Art & Faith Conversations

We are joined by guest, Randall Flinn, founder and artistic director of Ad Deum Dance Company in Houston, TX.  He shares his incredible testimony of how he used dance all his life to run from the monsters in his heart as a result of his parent's broken marriage but when he found Christ, God transformed his heart and his dance career.  At one point he dreamt of performing on Broadway but God rerouted him and he found himself dancing on a mountain in Haiti for the poorest children in the world where God revealed that He was taking Randall on "the narrow way."  That's just one of his many transforming stories he shares in the interview!

Randall began his dance training in Houston over twenty five years ago with Glenn Hunsucker, Camille Long Hill, Dina Vail and Patsy Swayze. His most recent modern dance influences have come from studies with The José Limón Dance Company and Steve Rooks, former principal dancer with Martha Graham. He has taught and choreographed locally as a guest artist for the Houston Ballet Academy, The Episcopal High School, Houston Met Dance Company, Joan Karff Dance Company, The High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, and North Harris Performing Arts Dance Company.

 Nationally, he has served as guest faculty and choreographer for Cirque Du Soleil’s-Alegria, Ballet Magnificat, Belhaven University, Friends University, Project Dance NYC, LA, and Sydney, Australia, as well as Hillsong and Dance Revolution Conventions.

Having lived throughout Europe and Asia for ten years, Randall has also been a guest artist for Hong Kong Ballet, City Contemporary – Hong Kong, Guanzhou Modern Dance Company – China, Xaris Danz Europe, and Youth With a Mission International Schools of the Arts.

Choreographer, Jolene Konkel, joins us to tell her story about finding God but discovering a lack of acceptance in the Christian culture that welcomed her dance talents.  This led her to be a pioneer in merging the arts and faith in new ways that broke down walls her peers had about concert dance being used to reflect the heart of God.  This also led her to her mission of equipping and encouraging "the orphaned artist" to discover there is a place and purpose for them for God to use their gifts.  Jolene has an undergrad degree in Christian studies(emphasis in theater) from North Central University and an M.F.A. in Performance and Choreography from Univ. of Milwaukee.  She is the founder of Youth With a Mission(YWAM's) global Univ. of the Nations School of Dance Studies.  She is choreographer and adjunct faculty in the University of Northwestern's Theater program and has choreographed over 30 local musical productions.  She has been showcased in the DanceMakers series at UWM, Choreographer's Evening at the Ritz Theater,  Jazz Here, Jazz Now at the Univ. of MN and Rhythmically Speaking at The Southern Theater.  Her most recent work was presented at the 2016 MN Fringe Festival.  

We hear about Libby John's singer/songwriter journey to releasing her first album, "Out Into the Deep" last fall.  She shares the vulnerability and challenges she had to come to terms with to publish her work at a later stage of life that can seem too busy or inconvenient to create in.  She saw God work through past hurt, busy schedules and self-doubt when she chose to make herself available to His leading.  She explains how she balances family life with her creative work and why it's so important to keep at it no matter your age, stage, fears, or doubts.  Hear the story behind one of the tracks off her album and the listen to the full song at the end of the episode!        

Sarah shares her vulnerable journey about the divine detours she was led to take as her artistic career dreams were rerouted.  She tells about the doubt, insecurity,  tantrums and deeper joy she experienced through it all.  We hear from her about her first encounter with human trafficking face to face in Costa Rica and the powerful piece of choreography she created from that memorable night.  

Interview with Christopher "Chip" Crane Ph.D. A retired Naval Officer, senior lecturer at the Univ. of Maryland, writing consultant for homeland security & medieval literature and Tolkien scholar.  Chip has also studied and teaches C. S. Lewis's works.  We talk about why Tolkien, Lewis and the written word are still influential, Chip gives 3 teaching tips to have a stronger writing voice, and he shares with us an original poem.  He also weaves in a quote from The Princess Bride like all good interviews should.   

Local worship leader, Gina Zarletti, joins us to discuss the trends of modern day worship music in the church and whether it has to forsake artistic integrity to be conducive to corporate worship. We explore questions about how to balance emotionalism vs intellectual worship with current music trends and she shares her testimony about singing along with her dad in heaven. 

How does our identity shape and challenge our work as artists?  As a Christian who is also an artist, how do those identities intertwine and merge?  In this episode we talk about how becoming more secure in your identity allows you to be more intentional with your art and creative work.

What does creativity have to do with spirituality and faith?  We have conversations about how we are all designed to be innately creative.  We ask questions and explore the joys and challenges of how art and faith intersect in life through interviews, stories and sharing our experiences.