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About the Company Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble (CPRDE) is internationally esteemed as one of America’s foremost modern dance companies. Under the direction of Cleo Parker Robinson, the Ensemble performs a dynamic body of works inspired by the African American experience and rooted in ethnic and modern dance traditions worldwide. Legendary and emerging artists alike are drawn by the spirit of the company to create works that transcend the boundaries of culture, class and age while unequivocally articulating the complexity of the human condition. CPRDE numbers 12 of the most talented and versatile dancers in the world. A typical CPRDE season includes an international tour, a US tour to more than 10 cities and a full Performance Season in Denver, CO. Seen by an estimated 2,000,000 fans throughout the United States and more than 20 countries on five continents, CPRDE is a leader in dance innovation and a keeper of American dance heritage. The CPRD School serves as the official school of the world-renowned CPRDE. This major dance academy currently enrolls 1,200 students annually, offering a professional training program for aspiring dance students, ages 13-23, and a training program for younger students, ages 3-12. Its diverse curriculum offers more than 50 classes weekly in a myriad of dance techniques and genres. As leaders in the field of Arts-in-Education, CPRDE annually serves 20,000 PreK-12 students in the Denver metropolitan area. On tour, CPRDE not only brings a wealth of experience engaging diverse communities and audiences, but the ensemble is eager to hit the ground running exposing new people to the art form and inspiring dance enthusiasts.
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Artistic Director Cleo Parker Robinson is founder, executive artistic director and choreographer of the 40-year-old Denver-based cultural arts institution, Cleo Parker Robinson Dance. Ms. Parker Robinson began teaching dance at the University of Colorado at the age of fifteen. She graduated from the Colorado Women's College (now The University of Denver), having focused on dance, education and psychology. A master teacher, choreographer, cultural ambassador and pioneer of dance in the
West, she has taught and performed with her Ensemble in such diverse places as Iceland, Singapore, Hawaii, Nassau, Brazil, Belize, Israel, throughout Europe and the African continent. People of all ages and backgrounds have participated in Ms. Parker Robinson’s workshops and master classes at conservatories, universities and neighborhood dance centers worldwide. She holds Honorary Doctorates from the University of Denver, Colorado College and Regis University. She is also recognized as a University of California - Irvine Distinguished Professor and served as professorin-residence at both the University of Bahia Brazil and Technikon University/Pretoria South Africa. In 1991, at the behest of the Chairman of the Quincentennial Commission, the late Mr. Winston W. Saunders, Ms. Parker Robinson served as co-founder of the National Dance Company of The Bahamas in Nassau. Ms. Parker Robinson is also the co-creator of the model after-school program entitled, Project Self Discovery, which won the Coming Up Taller Award by the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities. Ms. Parker Robinson is the 1st Vice President of the International Association of Blacks in Dance now in its 24th year. In 1998, President Clinton named Ms. Parker Robinson as one of two artists to be appointed to the National Council on the Arts where she served until 2005 in Washington D.C. (continued)
“The company boasts a number of highly accomplished soloists, a purposeful repertory
and an enlightened...artistic director.” -Los Angeles Times
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Artistic Director (cont.) Ms. Parker Robinson has collaborated with many people on diverse projects, from operas such as Aida and Carmen to commissions with mentor Maya Angelou. She has worked with Marin Alsop on several productions including Stravinsky's The Firebird and Prokiev’s Cinderella produced by the Colorado Symphony Orchestra, and her directing debut with Opera Colorado featured the sold-out run of Porgy and Bess. Several documentaries including African Americans at FESTAC, Pamoja – A Coming Together, Free to Dance and Dancing Along the Nile, which won a Bronze Telly Award, all feature Ms. Parker Robinson and her dance company on national and international tours. In 2005, Ms. Parker Robinson received the Kennedy Center Medal of Honor during the Center’s “Masters of African American Choreographers” series.
In November 2007, the Katherine Dunham Estate designated CPRD the custodian of all rights, licenses, and contracts for the presentation of Ms. Dunham’s Barrel House Blues, Ragtime, Rite de Passage and Choros. Since, Ms. Robinson has set Choros on la Compagnie James Carles in Toulouse, France, and Trinity College Dance Department in Hartford, CT.
In four decades of service in the field, Ms. Parker Robinson has received many awards for her work and advocacy. Most recently, she received the Civil Rights Award of the Anti Defamation League and she was honored by the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Humanitarian Award from the Urban League of Metropolitan Denver. In March 2011, she was inducted into the Colorado Tourism Hall of Fame. !
