Dear Patrons, Family, and Friends:
Welcome to our Spring 2023 concert, “Legacy”
Recognizing that our own 52-year history has been established on a foundation of the iconic artistry and traditions of Black dance in America, which is of the world, and has in turn influenced the world. Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble takes special pride in presenting this “Legacy” concert. Acquiring, preserving, and performing works of Katherine Dunham, Talley Beatty, Donald McKayle, and Alvin Ailey, is a sacred trust that we have honored as a building block of our organization, manifesting all that we have learned from these legends of dance into our own artistic mission and vision. We are, and have been, standing on the shoulders of these Ancestors, presenting these works that span over 100 years of dance history.
As a young person, I was continuously encouraged by my parents to watch any performances on television that featured any of these incredible artists and to listen as well to the rich voices of Lena Horne and Harry Belafonte. I was in awe of them all, and especially Ms. Dunham from the very first time I saw her on screen in “Stormy Weather”. She became my role model as I began to shape my own vision to create a dance company that would encompass and embrace the world through our music, dance, and stories. Of course, at the age of 19, New York City was where I thought I’d have to be, especially when I first took classes at the Ailey Studios. But a revelation came – and I knew I needed to bring the global vision of Ms. Dunham and the sweeping dynamics of Alvin Ailey right back to Denver! I saw no reason that all the power, beauty, and passion of Black Dance in America couldn’t find a place right in my own city. There was a synergy and a universal energy that I felt could not be denied!
As the years went by, I pursued a myriad of avenues that allowed me to bring each of these icons here to Denver. Ms. Dunham, Talley Beatty, Alvin Ailey, and Donald McKayle all spent time here in our studios, setting their works, teaching classes, sharing their lives, and leaving the most indelible impact on our community.
Katherine Dunham entrusted us with several of her works, including “Choros” which you will see this evening. The presentation of her masterwork “Southland” became a year-long project that she bequeathed to us through Julie Belafonte and Theo Jamison, and I had the privilege of having her set “Barrel House Blues” on me. Prior to that time, only Ms. Dunham had danced that role.
Bringing Talley Beatty and his works to Denver was another leap of faith – his choreographic voice was always powerful and uncompromising – and not always palatable to Denver audiences in the early 1980s. Tonight, you will experience the poignancy of his “Mourners Bench” and the boundless passion and energy of “Earth, Wind, and Fire”.
We have the distinct honor of holding more of Donald McKayle’s works in our repertoire than any other dance company in the world. The beautiful Chloé-Grant Abel, in her farewell performance as a member of the Ensemble, will perform the “La Nina” solo from “Uprooted: Pero Replantado”.
Maintaining the integrity of master works requires the dedication of a highly skilled Repetiteur who sets the work with the specific permission of an artistic trust. In the case of the Alvin Ailey work “Escapades” we have had the privilege of working with Christopher L. Huggins and the Alvin Ailey Dance Foundation. Mr. Ailey had himself had blessed Christopher in this capacity. He is truly a treasure who has also set several of his own works on our company.
Throughout this performance, I will be sharing some of my personal reflections and remembrances of each of these incredible artists…. I’ve often been told I should write a book! No doubt, I’d want to dedicate at least one chapter to each of them! They have all transformed my life, and the soul of our organization.
When we first began discussing the premise for this “Legacy” concert we recognized that not only did we intend to honor these roots of Black Dance in America, but we wanted to nurture the fruits of legacy as a continuum. We are proudly presenting a new work “And Then There Was Light” by innovative choreographer Avree Walker who has been deeply influenced in his own right by the brilliance of these master artists. In the Spirit of Sankofa, we move ever forward, remembering always from where we have come.
This has been a year of significant collaboration for Cleo Parker Robinson Dance, working on projects with both the Colorado Symphony Orchestra (April 2023), and the Denver Gay Men’s Chorus (April 2022). We’re delighted to have the OffKilter group from the chorus with us to perform their brilliant interpretation of “Stormy Weather”.
As we conclude this historic 52nd ANNIVERSARY SEASON, the mission and vision of Cleo Parker Robinson Dance remains strong through the leadership of our Malik Robinson, and the eternal spirit of Tom Robinson - and the perseverance of our Ensembles, Staff, Faculty, and Board of Directors. With the support of generous individuals, businesses, corporations, and civic organizations, we continue to advance our artistic and educational vision into an ever-expanding community of students, communities, and audiences. You’ll want to visit our website at www.cleoparkerdance.org to keep up on all the dates and locations where we’ll be teaching and performing, locally, nationally, and internationally.
