In the Year of 2003...
In the year of 2003 Dwight Stephens and Winston Pines had the desire to start up a dance group. They both and background training in dance and had a passion to use dance to glorify God. They asked around Briercrest Bible College for people who were interested in the idea of being a part of a dance team and through much discussion and planning in the first semester, January of 2004 became the official genesis of "Refined", taken from Zech.13:9 which says,
"This third I will bring into the fire; I will refine them like silver and test them like gold. They will call on my name and I will answer them; I will say, 'They are my people,' and they will say, 'The LORD is our God."
which later became "Refined/Undignified", which comes from II Sam.6.22,
"I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes for my Lord.”
In that first year there were about 8-10 people, myself included(Adrian Webber). It was very minor at first, practicing once or twice a week, we performed for a crowd as a team once in Saskatoon and once in Caronport for our first year end show. This team never planned or dreamed to be a touring team. This picture is actually taken from 2004/05 because i don't have any digital photos of the first year. But Dwight and Winston and I are present.
The school year of 2005/06 Dwight Stephens did not return to Briercrest and so either Refined/Undignified was going to end or someone need to step up into leading this ever growing team. Winston and I both felt God was calling us into leading this further while we were getting our training for Youth Ministry at Briercrest. That year we had 90 people come to join our team, at the team we didn't have auditions and didn't know how to "cut" people so we just moved forward. That 90 dwindled down to around 25 consistent members. Since then we have learned that 10-12 team members is the best size for a touring team, and so we have held tryouts each year which include a day of training, a seven page application, an interview with team leaders, and performance with what they were taught the day before.
In the beginning, there was "no dancing" in the Briercrest Bible College Rule book, so you can imagine the struggle we had to get started, we jumped through a lot of hoops to gain trust and respect from the institution and community. Now, seven years later we are main touring and promotional team for Briercrest and we feel backed up and supported by the community of Caronport.
"This third I will bring into the fire; I will refine them like silver and test them like gold. They will call on my name and I will answer them; I will say, 'They are my people,' and they will say, 'The LORD is our God."
which later became "Refined/Undignified", which comes from II Sam.6.22,
"I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes for my Lord.”
In that first year there were about 8-10 people, myself included(Adrian Webber). It was very minor at first, practicing once or twice a week, we performed for a crowd as a team once in Saskatoon and once in Caronport for our first year end show. This team never planned or dreamed to be a touring team. This picture is actually taken from 2004/05 because i don't have any digital photos of the first year. But Dwight and Winston and I are present.
The school year of 2005/06 Dwight Stephens did not return to Briercrest and so either Refined/Undignified was going to end or someone need to step up into leading this ever growing team. Winston and I both felt God was calling us into leading this further while we were getting our training for Youth Ministry at Briercrest. That year we had 90 people come to join our team, at the team we didn't have auditions and didn't know how to "cut" people so we just moved forward. That 90 dwindled down to around 25 consistent members. Since then we have learned that 10-12 team members is the best size for a touring team, and so we have held tryouts each year which include a day of training, a seven page application, an interview with team leaders, and performance with what they were taught the day before.
In the beginning, there was "no dancing" in the Briercrest Bible College Rule book, so you can imagine the struggle we had to get started, we jumped through a lot of hoops to gain trust and respect from the institution and community. Now, seven years later we are main touring and promotional team for Briercrest and we feel backed up and supported by the community of Caronport.
