Page 31 - Senior Link Magazine Spring 2023 - Online Magazine

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Randall Hinds
Revealing Christ
in the Arts
walked into my first ballet
class at the age of three, when
I a brand-new Christian ballet
program began offering classes at
my preschool. How could I have
known then that what my mother
intended to be a fun activity would
become a foundational part of
my life for years to come? How
could I have known that the young
ladies teaching my classes would
become my mentors and friends?
How could I have known that the
father of those young teachers
would trust God enough, day in
and day out, to grow a fledgling
ministry into a fully conceived
school of dramatic dance, where
I would be developed as a dancer
and nourished as a child of God?
No, as a tiny little girl–a new
American, recently adopted
into an entirely new life by my
single mother–I could never have
envisioned what a gift God would
give me in ballet or how He would
make that ministry and its people
my extended family.
Randall Hinds always loved the
arts. He grew up in a family that
valued music, specifically choral,
and he determined that his seven
Senior
Senior
by Amelia Burch
children would grow up singing,
playing instruments, and writing
plays and short stories. Eventually,
his daughters expressed interest
in learning ballet and began
taking lessons where they found
joy in using dance to express
their family’s deep faith. After his
daughters completed their ballet
studies and returned to Lubbock,
they began teaching homeschool
ballet classes, which eventually
led Mr. Hinds and his family
to establish Christ in the Arts
of Lubbock (CITA), a nonprofit
school of dramatic dance that has
since swelled to over 160 students
who come from all walks of life.
After teaching music for eight
years and serving as a firefighter
for 21, Mr. Hinds transitioned
to becoming CITA’s School
Director. He oversees and
supports, allowing him to build
personal relationships with all
the leadership and staff as well
as each family CITA serves,
including mine. Mr. Hinds has
many administrative duties, but
he always stops to visit with
parents, ask about my day, and
offer insight, advice, and support.
He is not only a father to the adult
children he raised (all of whom
are still involved in CITA in some
aspect), but he serves as a role
model, a sort of father figure, to
the students of CITA.
Although not trained as a dancer,
Mr. Hinds has become one of
the partners who works with the
Company dancers to be part of
every CITA production staged
to date. Company members like
me must develop relationships
with our partners that are built
on trust and communication so
that we can perform exciting and
unique choreography that includes
dramatic lifts and partnering
sections. It was hard for me at first
because I have never had a dad
who lifted me in the air or tossed
me over his shoulder. But I loved
to dance, and I wanted to progress,
and Mr. Hinds helped me learn
that I could trust him and the other
partners to hold me up physically
each week when we practiced in
class.
Mr. Hinds’ support for me has not
been limited to partnering in the
studio. He has shown that he can
Lubbock Senior Link 31