Ad Deum Dance Company: Switzerland

Sunday, August 28, 2016

Share Dance, Share Jesus

“Have talent, will travel.” It seems like the biblical version of the saying would go like this: “Do you see a man skillful in his work? He will stand before kings; he will not stand before obscure men. (Proverbs 22:29)” That verse came alive this summer as we traveled to Switzerland and Bulgaria and simply did what we are skilled to do. We are trained dancers. For most of us, it is a skill we have been practicing and honing for most of our lives, certainly most of our recent lives. Using those skills in which we’ve been training, all we had to do was choose to go and dance; the Lord took care of the rest. In Switzerland, we taught a summer dance and mime intensive similar to the one we hold here in Houston every summer. This was the fourth year in a row we were able to staff the intensive organized by the amazing team at YWAM Wiler [Special thanks to Sara, Rebecca, and Sue - We love you guys!]. With around 25 participants, we enjoyed eight days of dance classes, performances, worship, and life-giving devotionals.

On the last morning of the Switzerland intensive, just before the student showcase

Every year, it is a blessing to see new faces and to recognize familiar ones (especially, Ad Deum alum, Daniel Cosette and his wife!) as we stumble from the hard-to-miss red YWAM van into our new home for the week, faces overcome with a look that can only be described as jet lag. It is hard to say how the Lord manages to bring us together as family; build such strong relationships; challenge, grow and move in individuals’ hearts and minds in just those few days, but He does. And we are so thankful for the opportunity to use dance as a vehicle to travel and share Who we love while we share what we love to do. While Switzerland was new to some of our team, for others of us we had an idea of what to expect during the week (especially Randall who used to call Switzerland home!). Heading to Bulgaria, however, we were all in the same boat: What are we going to do? All we knew was that we were part of a team of artists helping to teach a creative arts camp run by dear friends of Randall’s. By the end of the camp, they were dear friends of all of ours and we were glad we trusted the Lord to go, even without all of the details. For the first time ever, Sofia Life Camp was held in Sofia, Bulgaria. Once again, we simply came as “the dancers”; and we relished in the privilege of connecting with the beautiful people in Bulgaria, working alongside the ridiculously talented arts staff and watching the Holy Spirit move like only He can. We had deep conversations, prayed with the staff and some of the campers, and watched the atmosphere of a prison change from chains and bondage to freedom in Christ. We were inspired by the warmth and love shown to us and were able to encourage our brothers and sisters living in Bulgaria and all over Europe as we did life together throughout the week. Dance was the vehicle; God took the skills He gave us; and the outcome was inexplicable.

We gotta have a camp photo! Photo credit: Eli Deli

Needless to say, we are so excited about what the Lord allowed us to be a part of this summer during our time in both Switzerland and Bulgaria. In the midst of lots of teaching and performing, we were still able to tour more of beautiful Switzerland's mountains in Gstaad and learn some traditional Bulgarian dances that kept us on our toes, quite literally. We can’t wait to go back and to have some of our new friends visit us in Houston as our new season begins TOMORROW!!!

Beautiful Switzerland... Need we say more?

The arts, dance in particular, is a universal language that crosses cultures, nations, tongues and backgrounds. It brings people together who might not otherwise have a reason to associate. It is a bond that is powerful and strong. As dancers, we have a platform that provided us entry into unique places to which we might not otherwise be invited or even think to go. That was so evident to us. As we went in faith, we were able to simply share dance and share Jesus. The truth is, we’re all given a platform. What is yours? We encourage you to share it; and share Jesus. Fun fact: We were asked to teach hip-hop in both Switzerland and Bulgaria. When asked who teaches hip-hop, none of us would volunteer. In Bulgaria especially, we were scheduled to teach hip-hop for for hours each day….! Let’s just say we got to see a whole different side of Randall Flinn, and we have video evidence of the result. ;)

**Thanks for keeping up with our travels, performances and happenings. And thank you for your patience as we figure out a more consistent schedule for blogging! Be sure to check out our Facebook and Instagram pages as well!

Monday, July 20, 2015

Ad Deum Goes to Switzerland

It was just a week ago that we boarded the plane, waving our goodbyes to the beautiful country of Switzerland and the wonderful people we had met there. Though we were still groggy from our 4:30 am wake up call, all seven of us were very conscious of the fact that we were leaving Switzerland changed from when we had first come. God used this trip to encourage us, inspire us, challenge us, refresh us, and remind us what an awesome God we serve.

Our group -- Randy, Lysion, Emily, Whitney, Leah, Victoria and Shannon -- had the opportunity to travel to Switzerland, serving as staff for the 2015 Switzerland Summer Dance and Mime Intensive. We spent the week teaching classes, fellowshipping with the participants, and watching God work in our lives and the lives of those who attended. It was a truly blessed time and a great way to kick off the summer while preparing us for our next adventures.

Just arrived and reunited with Sara,
who spent the second half of Ad Deum's season with us in Houston!

Guätä Morgä -- “Good morning”

Each morning brought a round of moans and groans and the popular question, “How do you feel?”. We were all, us teachers included, taking care to roll out and stretch our aching muscles. However, mornings weren’t only filled with the sounds of nursing sore bodies. They were also filled with eager greetings for the new day and the intensive participants’ clear hunger to learn -- to learn more about God, to learn more about dance and to learn more about how well God and dance go together.

After Randy’s challenging devotions each morning, we all made our way through the streets of Biel, Switzerland to start the day. From the first class on Saturday to the last class the following Friday, we at Ad Deum were inspired by the talents and work ethics of our students.

This year’s intensive held three levels of dancers plus the mime track, and the growth from the first day to the last day was incredible to witness. Talk about your “proud mama” moment. We were all inspired by how well the participants’ soaked up the wealth of information they learned in ballet, modern, hip hop, jazz, floor work, conditioning and other classes throughout the intensive.

Dankeschön -- “Thank you”

While we were teaching dance throughout the week, we were also able to add to our Swiss German vocabulary, which was fairly limited for most of us. It’s too bad we don’t have recordings of those lessons.

But that’s not all we learned from our students. They encouraged and inspired us throughout the week, teaching us how to communicate through the language barrier and reminding us what it looks like to get back to our roots and simply worship the Lord through dance. The talent show on Thursday night was a testament to how the Lord uses willing people, whether they have years of dance experience or just a few days. We at Ad Deum would like to sincerely thank those who participated for inspiring us and reminding us why it is that we dance just before our performance on Friday night.

Tschüss -- “Goodbye”

All in all, the 2015 Summer Dance and Mime Intensive was a week of dancing, sweating, worshipping, laughing and enjoying life together. It was an invaluable experience. And though it seemed we were saying goodbye all too soon, we were already making plans to come again and see one another again in the near future.

When God sent the seven of us to Switzerland, only He knew what was in store for us and for all those involved in the intensive. Before the participants performed the dances they had learned throughout the week on Saturday afternoon in a closing Show and Tell, we learned some of what the Lord had done throughout the week in their lives. One girl even came to a personal relationship with Jesus Christ!
Though there were a few obstacles that threatened to thwart this trip, the experience was truly a blessing every step of the way. Hearing those stories made the week more than worth it. Needless to say, we are all excited to go again.