Our upcoming 29th Annual International Summer Dance Institute (ISDI), running June 19 – July 21, is the region’s finest and most exciting summer intensive program, with students and master teachers from all over the country participating. Our Academy of Dance (which is also in its 52nd year), under the guidance of Academy Manager, Victoria Shead, offers an ever-expanding variety of classes, with an expansive range to fit all ages and abilities! This incredible institute wraps up on July 21 and 22 with this year’s Mile High Dance Festival, featuring many of the Denver metro area’s most dynamic and innovative dance performers, including the Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble and Cleo II.
Our 13th Annual “Dancing with the Denver Stars” Gala will place at the Hilton City Center on August 12th and promises to be one of our most successful galas yet – raising what we hope will be a record amount of funding to support our Educational Programming
On the back cover of your program, you’ll see more detailed information for the many exciting events taking place here at CPRD over the summer months, and into the Fall when we will present “Firebird” at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House. We look forward to seeing you throughout our upcoming 53rd Anniversary Season, which launches May 31st!
We hope you’ll come away from today’s concert with a deeper understanding of the place that legacy holds in your own life - and that you’ll feel encouraged to seek out the stories of your own heritage and traditions, honoring and celebrating the roots that anchor you and nurture your growth. May your own legacy be uplifted, filled with Love and Light, Resilience and Joy!
In the Spirit of Dance,
CLEO PARKER ROBINSON is founder and artistic director of the 52-year-old Denver-based artistic institution, CLEO PARKER ROBINSON DANCE (CPRD), leading a professional Ensemble (CPRDE), Cleo II (her 2nd company), a Youth Ensemble, an Academy of Dance, an International Summer Dance Institute, a 240-seat theatre, and numerous community outreach programs nationally and internationally. She has received honors and awards from corporate, civic, community, and artistic entities world-wide, bringing CPRDE to myriad organizations and venues for performances, teaching residencies and community engagement programming. A master teacher/ choreographer and cultural ambassador, she and CPRDE have performed nationwide and throughout Europe, the Caribbean, Asia, and the African continent, with their most recent international tours taking them to Bogota, Colombia in Spring of 2019 and Mexico in Fall 2019.
Ms. Parker Robinson’s awards and honors include the Colorado Governor’s Award for Excellence (1974), Denver Mayor’s Award (1979), induction into the Colorado Women’s Hall of Fame (1989) and the Blacks in Colorado Hall of Fame (1994). Recognized in Who’s Who in America Colleges and Universities she holds an Honorary Doctorates from Denver University (1991), an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Colorado College (2003), an Honorary Doctorate of Public Service from Regis University in Denver (2008), an Alumni Award from University of Denver (2021), the 2020 Honorary Degree, Doctor of Humane Letters, Honous Causa from CU Boulder, and was named an Honorary Member of the International Association of Dance Medicine and Science (2021).
In 1991, Ms. Parker served on the task force creating a permanent location for the Denver School of the Arts (DSA), Denver’s first performing arts magnet school, and was subsequently honored In September 2017 at their 7th Annual Fall Gala, in recognition of her long-term commitment to excellence in arts education. She is also co-founder of the National Bahamian Dance Company, based in Nassau. In 2011, Ms. Parker Robinson was voted an Honorary Lifetime Trustee of the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, in recognition of her longtime commitment and lasting impact on the Center. In June 2017, she received the highly prestigious DanceUSA Honor Award and in September 2017, the Randy Weeks Arts Leadership Award from the Denver School of the Arts. In March 2023, Ms. Parker Robinson, along with the other four founders of the International Association of Blacks in Dance (IABD), was honored at the White House as the IABD received the 2021 National Medal of the Arts.
Ms. Robinson has served on NEA panels on Dance, Expansion Arts, Arts America, and Inter-Arts panels for the USIS, and for the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts as well as other national task forces, boards, and committees on the arts. In April 1999, she was appointed by then-President William Jefferson Clinton, with Senate confirmation, to serve for four years on the National Council on the Arts, a 14-member panel advising the Chairman of the NEA on agency policy and programs, reviewing and making recommendations on grant applications.
