About two weeks ago I had the fortunate opportunity to attend the REFRESHED Festival at Amsterdam Rhino in Downtown Calgary. Refreshed is a group of talented people who come together in the four forms of hip hop. You don’t have to only be a dancer; there are also many other forms that I had the opportunity to experience and see.
The first is the dancing side of hip hop. It was amazing to see them portray feelings through their bodies and move to each beat. You could really see the joy and satisfaction on their faces after battling against each other. One dance “battle” that stood out to me the most were two girls with amazing power and ability. They were moving like the breeze on a beautiful day; so suave, so perfect, so dominant.
The second form is legal graffiti art. It is beautiful and inspirational. It has a special story that you have to be ready to recognize in order to truly fall in love with the work. Graffiti is yet another beautiful way to express a story, and the artist at REFRESHED definitely gave me a new outlook on this specific art form and illustrated to me the real essence of visual hip hop art.
The third form is oral, like rapping. I got to witness my first freestyle rapping competition and the girl rapping, Rebecca, was flawless and hilarious. The audience got to pitch in ideas, like the rap about being Miley Cyrus, which was really entertaining. Rapping to is also a way of orally expressing your opinions and definitely has the ability to touch hearts.
The fourth and final form was DJing. The music these fantastic gentlemen played forced you to move – they made you get up and go into the “fire circle.” This dance off circle’s beat made you want to get up and let out all emotion within you. Although it may not be classical, it was definitely moving and honestly had the ability to take me to a different world for a bit.
The hip hop culture was created from hardship and allowed people to react in a legal way. Hip Hop was and is today an outlet for sorrow and anger – it is a way to make you happy. This concept started Refreshed. They wanted to help youth and minorities find an outlet. The environment at the festival was so warm and family-like. It was what true art is about, making others feel what you feel, truly expressing yourself.
“Art is not what you see, but what you make others feel.” ~E DEGAS
