Project Dance Houston 2019

Randall Flinn

Founder / Artistic Director

Mr. Flinn 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.

He was selected as a guest choreographer for Houston’s Dance Salad 1999, Dance Houston 2006, and Texas Weekend of Contemporary Dance 2007. 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, Mr. Flinn 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.

Ann Sterling Dale

Zion Dance Project Company Member

Ann Sterling Dale is from Statesville, NC and graduated from Elon University with a B.F.A. in Dance Performance and Choreography. Ann Sterling has performed professionally with the Winston-Salem Festival Ballet, and in New York City with The Next Stage Project and BalaSole Dance Company. She has also presented and performed her work A Battle Waged in the 2012 Young Choreographer’s Festival. Ann Sterling has performed as a company member with Ad Deum Dance Company in Houston, Texas from 2012-2015. While in Houston, she taught for Houston Academy of Dance, West University Dance Center, METdance, and the Evelyn Rubenstein Jewish Community Center. Ann Sterling has choreographed HFCC Performing Arts Company’s summer productions of Annie, Fiddler on the Roof, and Beauty and the Beast in Oscoda, Michigan. Ann Sterling studied further at The Ailey School in the Professional Division Scholarship Program and performed in Matthew Rushing’s work for The Ailey School’s 2015 Winter Concert as well as his work for the Hudson Yards Alvin Ailey Project in September of 2016. Ann Sterling has performed as a member of the Tabernacle Dance Company at the 2016 Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem. She has also performed and taught for Project Dance in New York City, Costa Rica, Oklahoma City, and Houston. She has her Pilates Mat 1 Certification and has taught as Faculty for the Ballet Hispánico Tap Program, The School at Steps, and City Moves Dance Studio in New York City. She is currently dancing with Zion Dance Project and is on Faculty for Epicenter for the Arts and Ingredients Dance Company.

Cynthia Newland

Director of Dance at Belhaven University

Cynthia Newland, MFA in Dance and MS in Counseling Psychology, is a licensed minister, certified health coach, and collegiate professor, specializing in dance. As the founder of Alible3 and Dancer Wellness Care, she seamlessly integrates dance, counseling, and holistic health to inspire and empower individuals to thrive. Through her career, Cynthia’s work has led her to serve on six continents and have served at various Project Dance locations nationally and globally. A devoted wife of over 30 years, she is also the proud mother of three adult married children, and a loving grandmother to eight.

Jeanna Vance

Director of Open Sky Dance Company

Jeanna began her professional dance career at the age of 17 after training with Houston Ballet, Grand Rapids Civic Ballet, & American Academy of Dance, and has danced with Houston area companies such as Suchu dance, Sandra Organ’s Dance Co., Psophinia, Ad Deum Dance Co., Hopestone, Tred, and Ballet Excelsior. She has had the honor of setting choreography on many companies including Psophinia, Ballet Excelsior of Houston, Tred, Ingredients Dance Co, and Ad Deum Dance Company. Jeanna has been on staff with Dance Revolution dance convention for 10 years, and has also served as faculty for Ingredients Training Program in Dallas, Tx. Other stage work has included 6 seasons with Interactive Theatre Company in Houston, Texas where she played many wonderful characters including "Puck" in A Midsummer Night's Dream, and "Dorothy" in The Wizard of Oz. In addition to homeschooling her forth grader and chasing after her three year old, Jeanna directs Open Sky Arts Collective, a community of professional artists who bring their work to hospitals, homeless, and underprivileged communities. Passionately equipping the next generation of artists and art appreciators, Jeanna hopes to challenge every student to work to their fullest potential and discover their own "voice" in the arts.

