COMEPassion | the Spring Concert Presented by Cleo Parker Robinson Dance | May 8 7PM+ May 9 3PM

DANCE & FILM MAY 8TH & MAY 9TH

SATURDAY 7PM & SUNDAY 3PMMDT CPRDTHEATRE

WWW.CLEOPARKERDANCE.ORG

PHOTOJERRY METELLUS

DEAR FAMILY, FRIENDS, COLLEAGUES We welcome you all in the spirit of COMEPassion!

Words barely express the enormous joy all of us here at Cleo Parker Robinson Dance (CPRD) are feeling at this time.

PHOTOJERRY METELLUS

To return to our beautifully renovated stage, after nearly 14 months, with this hybrid in-person/live-streamed concert raises us all—and we hope each of you, as well—to a place of soul, heart, and spirit that reaffirms the pivotal place the arts hold in elevating the human condition, even in the most challenging times.

For me, as a dancer, spending so much time in relative solitude has inspired a renewed exploration into avenues of performance that would combine film and movement in ways that reflected the artistic genius of film makers such as the great Gordon Parks with whom I collaborated on Run Sister Run back in the 1970s.

So many words have been spoken in our very human attempt to put the experiences of this past year into some sense of perspective. As a community, a nation, a world—we’ve tried to understand and address the pandemics that have assaulted us—not only COVID, but what has impacted so many as an un-ending plague—the scourge of racism, inequity, and injustice.

Listening to the seemingly endless oratory of the past year, I felt the need to focus on two powerful words in particular—passion and compassion.

Certainly, there’s been no lack of either—from the selflessness of our frontline workers and first responders, placing themselves in peril to battle a terrible illness, to the courage of those who stood with cell phones fearlessly documenting and challenging an act of murder in the death of George Floyd, to those who took to the streets to march in protest against injustices and excessive policing around the world, to those who stood in endless lines to exercise their voting rights.

It has been said that compassion is passion with a heart, and the Dalai Lama reminds us, “It is not enough to be compassionate. You must act.”

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Through the language of dance, each of the choreographers whose work is being presented today have done just that—acting through both filmed and on-stage movement to express their individual insights into the subtle nuances of how we perceive, and receive, both passion and compassion.

We are honored to share two World Premieres with you.

Robert Sher-Machhernndl brings his unique perspective on violence and trauma through his riveting work Black Angels, an exploration of movement, sound and film, through the lens of award-winning cinematographer, Brian Malone (Fast Forward Films). CPRDE Associate Artistic Director, Winifred R. Harris shares a profound meditation-in-movement through her deeply thoughtful work Dépouillé (Bare) offering each of us an opportunity to view our vulnerabilities and strengths from a place of safety.

The Denver premiere of my own work Check Cashing Day, originally commissioned by CPRDE Alumnus Gary Abbott of UMKC, celebrates the role of jazz in mirroring the complexities of the African-American experience, in both the 60s and present day. Long-time Lion King cast member Ray Mercer’s work Move: From the Inside Out! delves into the range of emotion channeled through movement. A short film, created by cinematographer Alan Dominquez (Loco Lane Filmworks), focuses on the innovative ways being used to advance the creation of Ballet Folklórico de México Artistic Director, Amalia Viviana Basanta Hernández’ work The Four Journeys, scheduled for premiere in September 2021 on the stage of the Ellie Caulkins Opera House in Denver.

Whether you are joining us via a digital screen, or coming directly into our theatre, we encourage you to utilize each of these works as a point of reflection.

There are limitless ways to express your individual passion—through art, education, community, civic or social engagement—and countless ways to express compassion—remembering that we each need to nurture those aspects within ourselves before we can share them with others.

Even while acknowledging the pain of loss that each of us has experienced, I stand in true gratitude for the countless blessings that we share today— and will share together in the future. As our families and communities continue to heal, we are looking forward to seeing all of you in person—there are already a host of exciting activities taking place here in our beautiful facility—so many more to come! We want you all to visit our website at cleoparkerdance.org and learn more! There is something new to share every week—and we don’t want you to miss anything!