Since 2011, Ms. Parker Robinson has significantly returned to her greatest passion as a choreographer, creating and presenting Dreamcatchers: The Untold Stories of the Americas and the world premiere of her Romeo and Juliet, in collaboration with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra. Her work On the Edge… Reaching to Higher Ground premiered in October of 2014 in answer to resurging racial and human rights infractions world-wide. In Spring 2017, she re-staged two works, melding classical and jazz composition with the power, passion and beauty of modern dance – Romeo and Juliet and Porgy and Bess. Fall 2017 saw the premiere of Copacetic: A Tribute to Jonathon “JP” Parker, honoring her late father. In Spring of 2018, she premiered Lark Ascending in collaboration with the Boulder Philharmonic. Her Rhapsody in Black, created in collaboration with CPRD Associate Artistic Director, Winifred R. Harris, premiered at the Newman Center for the Performing Arts, University of Denver. In January 2019, in collaboration with the Denver Brass, she choreographed an innovative interpretation of Bernstein’s On the Town and Spring 2019 saw a collaboration with the Colorado Ballet entitled The MOVE/ment as part of the Tour de Force series at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House, Denver Center for the Performing Arts. In 2019, she traveled to UMKC, Kansas City, to set a work on the students of CPRDE alum Gary Abbot, entitled Check Cashing Day in tribute to the jazz genius of Bobby Watson and Milt Abel. In August 2021, she premiered Standing On the Shoulders, a work commissioned by the Vail Dance Festival. September 2021 saw the debut of her work Freedom Dance, created in collaboration with jazz icon Dianne Reeves and CPRD co-founder and poet, Schyleen Qualls and in October 2021, she premiered R.I.Power, an original work commissioned by the Colorado College Fine Arts Center in Colorado Springs. Her newest work, Sacred Spaces?, set to an original score by Adonis Rose, Director of the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra, premiered in September 2022 at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts.
Cleo Parker Robinson continues to be dedicated to celebrating the human experience and potential through the Arts and Education. Her life-long vision of “One Spirit, Many Voices” remains strong and steadfast, expanding to welcome, embrace, and sustain all people.
OUR MISSION & VISION
CLEO PARKER ROBINSON DANCE – INSPIRING MOVEMENT!
Currently celebrating its 52nd Anniversary Season, Cleo Parker Robinson Dance is an international performing arts and education institution rooted in African-American traditions, dedicated to excellence in providing cross-cultural instruction, performances, and enrichment programs - empowering all our communities by cultivating healthy mind, body, and spirit development for intergenerational students, artists, and audiences.
Viewing dance as a universal language of movement that transcends boundaries of culture, class, and age, Cleo Parker Robinson Dance is committed to honoring diversity and inclusiveness throughout the global community.
CLEO PARKER ROBINSON DANCE
www.cleoparkerdance.org
Located in Denver’s Historic Five Points District 119 Park Avenue West, Denver, Colorado 80205 Ph # 303 295 1759
ALVIN AILEY (Choreographer “Escapades”) was born on January 5, 1931, in Rogers, Texas. His experiences of life in the rural South would later inspire some of his most memorable works. He was introduced to dance in Los Angeles by performances of the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo and the Katherine Dunham Dance Company, and his formal dance training began with an introduction to Lester Horton’s classes by his friend Carmen de Lavallade. Horton, the founder of one of the first racially-integrated dance companies in the United States, became a mentor for Mr. Ailey as he embarked on his professional career. After Horton’s death in 1953, Mr. Ailey became director of the Lester Horton Dance Theater and began to choreograph his own works.
In the 1950s and 60s, Mr. Ailey performed in four Broadway shows, including “House of Flowers” and “Jamaica”. In 1958, he founded Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater to carry out his vision of a company dedicated to enriching the American modern dance heritage and preserving the uniqueness of the African-American cultural experience. He established the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center (now The Ailey School) in 1969 and formed the Alvin Ailey Repertory Ensemble (now Ailey II) in 1974. Mr. Ailey was a pioneer of programs promoting arts in education, particularly those benefiting underserved communities. Throughout his lifetime, he was awarded numerous distinctions, including the Kennedy Center Honor in 1988 in recognition of his extraordinary contribution to American culture. In 2014, he posthumously received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the country’s highest civilian honor, in recognition of his contributions and commitment to civil rights and dance in America. When Mr. Ailey died on December 1, 1989, The New York Times said of him, “you didn’t need to have known [him] personally to have been touched by his humanity, enthusiasm, and exuberance and his courageous stand for multi-racial brotherhood.”
TALLEY BEATTY (Choreographer “Earth, Wind, and Fire” / “Mourners Bench”) Born near Shreveport, LA in 1918. Mr. Beatty grew up in Chicago, Illinois. An iconic African-American choreographer, dancer, educator, and company director who initially studied under Katherine Dunham and Martha Graham, he left the Dunham company in 1946 to continue his studies in New York City. As an AfricanAmerican, he was forced to attend ballet classes in the early mornings or late nights in a dressing room while classes were going on in an adjacent studio. His self-described style is “a mixture of Graham connective steps, Dunham technique, and a little ballet with Louisiana hot sauce on it”, while his choreography has been described as “fast, exuberant, [and] explosive”. Critic Margaret Lloyd once wrote that she found his leaps “phenomenal, a sort of universal wish fulfillment to navigate the air”. Throughout a career that encompassed the Broadway stage, film, and nightclubs, he continued to do solo work and choreograph, creating over 50 significant works before his passing in 1995, focusing on the social issues, experiences, and everyday life of AfricanAmericans.
