Fall for Dance

Ad Deum Dance Company

Ad Deum Dance Company

photography by Gabriel Adrian

by Neil Ellis Orts

October 2009

            Randall Flinn, the director of Ad Deum Dance, invited me to a rehearsal of the company, as they prepared for their upcoming concert, Fall for Dance. It is a mixed bill of styles and content, displaying the range the Ad Deum dancers are capable of performing.

            The first piece the company ran through is choreographed by Christina Schanta, previously with Ballet Arizona. Entitled, Permanence, it is very much telling a story, each movement advancing the developing plot of a character learning to trust. Using music by American Idol David Cook, the two main characters are supported by a chorus that rushes in and recedes like the waves referenced in one of the songs.

            Bill Wade, artistic director of Inlet Dance Theatre of Ohio, choreographed the whimsical Wondrous Beast. Flinn describes it as a metaphor for civilization and how people learn to interact to develop culture, but even if that layer is missed, it is a spectacle of crazy partnering. Four dancers enter the stage using indistinct animal movements. As they interact, two or more of the dancers meld to become some larger creature. The dancers appear to be having a great time acting like animals and the whole piece strikes me as an excellent introduction to dance for a younger audience (although adults will likely delight in it as well). While they were in rehearsal clothes for my visit, Flinn tells me the costumes have patterns that also interact as they form the larger beasts.

            Following (and counteracting) the whimsy, I saw a run-through of choreography created by Flinn called, Innocence Not Lost. Whimsical it is not, as it is based upon interviews Flinn conducted with women who escaped the horrors of human trafficking. It is emotionally intense and full of heartbreak, with threads of hope that these women may move beyond their former captivity.

            The final piece the company ran for me was a trio for three women called Prophets. Created by Steve Rooks, former principal dancer for the Martha Graham Dance Company, the dance draws on three biblical stories, two from the Old Testament, one from the New Testament. The dancers portray three prophetesses, Huldah, Deborah, and Anna. Flinn describes them as women who had received a word that had to be spoken and the dance asks the question, "What if these three came to the same page? What would they collectively announce?"

            Also in the show is another Rooks creation, Redemption, based on the biblical story of Gomer, wife of the prophet Hosea. Special guests will be presented in each performance as well. On the Friday night performance, Houston Met will present new choreography by Flinn, Where Beauty Washes the Soul. On Sunday, Revolve Dance Company will be the guest artists.

            Given the range of material I had just seen, I asked Flinn about it after the rehearsal.

            "We consider ourselves a repertory company," he said. "My desire for my artists is that they have the opportunity to collaborate with various choreographers of different genres. So we have non-traditional partnering, we have Graham technique, we have physical theater. That way, as artists, they are not being codified here within the company but they are being nurtured in various ways of movement and understanding of movement so they can work with anyone."

            Fall for Dance is an excellent opportunity to see that philosophy embodied on stage.

Ad Deum Dance Company performs Fall for Dance at Barnevelder Movement/Arts Complex 2201 Preston St., Friday October 30th, 8pm and Sunday November 1st @ 3pm. Tickets: 713-626-5050 or e-mail info@danceaddeum.com

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