In the Spirit of Passion and Compassion,

CLEO PARKER ROBINSON FOUNDER & EXECUTIVE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

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CLEO PARKER ROBINSON

DANCE ENSEMBLE Cleo Parker Robinson

Founder | Executive Artistic Director Winifred R. Harris | Associate Artistic Director Chloé-Grant Abel | Rehearsal Director | Ensemble Member Edgar Aguirre • Corey Boatner* Jasmine Francisco • Ralaya Goshea YooJung Hahm • Cedric D. Hall Samiyah Lynnice • Gabriela Maduro* Martez McKinzy** • Davry Ratcliffe John e. Roberts • Topaz von Wood* *Apprentice to the Ensemble **Guest Artist CLEO II • Cedric DeWayne Hall | Cleo II Rehearsal Director Rashad Crane • Dennzyl Green • Emily Poli Saide Sandoval • Dominique Willis YOUTH ENSEMBLE • Jessica Horton | YE Director JR YOUTH ENSEMBLE • Cedric DeWayne Hall | JYE Director To learn more about the dancers of the Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble and Cleo II visit www. cleoparkerdance.org/cprd-ensemble DEEPEST GRATITUDE TO OUR FUNDERS, DONORS, SPONSORS WHO KEPT US ALIVE AND THRIVING IN OUR 50TH LIKE NO OTHER

SANKOFASOCIETY

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BLACK ANGELS CLEO PARKER ROBINSON DANCE

WORLD PREMIERE 2021

Internationally renowned Viennese choreographer, Robert Sher-Machherndl, creates a new commissioned work Black Angels for Cleo Parker Robinson Dance.

It comments upon young African American lives through the lens of a foreign artist.

We ache to reverse acts of violence, and only slowly can we repair the damage.

“It became necessary to capture Black Angels on film, to create a more intimate look at the work,” says Sher-Machherndl. Set to a Frank Mauceri composition which is constructed around the sound of a gunshot played backwards and slowed down so that the explosion builds slowly. As much as we might wish to put the bullet back in the gun, we don’t escape the detonation.

Internationally recognized choreographer Robert Sher-Machherndl is a US “Alien of Extraordinary Ability.” A former Principal Dancer with the Dutch National Ballet, Bavarian State Ballet, and the Nederlands Dance Theater, he has created works for Vienna State Ballet, Finnish National Ballet, Bavarian State Ballet, Scapino Ballet Rotterdam, Cleo Parker Robinson Dance, Denver Arts & Venues, and was acclaimed as “…a highlight of the program.”

by The New York Times. Named “Dance Person of the Year” by the Denver Post, he is also four-time winner of New York Ballet Builders Award, and has been featured on MTV MADE. He is artistic director and choreographer of the critically-acclaimed Lemon Sponge Cake Contemporary Ballet, based in Boulder, Colo.

CHOREOGRAPHER MUSIC

DANCERS

FILMMAKER

Robert Sher-Machherndl Frank Mauceri Members of The Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble: Jasmine Francisco, Samiyah Lynnice, Gabriela Maduro, Topaz von Wood Brian Malone | Fast Forward Films 5

MOVE: FROM THE INSIDE OUT! CLEO PARKER ROBINSON DANCE

WORLD PREMIERE 2010 Move from the inside out From the outside in Black people dancing from the inside out They move sweetly from the outside in

Omaha native Ray Mercer is a long-term member of the Broadway cast of The Lion King. Initially training at the University of New Orleans, he furthered his studies with Deeply Rooted Theater (Chicago, IL), The Alvin Ailey American Dance School and Broadway Dance Center (New York City). He was a member of The Detroit City Dance Company, Deeply Rooted Dance Theater and a guest artist with Boston Ballet and Joel Hall Dancers. He has taught extensively for the Alvin Ailey Summer Camp Program, the Joffrey Ballet Educational Program, and the National High School Dance Exchange, and won top honors for his choreography representing The Lion King in the BC/EFA’s 17th Annual Gypsy of the Year Competition in 2005. He also earned The Michigan Dance Council Award and Chicago’s Black Theater Alliance Award.

Mr. Mercer has served as resident choreographer for the All-City Dance Companies in Detroit and Chicago, and his choreography has been commissioned by Dallas Black Dance Theater, Cleo Parker Robinson Dance, and DRA: Dancers Responding to Aids/New York and has been featured in the New York Times, the Chicago Sun Times, and Movement Magazine. His career has included work with Aretha Franklin, Rod Stewart, Stephanie Mills, Kevin “Iega” Jeff, George Faison and Louis Johnson.

Move: From the Inside Out! is Mr. Mercer’s second original work set on the Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble.

