They Dance For God
Houston is home to a very diverse and rapidly growing artistic community of dance and dancers. While we are privileged to have such a top ranking ballet company like Houston Ballet, we are also enriched by a wealth of other fine movement artists ranging from modern dance divas to a vast array of international and ethnic dance movers and shakers.  There seems to be some type of physical performance genre to please various cultural and aesthetic tastes and much to be explored by audiences seeking new dance adventures. There is also a Houston based dance company that has a very unique and perhaps seemingly alien artistic mission to serve among its peers, this dance company, known as AD DEUM, dances for God. 

Ad Deum, meaning “unto God” in Latin, was founded six years ago by Houston born dancer and choreographer Randall Flinn.  Randall had trained with some of Houston’s most recognized dance icons including Camille Long Hill, Glen Hunsucker, Patsy Swayze , Jan Simonds, and Dina Vail.  In the late 70’s and early 80’s, Randall directed his own jazz-theatre dance company known as The Houston City Dancers, won the title of Texas Disco Champion, and earned the notice of then Dance TV’s Dance Fever. He was also hired by local FM station KRBE-known as Love 94, directing a vivacious female dance ensemble known as the LOVE MACHINE, which opened concerts for Dionne Warwick, Kool and The Gang, The Oakridge Boys and many others.  It was during this time that Randall’s world of hot city disco and musical theatre’s razzle dazzle found its turning point in an unexpected place. 

In 1981, Flinn, then his young twenties, went to a church service by invitation of a friend. Though he had attended church services as a young boy and teen, his life was now caught up in his new religion of dance in hopes of finding personal significance and satisfaction. Ironically, it was a Christian film about a young woman paralyzed from the neck down that spoke deeply to him as a dancer and to the soul of his humanity. He was challenged to watch a woman in a wheelchair whose life seemed to embrace wholeness beyond this physical world, one where she would place her faith and entire being to trust and follow. This true story made Flinn call into question everything about himself and the places of his own heart that were paralyzed and in need of a deep healing and freedom. At the end of that church service, Randall responded to the invitation to receive Christ as Lord and Savior. It was this encounter that would begin to change his life and his dancing forever.

During the next twenty years of his life, Flinn would travel the world, from places like Haiti, to Israel, throughout Europe and Asia, performing in churches, mission work, street outreaches, and theatres and teaching others about the place of artistry in honor and service to both God and mankind.  Doors also begin to open for Flinn as a teacher and choreographer and he found himself in the midst of companies like Hong Kong Ballet,

Guandong Modern Dance Co. of China and teaching for Cirque Du Soleil’s cast of the production Alegria. In Houston he was asked to set works for Dance Salad, Houston’s Choreographer’s X’s 6, Texas Weekend of Contemporary Dance, The Houston Met, The High School of Performing Arts and began teaching modern dance at Houston Ballet Academy. In January 2000, along with Laura Morton – a Houston professional ballet dancer –that had also come into her own journey of Christian faith, Ad Deum Dance Company was formed and dancers begin to grace the company from as far away as Switzerland and Finland.  A new work had begun and faith would be the key to hold on for the ride.

Today, Ad Deum is alive and well and pressing forward in its calling. The work has grown and within the past six years the company has toured throughout Europe and Asia and across the United States and have done much right here at home. Ad Deum also has a trainee program, under the direction of Kathleen Lobue, an honored Houston dancer and choreographer, where young dancers who desire to unite their artistic and spiritual growth can study under the mentoring of Ad Deum for a nine month program. This year there are about eighteen trainees, including some from Germany and Australia. One amazing aspect of Ad Deum is that it draws dancers to its work from all over the globe, company members have come from places like Japan, Singapore and Switzerland. What draws them here is the sense of artistic and spiritual fellowship, a special trait in Ad Deum. They are also excited to get to perform works by choreographers such as Steve Rooks, former ten year principal dancer with Martha Graham, Houston Ballet’s Caleb Mitchell, the works of Mr. Flinn and many others. Ad Deum also hosts an annual summer dance program in Houston which brings over 200 dance artists from around the globe to train and be mentored by Ad Deum and their international dance faculty.

Don’t expect to find a liturgical dance ministry with Ad Deum. These dancers are seasoned professionals and they are serious about their art and their communication.

Their performances are known as being contemporary, relevant and redemptive, a visual fusion of artistic beauty, athletic dynamics and a living articulate faith. These dancers are not hiding within the walls of the local Christian community. They are gracing the stages of the Houston dance scene and well recognized and received among their peers. They recently performed in Dance Houston 2006 at the Hobby Center and were honored to represent Dance Houston in an open house performance for the theatre district.

Ad Deum has also been a featured performing company for Project Dance Times Square, an event born from the tragedies of 911 with the mission to bring hope, beauty, and revive the spirit of the broken in NYC. They have also had the privilege of serving in volunteer performances for MD Anderson’s Children’s Hospital, Star of Hope Mission, Dancers Responding to Aids, The Christian Discipleship Farm in Wisconsin for special needs children, and The Fisher House at the Brooke Army Medical Center for severely wounded soldiers. Their touring performances have been given the name Testament of Hope tours, as the company seeks to serve the needs of a community through the gift of dance.  Mr. Flinn believes that art can be a light in the darkness of a community, culture or within a human soul.  Flinn says, “We honor God when we become good stewards of the artistic talents He has entrusted to us for the purpose of blessing and serving humanity with beauty, truth, and hope for what is now unseen.”  “Yes, you can say we dance for God, but our mission is to dance for others in hopes that they might experience the grace and love of God dancing through us.”

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