KATHERINE DUNHAM Born in 1909, Ms. Dunham (Choreographer “Choros”) became a legendary dancer, and anthropologist. She first pursued a dance career as a student at the University of Chicago. Attending an anthropology lecture she was introduced to the concept of dance as a cultural symbol. She subsequently studied African roots of dance and, in 1935, traveled to the Caribbean for field research. Exposed to sacred ritual dances in Haiti and Jamaica, she returned to the US in 1936 with new forms of movement and expression, incorporating them into techniques that transformed the world of dance. In 1940, she formed the Katherine Dunham Dance Company, which became a premier facility for training dancers, including Eartha Kitt, Marlon Brando and Julie Belafonte. Ms. Dunham is credited with introducing international audiences to African aesthetics and establishing African dance as a true art form. Called the “Matriarch of Black Dance,” her groundbreaking repertoire combined innovative interpretations of Caribbean dances, traditional ballet, African rituals, and African American rhythms to create the Dunham Technique, which she and her company performed in venues world-wide. Her experiences touring for two decades with her company provided ample material for the numerous books, articles, and short stories she authored. Having accepted a position at Southern Illinois University in East St. Louis in the 1960s, she secured funding for the Performing Arts Training Center, where she introduced a program to channel the energy of the community’s youth away from gangs and into dance. A formidable advocate for racial equality, boycotting segregated venues in the United States and using her performances to highlight discrimination, she made national headlines by staging a hunger strike to protest the U.S. government’s repatriation policy for Haitian immigrants. Throughout her distinguished career, prior to her passing in 2006, Ms. Dunham earned numerous honorary doctorates, awards and honors. She was the recipient of a Kennedy Center Honors Award, the Plaque d’Honneur HaitianAmerican Chamber of Commerce Award, and a star on the St. Louis Walk of Fame.
DONALD McKAYLE (Choreographer “Uprooted: Pero Replantado”) Born in 1930, Mr. McKayle had a distinguished career which spanned choreography, direction, writing, education, and performance in dance, theater, film, recordings, and television. Some of his iconic works; “Games”, “Rainbow ‘Round My Shoulder”, “District Storyville”, and “Songs of the Disinherited”, were first performed by Donald McKayle and Company in New York, and later by the Inner-City Repertory Dance Company of Los Angeles.
Many of these are being performed anew by dance companies around the United States as part of the American Dance Festival’s prestigious program, “The Black Tradition in American Modern Dance.” Mr. McKayle’s choreography and direction for Broadway (most notably as the choreographer for “Raisin” and “Golden Boy”), television, and films, has been honored by five Tony nominations, an Outer Critics Circle Award, the NAACP Image Award, an Emmy nomination, a Los Angeles Drama Logue Award, and a Golden Eagle award.
In April 2005, he was honored at the John F. Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. and presented with a medal as a Master of African American Choreography. There are more than 50 concert dance works to his credit, and ten retrospectives have honored his work. He was one of the first black dancers and choreographers to establish a hold in modern dance as we know it today, an experience that helped to develop the wryly distanced humanism that distinguished him as a teacher and mentor.
Cleo Parker Robinson Dance is honored and proud to hold more of Mr. McKayle’s works in its repertoire than any other company. We feel deeply blessed to hold his final two works as his last gift to the world dance community, prior to his passing in 2018. Acquisition of these final two works would not have been possible without the dedication and support of Ms. Lea Vivante (Mr. McKayle’s beloved wife), Mr. Dennis Nahat, and the McKayle Estate.