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CHOREOGRAPHY & POETRY MUSIC

ORIGINAL COSTUME DESIGN ORIGINAL LIGHTING DESIGN LIGHTING ADAPTATION SPOKEN WORD

DANCERS

Ray Mercer Max Richter, Nathan Mechaly Joey Santos Meghan Hart Trey Grimes Chris Page-Sanders The Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble

CHECK CASHING DAY UNIV OF MISSOURI KANSAS CITY

WORLD PREMIERE 2019

PHOTO JERRY METELLUS

Jazz speaks for life.

The Blues tell the story of life’s difficulties, and if you think for a moment, you will realize that they take the hardest realities of life and put them into music, only to come out with some new hope or sense of triumph.

—Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Created in tribute to the rich jazz history of Kansas City and the music of Bobby Watson, Bettye Miller, and Milt Abel, this work honors each generation’s voice, speaking the truth of the struggle for equality and justice through the power of music, dance, and spoken word. Even 50 years after Dr. King spoke of the importance of jazz in his opening address to the 1964 Berlin Jazz Festival, we are reminded that the struggle has been paid for, time and time again, and that it falls to each generation to make the dream a reality.

Cleo Parker Robinson is Founder and Artistic Director of the 51-year-old Denver-based Cleo Parker Robinson Dance. As a master teacher/choreographer and cultural ambassador to both the national and international community, she leads an organization encompassing the renowned Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble, as well as Cleo II (her 2nd Company), a Youth Ensemble, an Academy of Dance, an International Summer Dance Institute, a 240-seat theatre and a diversity of educational and community outreach programs.

Cleo is the recipient of honors and awards from civic, community, and artistic organizations world-wide, as she and her Ensemble continuously provide performances, workshops, master classes, andcommunity programming. Her philosophy of “One Spirit, Many Voices” is reflected in all that she does and is the vision she and her organization share everywhere they go.

CHOREOGRAPHERS

DANCERS

MUSIC

SPOKEN WORD

Cleo Parker Robinson with Chloé-Grant Abel, Chris Page-Sanders CPRD Ensemble Apprentices, Cleo II Check Cashing Day and My Song: Bobby Watson & the I Have A Dream Project (featuring Glen North) Everything Must Change: Bettye Miller & Milt Abel MLK On Jazz: Bobby Watson & the I Have A Dream Project (featuring Curtis Lundy) I Have A Dream Speech: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. 7

THE FOUR JOURNEYS THE FIRST STEPS:

A FILM VIGNETTE

FROM THE FOUR JOURNEYS DOCUMENTARY

ELLIE CAULKINS OPERA HOUSE

WORLD PREMIERE 2021

The Four Journeys is a new ballet conceived by Amalia Viviana Basanta Hernández, Artistic Director of Ballet Folklórico de México, that examines the confluence of culture in Mexico from its diverse Indigenous heritage to the more recent influences of Indigenous, European, African, and Asian infusion.

Through use of both folkloric and contemporary movement vocabularies, regional music soundscapes, and a futuristic projection design by Taketo Kobayashi, audiences will journey through myth, legend, and a heightened historic perspective, into deeper understanding and appreciation of the legacy and impact of Mexico’s artistic, spiritual, social, and civic traditions.

The full ballet is scheduled to premiere in September 2021 at The Ellie Caulkins Opera House, Denver. For more details about The Four Journeys, visit cleoparkerdance.org.

Ms. Basanta also directs México en Movimiento, where she has captured the rich history and essence of Mexico, past and present, with a vocabulary of movement that speaks to a sophisticated and international audience.

Basanta has collaborated and created works for La Sinfónica de Mineria and La Sinfónica Naciónal de México. Her most recent ballets include Maria, Lara y Sus Mujeres, Homenaje a Hidalgo, De la Caña a Carnaval, Mexico Ayer y Hoy and Fandango en Rojo. Her unique approach to combining history, folklore and contemporary movement, parallels the rapidly changing demographic and image of America today.

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CHOREOGRAPHER FILMMAKER PRODUCER

MUSIC

COSTUMES & LIGHTING PROJECTION DESIGN DANCERS

Amalia Viviana Basanta Hernández Alan Dominguez | Loco Lane Filmworks In Association with University Music Society, University of Michigan In Development In Development Taketo Kobayashi The Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble

DÉPOUILLÉ BARE CLEO PARKER ROBINSON DANCE

WORLD PREMIERE 2021

Dépouillé [adj] /depuje/ def. Simple; uncluttered. (Cambridge FrEn Dictionary) A moving meditation, this work pays PHOTO MARTHA WIRTH homage to the consistent steady part of us that recognizes our connection to our greater being. Through triumphs and chaos we move bare and baring ourselves to our ever-evolving lives. —Winifred R. Harris Ms. Harris—choreographer, artist, teacher, and community activist— has created a significant body of work with a strong balance of technical prowess and gestural expression. Trained under Cleo Parker Robinson, she danced professionally for ten years with Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble before moving on to Dallas Black Dance Theater and a solo stint in New York and abroad.