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Reviews & Quotes “Cleo Parker Robinson is one of the most glamorously feisty company directors in American dance.” – New York Times “Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble was a resounding success in eastern Germany. Both evenings elicited cheering audiences. In Halle, applause virtually poured down after “Raindance,” and the group continued with an encore.” – USIA “Most impressive...were the presentations by Denver’s Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble...highlighted by stunning original permutations of pattern executed by a seated row of 10 dancers, and fusing verbal reminiscence and dance gesture into a powerful rhapsody on the themes of community and loss.” – Washington Post “Rosangela Silvestre’s monumental, punishing Temple In Motion exploited a large ensemble’s gleaming muscularity and virtuosity.” – Village Voice “Liquid hips move hula-style, and bodies bend over another, only to straighten in a single, silky movement. To single out dancers would be to take away from the entire company. Suffice to say that they were all superb.” – Durham Herald Sun “Never once did these vigorous dancers lose their pace. Their intoxicating movements were sensed from the first hour to the last…” – UC Irvine, University Times “This was a historic moment for the company, and the dancers, along with a handful of singers, proved themselves up to the important task. Dunham's piece, too, was effective after all these years. Its tale of brutal racism — a lynching and its long aftermath — told in emotional shorthand remains wrenching, vexing, raw.” – Denver Post "The breadth of work that Robinson's 11-member company takes on should be a lesson to others, said Charles Reinhart, who has served as chairman of New York's American Dance Festival for the past 42 years. "It's something we should clone, actually, because what's really needed are repertory companies who will save our heritage, as well as being a company for new work." – Denver Post The wonderfully acrobatic choreography - enhanced by warm-hued, dramatic lighting - was a cinch for Baker whose exceeding agility and fluid presentation had a transfixing effect.” – Denver Post !
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Audience Engagement Traditional Standard Residencies CPRD provides a standard fare of residency activities including master classes or workshops in ballet, modern dance techniques, jazz and hip hop. Cleo Dance is a specialized class designed for all ages and skill levels and emphasizes mind, body, spirit alignment through movement. Additionally, the Ensemble delivers its signature interactive performance, entitled the Healing Power of Art, for as many as 500 K-12 students. The Healing Power of Art is an entertaining and educational program that gives participants a lively exploration of dance languages with opportunities to perform on stage with the CPRD Ensemble. As one of the leading repositories of American Dance Masterpieces, CPRD oers visual lectures on the evolution of dance and American dance history for high school and college courses.
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Outside of the Box Grassroots Residencies Additionally, the CPRD Ensemble is a resource for innovative project development. CPRDE is adept at bringing diverse communities together through the creative process. Projects may entail a cross discipline focus where participants are charged to write, dance or orate thereby appealing to a broad range of creative sensibilities. The Ensemble also features several accomplished choreographers who can set existing and/or original works on dance departments, programs or teams. CPRD places dual emphasis on artistic excellence and meaningful civic engagement. Civic engagement lacks luster devoid of a powerful artistic component, and the arts lose relevance when solely self absorbed. Armed with an aptitude for both, CPRD residency activities transcend real and perceived boundaries and transform individuals and communities.
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Repertoire Raindance Premiered 1984 Milton Myers is the former Artistic Director of The Joyce Trisler Dance Company and dancer with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Company. Mr. Myers came to Denver in 1984 to create a unique work for CPRDE. Since then, Raindance has become the Ensemble’s signature piece. The dance portrays people of all ages and cultures uniting in a symbolic message of movement.
Move Premiered 2010 Move is an inventive ensemble ballet by Ray Mercer that embraces and celebrates the spirit of dance in three parts. Move begins with an introduction to movement just for dance sake – an exploration of the purely visceral quality of movement as it rides on the rhythm. The piece peaks in the final statement performed by the entire ensemble as they come together as a community to celebrate and embrace the spirit of dance.....they MOVE!
For the Love Of Premiered 2009 Choreographer, Nejla Yatkin, received the coveted Princess Grace Award to create For the Love Of on the Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble. The piece masterfully reinterprets and transforms the majestic Egyptian hieroglyphic frescoes into viscerally rich duets, quartets and full ensemble choreography. To complete the arabesque sentiment, the dance is set in three movements to an electronic groove overlaid by poems of the Sufi poet of love, Rumi. Escapades Premiered 1983 Escapade is choreographed by the late American dance icon, Alvin Ailey, to the original composition of legendary drummer Max Roach. Acclaimed choreographer and former Ailey company member, Christopher ! Huggins, set the piece on CPRDE in 2004.