AVREE WALKER (Choreographer “And Then There Was Light”) began his training at the West Las Vegas Arts Center, under the direction of Dr. Marcia Robinson. An alumnus of the Las Vegas Academy of the Arts, he attended the University of Nevada Las Vegas, representing the dance department in South Korea, Canada, Europe, and throughout the U.S. Mr. Walker became an artist with the Las Vegas Contemporary Dance Theatre (Contemporary West Dance Theatre) touring and performing works by Alvin Ailey, Ulysses Dove, Elisa Monte, Rennie Harris, Milton Myers, Zane Booker, Hope Boykin, Tommie Waheed Evan’s, Donald Byrd, Don Bellamy, and others. Regional credits include “Dreamgirls”, “Once on This Island”, “The Color Purple”, “Black Nativity” (Las Vegas and Atlanta), “The Music Man”, “Spamalot”,” The Wiz”, “Cinderella”, “Matilda the Musical” (regional premiere), and “The Prince of Egypt the Musical” (Dreamworks). Mr. Walker performed in Donn Arden’s “Jubilee!” at Bally’s Las Vegas from 2015 to 2016,and is currently a swing/dancer in “Vegas! The Show” at Planet Hollywood on the Las Vegas Strip. Serving as resident choreographer for Contemporary West Dance Theatre and Program Artistic Director of the CWDT Conservatory & pre-professional program, Mr. Walker has also joined the dance faculty of the Las Vegas Academy of the Arts in 2019 as the first full-time African American dance instructor in the school’s history
BENNY GOLSON (Composer “Escapades”) Mr.
Golson is an American bebop/hard bop jazz tenor saxophonist, composer, and arranger. He came to prominence with the big bands of Lionel Hampton and Dizzy
Gillespie, more as a writer than a performer, before launching his solo career.
Golson is known for co-founding and co-leading The Jazztet with trumpeter Art Farmer in 1959. From the late 1960s through the 1970s he was in demand as an arranger for film and television and thus was less active as a performer, but he and Farmer re-formed the Jazztet in 1982. Many of his compositions have become jazz standards including “I Remember Clifford”, “Blues March”, “Stablemates”, “Whisper Not”, and “Killer Joe”. He is regarded as “one of the most significant contributors” to the development of hard bop jazz, and was a recipient of a Grammy Trustees Award in 2021.
MAX ROACH (Composer “Escapades) Born in 1924, Max
Roach was an American jazz drummer and composer. A pioneer of bebop, he worked in many other styles of music, and is generally considered one of the most important drummers in history. He worked with many famous jazz musicians, including Clifford Brown, Coleman Hawkins, Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk, Abbey Lincoln, Dinah Washington, Charles Mingus, Billy Eckstine, Stan Getz, Sonny Rollins, Eric Dolphy, and Booker Little. He was inducted into the DownBeat Hall of Fame in 1980 and the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame in 1992.
In the mid-1950s, Mr. Roach co-led a pioneering quintet along with trumpeter Clifford Brown. In 1970, he founded the percussion ensemble M’Boom, and continued to make numerous musical statements relating to the civil rights movement up until his passing in 2007.
CHRISTOPHER L. HUGGINS (Repetiteur “Escapades”) is a visionary and dance innovator. He is an Alvin Ailey disciple, and historian, developing multilayered, storytelling through dance. Mr. Huggins attended Purchase University, the Julliard School and was a merit scholar at the Ailey School. He’s a former soloist of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and Aterballetto of Reggio Emilia, Italy. His work is rooted in research that memorialize our darkest history. This is found in his ballet ‘The List’, a story about the systemic genocide of a Jewish family and those in concentration camps. His ballet “New Fruit”, inspired by Nina Simone’s music, documents terror lynching. Through his dance initiative, he provides access to emerging dancers and choreographers to study abroad with him. He works around the globe and has held residencies at over 25 universities and colleges. Mr. Huggins is a multi-award winner including: two Alvin Ailey Awards from Black Theater Alliance, a Walt Disney Diversity award, a Critics Choice award and silver medalist of the International Dance Competition in Seoul, Korea. He holds the distinction of being “repetiteur” of Mr. Ailey’s ballets. As he continues his dance legacy, Mr. Huggins wants his work to heal, entertain and inspire mankind.
REFLECTIONS ON KATHERINE DUNHAM (Cleo Parker Robinson)
CHOROS World Premier 1944 / Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Premier 1994
“Choros” was commissioned by Charles and Stephanie Reinhardt of the American Dance Festival and the Lila Wallace Funds. Set on the Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble in 1994 by Ms. Katherine Dunham and two of her dancers, Tommy Gomez and Julie Belafonte, the work is a masterpiece from the 1940s – a perfect example of the fusion of strict classical ballet technique with Brazilian rhythms and the Dunham technique.