Shizu Yasuda

Former Principal Dancer with Ad Deum Dance Company

SHIZU YASUDA started her dance training at Sakiko Ichinomiya Ballet School in Japan. After she moved to New York, she performed with several choreographers and dance companies such as Slam and Sensedance Company. She joined Ad Deum Dance Company in 2004. She danced as a principal dancer with the company and performed at numerous dance events nationally and internationally. She got awarded as one of stunning performers by Dance Houston – City Wide Dance Festival 2008. In 2013, she was invited to Minsk in Belarus as a guest dancer and judge by Chelz Extreme Games. As a dance teacher, she has been teaching Modern and Ballet classes in the Houston dance community at such places as Ad Deum Dance Company, Houston Ballet Academy summer intensive (Modern only), Mitsi Dancing School, Payne Academy of Ballet, Studio of Dance, West University Dance Center and Houston Academy of Dance. Her choreographic works have been presented at “East Meets West” at Miller Outdoor Theater since 2008. In 2014, she became an artistic director of Ad Deum II.

Steve Rooks

Former Principal Dancer with Martha Graham, Chair of Dance/Choreographer for Vassar College

Steve Rooks began his dance training in Washington, D.C. He continued his training in New York City as a scholarship student at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center. Mr. Rooks danced and toured with the Alvin Ailey Repertory Ensemble, and the Martha Graham Dance Company, where he performed for over a decade and achieved the rank of Principal Dancer.
Mr. Rooks has created a number of dances including “Cool River” that premiered at Lincoln center in 1996, and later became a part of the Graham Company repertoire. He was a 2004 winner of the National Choreographic Competition at Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, and created two solos for the 2004 Youth American Grand Prix Ballet competition. Mr. Rooks is currently Professor of Dance and Resident Choreographer at Vassar College, and has been a guest teacher with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, The Martha Graham Dance Company, the American Academy of Ballet, Ballet Nacional de México, the North Carolina School of the Arts, and the International Summer School in Sydney, Australia. He has been awarded Vassar Research grants to travel to Riga, Latvia, Lusaka, Zambia, and in 2014 to Turku, Finland, where he choreographed “Plate Tectonics” on 24 dancers. As part of the Masterworks Festival, Mr. Rooks was commissioned to create ballets for a number of contemporary composers including Clarice Assad, Piet Swerts and David Skidmore – all to live orchestra.
Mr. Rooks has served as an adjudicator for the American College Dance Festival, and a solo “Vista” was created for Aran Bell (ABT) for the 2014 International Ballet Competition in Jackson, Mississippi. Four contemporary solos were submitted to the 2016 Youth American Grand Prix and in 2017, Mr. Rooks returned to Mumbai, India to create a new work for Sumeet Nagdev Dance Arts. 2018 included guest residencies at the Bolles School in Jacksonville Florida and the Palladino School of Dance at Dean College. 2019 residencies included workshops in Costa Rica as well as the Studio Centre de Dance in Paris, France. In 2020, Mr. Rooks was invited to join the Board of Trustees for the Martha Graham Dance Company. Mr. Rooks would like to thank Jesus Christ for all that has happened to him.

Vincent Hardy

Former Dancer with Complexions, Choreographer/Teacher with Dance Revolution

Vincent's abilities earned him a scholarship to the Academy of Performing Arts in San Diego. He attended Philadelphia's University of the Arts, earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Ballet Performance, and was hired into Complexions Contemporary Ballet in 2011, directed by former Alvin Ailey members Dwight Rhoden and Desmond Richardson. After touring with Complexions throughout the US, Italy and Israel, Vincent returned to California to pursue a career in commercial dance, performing and teaching choreography. His teaching credentials include serving on the faculties of Maple Conservatory (Irvine, California), Earl Mosley's Institute of the Arts (Kent, CT), The Academy of performing Arts (San Diego, CA), and Ad Deum Dance Company (Houston, TX). While holding these various positions, his responsibilities included instructing, rehearsing, and choreographing. Vincent recently received his Master of Fine Arts degree at the University of California, Irvine (UCI) studying choreography and sacred dance. Vincent Hardy was also formerly the Director of Stage Production at Belhaven University (BU).