Dream Catchers Premiered 2011 Dream Catchers, a new work by Cleo Parker Robinson, illumines the epic experiences and adventures of historic visionaries of the Americas uncovering lost stories that shape who we are today. This dance theatre work not only transports the imagination to a distant time through extreme artistry - it implores us to heed the power of dreams in shaping a greater humanity today. Dream Catchers evokes inspirational stories surrounding historic figures such as Osceola (Seminole chief of mixed Scottish and Creek heritage), Yanga (African leader of a slave rebellion in Mexico) and Ximalma (first lady of the Mexica/Azteca migration and mythological mother of Quetzalcoatl) – legendary stories infused with valor, morality, social harmony, passion and adventure! 7
Repertoire When Push Came to Shove Premiered 2009 When Push Came to Shove, choreographed by Ray Mercer, is a highly technical ballet suited for the characteristic athleticism and precision of the CPRD Ensemble. When Push Came to Shove is articulated through a sextet, three women and three men, choreographed at an intense tempo. When Push Came to Shove was commissioned as part of the CPRD Love Series. Fusion Premiered 2012 Fusion is an original work by esteemed Haitian choreographer, Jeanguy Saintus, set on the Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble. The piece educes parallels of border tensions and cultural clashes in this hemisphere contrasted by profound acts of compassion and love. Driven by the distinct polyrhythmic language of traditional Haitian sacred movement, the contemporary piece invokes a timeless narrative that appeals to a fusion of the mind and heart to dissolve the barricades that create conditions for disunity and inequality. Arranged Premiered 2010 Arranged is a contemporary ritual dedicated to the passion and beauty of Marceline Freeman. Choreographed by Milton Myers, Arranged is a full ensemble ballet that features "The Funeral" from ! composer Philip Glass' "Akhenaten."
Conversations Premiered 2012 Conversations, a dance choreographed by Nathan Trice, is an exploration in love sketching out the contemplative, the reflective and the anticipated nuance that impregnates passionate exchanges all performed by six dancers. The work’s playful use of gestures within intricate partnering segments underscores facets of vulnerability and the unresolved. Its manipulation of off centered pushing and pulling alludes to the often ambiguous yet powerful use of body language to intimate thoughts and feelings. Set to music by Keith Jarrett, Conversation's becomes a playground of observable cessations layered in what is called emotional sign language.
Star of the Show Premiere 2013 Star of the Show is a ballet that highlights James Brown, the music and the man. Emmy Award Winning Choreographer, Jeffrey Page, places emphasis on the ability of James Brown to blow magic into what was otherwise considered common or lowly. James Brown was a mystic who transformed visceral American vernacular art into high art. Brown infected the world with his magic, and the barriers of language were undone. This piece explores the entrancing beauty of vernacular movement of the African Diaspora. Star of the Show aims to deconstruct James Brown as merely a great musician contextualizing him in the framework of Soul music priest in the African tradition. 8
Repertory Photos “Blood Memories” Choreography: Donald McKayle
“Wisdom of the Baobab Tree” Choreography: Cleo Parker -Robinson
“Dream Catchers” Choreography: Cleo Parker -Robinson !
“For the Love Of ” Choreography: Nejla Yatkin
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Repertory Photos “Raindance” Choreography: Milton Myers
“Arranged” Choreography: Milton Myers
“For the Love of ” Choreography: Nejla Yatkin !
“Escapades” Choreography: Alvin Ailey
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Tour History (2009-2011) Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts Scottsdale, AZ
University of Las Vegas, NV Las Vegas, NV
International Association of Blacks in Dance Conference Los Angeles, CA
Rose State College Oklahoma City, OK
Center for the Arts Crested Butte, CO
International Association of Blacks in Dance Conference Philadelphia, PA
Union Colony Civic Center Greeley, CO
MOJA Arts Festival Charleston, SC
Sangre de Cristo Arts Center Pueblo, CO
International Association of Blacks in Dance Conference Dallas, TX
Artist Collective/Trinity College Hartford, CT Ruth Eckerd Hall Clearwater, FL Ritz Theatre & La Villa Museum ~ Jacksonville, FL Allied Arts Milledgeville, GA Williams College Williamstown, MA Missouri History Museum St. Louis MO
Carver Community Cultural Center San Antonio, TX American College Dance Festival Salt Lake City, UT John Michael Kohler Arts Center Sheboygan, WI John F Welch Auditorium Casper, WY University of Wyoming Cheyenne, WY Laramie Plains Civic Center Laramie, WY
American Dance Festival (75th Anniversary Season) Durham, NC
Dance Immersion Festival Toronto, ON, Canada
New Jersey Performing Arts Center ~ Newark, NJ
International Association of Blacks in Dance Conference ~ Toronto, ON, Canada
Taos Art Center Taos, NM !
Takitimu Festival Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand 11
Press Clippings
A Colorado Troupe Brings Jazz, Mambo, Swing and Haitian Spice August 13, 2012
“Struggle and resilience, spiritual uplift and lowdown fun: the old verities of African-American modern dance have not been abandoned in Colorado.� !
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Press Clippings
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Cleo Parker Robinson Dance
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Contact Information Vivien Niwes - VNI Phone: 303.814.1500 Fax 303.688.1067 200 S. Wilcox, #436 Castle Rock, CO 80104
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Mary Hart Booking and Sales Manager Cleo Parker Robinson Dance 119 Park Avenue West Denver, CO 80205 303-295-1759 cleodanceops@aol.com
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Contact Information Bess Pruitt and Associates 819 East 168th Street Bronx, NY 10459-2201 (718) 589-0400 info@uniqueartists.com Or Mary Hart Booking and Sales Manager Cleo Parker Robinson Dance 119 Park Avenue West Denver, CO 80205 303-295-1759 cleodanceops@aol.com
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