Choreographer Katherine Dunham
Music Vadico Gogliano (Based on a Brazilian 19th Century Quadrille)
Lighting Design Keith W. Rice
Lighting Adaptation Anastazia Coney
Original Costume Design John Pratt
Original costumes courtesy of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre
Costume Adaptation Joey Santos
Dancers
Samiyah Lynnice and Michael Battle - Fri 5/12 / Sat 5/13
Caeli Blake and Corey Boatner - Fri 5/12 / Sat 5/13
Ralaya S. Goshea and Michael Battle - Sun 5/14
Topaz von Wood and Corey Boatner – Sun 5/14
STORMY WEATHER (Gay Men’s Chorus Off Kilter)
The Denver Gay Men’s Chorus’s small ensemble, Off Kilter, reimagines Katherine Dunham’s iconic dance performance set to Lena Horne’s stellar vocals in “Stormy Weather” from the 1943 film of the same title. The harmony in this arrangement is inspired by the film’s harmonic sound world, eliciting nostalgic feelings of yesteryear. Unlike most arrangements of popular music, listeners will hear the melody in the basses and baritones with the tenors functioning as accompaniment. This unique technique grounds the arrangement, enabling Off Kilter’s tone to be as warm and rich as Katherine and Lena’s original performances. As one final nod to the film, the arrangement begins with the iconic opening fanfare while quoting lyrics from the finale, “My My, Ain’t That Something.”
Executive Director, RMAA Michael Sattler
Director / Associate Artistic Director Raul Dominguez
Arranger Raul Dominguez
Tenor 1
Tony Gulotta, Josh McAtee, Martin Mercer, Chris Pieper
Tenor 2 Jacob Bloom, Scotte Hoerle, Zach Jones, Logan Walker
Baritone Matt Bloom, Nate Cretti, Dan England, Tim Kreuter, Colin Oakley
Bass Art Anderson, Luke Menard, Maurice Murphy, Chris Perez, Patrick Price
REFLECTIONS ON TALLEY BEATTY (Cleo Parker Robinson)
“Mourner’s Bench” Excerpt from SOUTHERN LANDSCAPE
World Premiere 1947 / Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Premiere 2019
This powerful solo from Talley Beatty’s five-part work, refers to the annihilation by the Ku Klux Klan of a mixed-race farming community in the rural South during Reconstruction. The dancer, sitting on the mourner’s bench, has recovered the body of a loved one from the devastated fields and reflects upon the death of his community, the horror of its ending, and the struggle to sustain hope and strength. Cleo Parker Robinson Dance thanks the Talley Beatty Estate, Philadanco, and Ms. Joan Myers Brown for enabling us to preserve this legacy work.
Choreographer Talley Beatty
Interpreteur
Music
Original Lighting Design
Lighting Adaptation
Costume Design
Original Costume Execution
Costume Adaptation
Kim Y. Bears-Bailey
“There Is a Balm in Gilead” Traditional Spiritual
William H. Grant, III
Anastazia Coney
Talley Beatty
Jolea Maffei
Alex J. Gordon
Nick Diaz Soloist
Bench Carpentry
AND THEN THERE WAS LIGHT
(Cleo Parker Robinson Dance World Premiere May 2023)
And then there was light, to honor the past, celebrate the present, and look forward to the future. With each new day, we have the opportunity to become better versions of ourselves. The story continues. – Avree Walker
Choreographer Avree Walker
Assistant Choreographer Radnell Marin Pedraza
Costume Design Rachel Murray
Lighting Design Anastazia Coney
I. Music “Come Recover’ (Shelter) Son Lux
Dancers The Ensemble
II. Music “Over the Rainbow” Dave Brubeck
Soloist Chloé-Grant Abel
III. Music “Sunflowers” Wynton Marsalis Septet
Dancers The Ensemble, featuring Samiyah Lynnice, Corey Boatner, Jasmine Francisco, Michael Battle, Caeli Blake, Topaz von Wood
IV. Music “Pines and Flowers” Ezio Bosso
Dancers The Ensemble, featuring Chloé-Grant Abel
INTERMISSION
REFLECTIONS ON ALVIN AILEY (Cleo Parker Robinson)
ESCAPADES (World Premier 1993)
“Escapades” was created by Alvin Ailey for the Aterballeto-Centro Regionale Della Danza of Italy in 1983, set to a score by jazz legends Max Roach and Benny Golson. This legacy work is presented by arrangement with the Alvin Ailey Dance Foundation.