In October 1991, she relocated to Los Angeles, founding her own award-nominated contemporary modern dance company. In recognition of her dedication and commitment to underprivileged youth, Ms. Harris received several awards from the Mayor of the City of Los Angeles for her teaching efforts within that community.

Serving on faculty at various universities and studios nationwide, including Cal Arts (her alma mater), Cal State Los Angeles and Spelman College, she returned to Cleo Parker Robinson Dance in 2010 as Ensemble Rehearsal Director and became Associate Artistic Director in 2014.

A number of her innovative works are part of the Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble’s repertoire.

CHOREOGRAPHER MUSIC

COSTUME DESIGN LIGHTING DESIGN DANCERS

Winifred R. Harris, CPRD Associate Artistic Director Vassillo Tsabropoulos, Anja Lechner, U.T. Gandhi Lara Kirksey Keith Rice The Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble 9

BEHIND THE SCENES ADMINISTRATIVE & ARTISTIC STAFF Cleo Parker Robinson Malik Robinson Rhetta Shead Hillary Harding Shelby Jarosz Tohbias Juniel Winifred R. Harris Mary Hart Trey Grimes Amelia Dietz Shel Bachelder Micah Bursh Chloé-Grant Abel Cedric Dewayne Hall Jessica Horton Ralaya Goshea Victoria Shead-Johnston Emily Poli Zach Reese Patricia B Smith

Founder | Executive Artistic Director Executive Director Director of Administration Director of Development Senior Director of Programs & Education Director of Advocacy & Engagement Associate Artistic Director Director of Bookings and Touring Theatre & Technical Director Academy Director Education Coordinator Development Associate Ensemble Rehearsal Director Cleo II & JYE Rehearsal Director YE Rehearsal Director Costume Mistress Assistant Academy Administrator Assistant Academy Administrator Gamut Collab | Creative Services Contractor Marketing & Media Relations Contractor OnTarget Public Relations

OUR MISSION & VISION Currently celebrating its 50th Anniversary Season, Cleo Parker Robinson Dance is an international, cross-cultural, dance-arts and educational institution rooted in African-American traditions and the Diaspora, dedicated to excellence in instruction, performances, and community programming for intergenerational students, artists, and audiences. Cleo Parker Robinson Dance views dance as a universal language of movement—celebrating performance, individual expression, healing and peace—transforming the world and transcending boundaries of culture, class and age.

Cleo Parker Robinson Dance is committed to honoring diversity and inclusiveness throughout the global community.

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BOARD OF DIRECTORS Gwen Brewer Chair Malik Robinson Executive Director Cleo Parker Robinson* Founder | Executive Artistic Director Tyrone Gant Treasurer Debbie Herrera Vice Chair Shale Wong Vice Chair Josett Valdez Secretary Jehan Benton-Clark • Darryl Collier Tim Davis • Hon. Crisanta Duran Demesha Hill • Lisa Hogan • Matthew Keeney Tony Price • Maria Sepulveda • Robert Thompson J. Matt Thornton • Alfred Walker • Jennifer Wozniak

ADVISORY BOARD Andrea Kalivas Fulton • Tim Davis • Debbie Herrera Gwen Brewer • Hal Logan • Jim Kaiser Tina Walls • Shelley Thompson

EMERITUS BOARD OF DIRECTORS Judge Raymond Dean Jones J.D.* Chairman Emeritus Chelsye J. Burrows • Michael Donegan • Kevin Fallon Les Franklin • Helen Franzgrote Marceline Freeman • Rosalind “Bee” Harris Eric Hughes • Renee Hurley • Henry Lowenstein Nancy McClosky • Dawn Nakamura-Kessler Edmond “Buddy” Noel* • Schyleen Qualls Brown* Tom Robinson* • John Wagner • Lester Ward Faye & Reggie Washington *FOUNDING MEMBERS OF THE CLEO PARKER ROBINSON DANCE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

CLEO PARKER ROBINSON DANCE

Located in Denver’s Historic Five Points District 119 Park Avenue West | Denver, Colorado 80205 303.295.1759 | www.cleoparkerdance.org Facebook @cleoparkerdance Instagram @cleodance

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