really cool story of a girl who she’s gotten to reconnect with through RU on more than one occasion:

I got to see almost all of the teens I really connected with at camp; I love the relational aspect of this ministry. One girl I am very close with, I actually prayed with at Youth Quake last year, then saw her at a show in Swift Current we did in March last year, then saw her this past summer at West Bank Bible camp. It was good to see her again, and swap phone number so we could stay in better contact between shows. I got to pray with her, and encourage her at each of the shows, and am constantly encouraged by her and her continued growth in the Lord, rejecting and fighting fear, and seeking to give it all the One who gives us life!

For the past month, we’ve been choreographing and practicing some new dances for Briercrest’s Christmas Musical, Repeat the Sounding Joy. The style of dancing in this is quite different than is typical for RU, and the show sees us doing a composite of lyrical, ballet, musical theatre-style, as well as hip hop-influenced dancing, and we dance to live to a choir and orchestra. Briercrest’s annual Christmas production is something that many look forward to each year and draws a great number of people from all over Saskatchewan and beyond, so if you’re able to try and come see a show! For info, see the official website.

That’s all for now! It has been an incredible year so far, and there is much to be caught up on. That said, updates will be regular (about once a week or two) so be sure to check back for updates on what we’re up to!

In anticipation of many more incredible stories to come from this year,

Matthew