Choreographer Alvin Ailey
Repetiteur Christopher L. Huggins
Music Max Roach and Benny Golson
Original Lighting Design Tim Hunter
Lighting Adaptation Anastazia Coney
Original Costume Design Carol Volett-Kingston
Costume Reconstruction Joey Santos
Solo Tyrone Walker – Fri 5/12 / Sat 5/13
Michael Battle – Sun 5/14
Duet Topaz von Wood and Tyrone Walker – Fri 5/12 / Sat 5/13
Jasmine Francisco and Michael Battle – Sun 5/14
Finale The Ensemble
REFLECTIONS ON DONALD MCKAYLE (Cleo Parker Robinson)
“LA NINA” EXCERPT FROM UPROOTED: PERO REPLANTADO
World Premiere University of California, Irvine 2015 / Cleo Parker Robinson Dance
Premiere 2018“
This work deals with undocumented immigrants to the United States. In the late spring and early summer of 2014, I watched the reports and pictures of young children carried by their older siblings, parting from their mothers, climbing the border fences of our country in search of freedom from oppression, poverty, and desperation. I watched the young and watched the mother, sad, brave, and selfless. I read the reports, heard the talks, and started a process of getting in touch with the different aspects of being uprooted from a country, a culture and genetic memories, and replanting yourself in a different land. Besides personal past memories, I took a deep look at the whole generation of my students and their different ethnic backgrounds. Some may have come here legally or un-documented, or were already born here in the US to parents that came here looking for a better life. I observed them being American, yet carrying their cultural heritage and genetic memory and their upbringing by hard-working families grateful for the opportunities available to their children. This thought process led me to whole-heartedly want to create a dance expressing the story of one such ethnic group the closest to our borders, yet encompassing within it all others in the replanted part which will express their rightful claim to belong with no prejudice, with rights intact to their new land through theirs and their families hard work, sacrifices and dedication. – Donald McKayle
Choreographer
Interpreteur
Donald McKayle
Stephanie Powell
Music Excerpts from “Border” Lila Downs
Costume Design
Costume Adaptation
Lighting Design
Lighting Adaptation
Kathryn Wilson
Alex J. Gordon
Kenneth Keith
Trey Grimes
Soloist Chloé-Grant Abel
EARTH WIND AND FIRE (World Premiere 1983)
Choreographer
Music
Original Lighting
Lighting Adaptation
Costume Design
Talley Beatty
“New World Symphony” Earth, Wind, and Fire
“Erotic City” Prince
“Africano / Power” Earth, Wind, and Fire
Reina Parker
Anastazia Coney
Ronnie Whittaker, Martha Parker
Solo Corey Boatner
Dancers
The Ensemble
Program selections, casting, and order subject to change without prior notice
Audio and/or video recording of any kind, including use of cell phones and tablets is strictly prohibitted without previous written permission from Cleo Parker Robinson Dance. Failure to comply may result in confiscation of footage and/or devices
WINIFRED R. HARRIS
Associate
Artistic Director
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. Having 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, CA, 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. Having served 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. Many of her innovative works are part of the Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble’s repertoire.
CHLOÉ-GRANT ABEL
Ensemble Rehearsal Director / Ensemble Member
A Kansas City native, Ms. Abel trained for twelve years under full scholarship at the Kansas City Ballet School. She studied in New York at the Ailey School as a Fellowship recipient, and received her BFA in Dance, Magna Cum Laude, from the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music and Dance. Her professional career includes performances with Quixotic Performance Fusion, the Kansas City Friends of Alvin Ailey, the Owen/Cox Dance Group, Wylliams/Henry Contemporary Dance Company and as an Apprentice with the Kansas City Ballet. Ms. Abel is now in her eleventh season with the Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble and is also Rehearsal Director for the Ensemble.
MICHAEL BATTLE
Ensemble Member
A native of Detroit, MI, Mr. Battle began his dance training at Detroit School of the Arts at the age of 14. In 2009, he joined the Lula Washington Dance Theatre as a company member, and in 2019, joined Ronald K. Brown/ Evidence, A Dance Company as a company member. Mr. Battle has traveled to China, Russia, Haiti, Mexico, Brazil, the United Kingdom, Spain, and Italy. He has performed with Grammy Award Winning and Nominated artists Kamasi Washington, Meshell Ndegeocello, Terence Blanchard, Aurturo O’Farrill, and Jody Watley. After guesting with the Ensemble in 2022, he is now in his first full season with Cleo Parker Robinson Dance.
CAELI BLAKE
Apprentice to the Ensemble
From the DC Metropolitan area, Ms. Blake began her formal training at BalletNova Center for Dance in Arlington, VA. She attended Duke Ellington School of the Arts (Washington DC) under the tutelage of Charles Augins, Sandra FortuneGreene, and Katherine Smith. She has studied with various company institutions including Deeply Rooted Dance Theater, Dance Theater of Harlem at the Strathmore, and Jazz & Contemporary at Joffrey Ballet. Ms. Blake graduated from Southern Methodist University, with a BFA in Dance Performance and BS in Education & Human Development. While a full-time student at SMU, she danced with B.Moore Dance. She has performed in works by Robert Battle, Christopher Huggins, Kevin Iega Jeff, Bridget L. Moore, Silas Farley, Nicole Clarke-Springer, among others.
COREY BOATNER
Ensemble Member
Growing up in Hammond IN, Mr. Boatner trained in multiple dance techniques at the Hammond Academy for the Performing Arts. An alum of Indiana University, he performed there in notable works including Kyle Abrahams Radio Show, Jose Limon’s Psalm, Andrea Millers Spill, Jerome Robbins Fanfare, and the original restaging of Twyla Tharp’s Deuce Coupe and Rennie Harris’ Home. He has also toured professionally with Elizabeth Shea Dance in Philadelphia and New York and performed overseas with Norwegian Creative Studios. After one season as an apprentice, Mr. Boatner is now in his second season as an Ensemble member.
JASMINE FRANCISCO
Ensemble Member
From Houston, TX, Ms. Francisco began her training at the Fine Arts Magnet School, originally called Johnston Middle School, under Jesse Woodcock, graduating in 2012 from The High School of Performing and Visual Arts as a dance major under the directions of Luanne Carter and Janie Carothers. She received her Bachelors of Fine Arts 2016 from Point Park University with repertoire from Jessica Lang, Terrance Marling, Troy Powell, Bennyroyce Royon, Garfield Lemonius and MADBOOTS. In her sophomore year of 2010, her student choreography project Tales of Courage was chosen to be featured at ACDA for the University. Six months after graduating from Point Park, she joined the Lula Washington Dance Theater in Los Angeles, CA for two seasons, performing works by Kyle Abraham, Donald Bryd, Rennie Harris, Christopher Huggins, and David Roussève. In 2018, Ms. Francisco moved to Denver, CO, joining the Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble where she is now in her fifth season as a company member. She also serves as the rehearsal director for the CPRD Junior Youth Ensemble.
RALAYA
S. GOSHEA
Wardrobe Mistress / Ensemble Member
Born in Detroit, Ms. Goshea trained at the Detroit High School for the Fine and Performing Arts and Oakland University, receiving her BFA. She has performed with the Brown Dance Project, Patterson Rhythm and Pace, Eisenhower Dance Ensemble, SMAGDance Company and the Dayton Contemporary Dance Company (DCDC). After being a member of Cleo II, she is now in her eleventh season with the Ensemble and also serves as Wardrobe Mistress for the Ensemble’s local performances and national touring.
TYVEZE LITTLEJOHN Ensemble Member
After graduating in 2011 from Douglas Anderson School of the Arts, Mr. Littlejohn apprenticed with the Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble for one year. In the Summer of 2017, he toured in the south of France touring his original work Evolution of Love. As a choreographer and teacher, he has worked with many diverse communities. In 2014, while performing with Lexington Ballet, he taught children with specific disabilities, and while touring with Ballet Palm Beach, he traveled to Cuba where he worked with the elder community. Having performed with Ballet Eddy Toussaint de Montreal, Lexington Ballet, and Ballet Palm Beach (2015-2018), with leading roles in Giselle, The Nutcracker, Midsummer Night’s Dream, Rite of Spring, and Gatsby, he subsequently returned to the Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble in 2018. Touring with the Ensemble, he has performed at the American Dance Festival in 2019, the Vail Dance Festival in 2021, and Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival in 2022. Mr. Littlejohn is now in his fifth season with the Ensemble.
SAMIYAH LYNNICE Ensemble Member
A Florida native. Ms. Lynnice began her training at Academy of Ballet Arts and Artz 4 Life Academy, Inc. in the Tampa Bay area. A graduate of New World School of the Arts, she holds a a BFA in dance from The Hartt School in Hartford, CT. In her youth, she toured the United States as a principle dancer with DunDu Dole West African Ballet and starred in the Chocolate Nutcracker as “Claire” and “The Dream Princess”. She has performed works by Martha Graham, Jose Limon, Doug Varone, Norbert DeLaCruz, Donald McKayle, Manuel Vignoulle, Brian Arias, Darrell Grand Moultrie, and Amalia Viviana Basanta Hernandez. Her sophomore year, she performed at the prestigious Joyce Theater during the Jose Limon International Dance Festival. She has been accepted into various summer workshops including Dance Theater of Harlem, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, RIOULT, Martha Graham Summer Intensive, Bill T Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company, and White Mountain Dance Festival. As a member of the Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble, where she is now in her fifth season, she has performed at the American Dance Festival in 2019, the Vail Dance Festival in 2021, and the Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival in 2022.
GABRIELA MADURO Ensemble Member
Originally from Fremont California, Ms. Maduro began her dance training at Yoko’s Dance and Performing Arts Academy and Nor Cal Dance Arts. She has attended Summer Intensives with the Ailey School, the Martha Graham School, and the San Francisco Conservatory of Dance.
She is a graduate of the University of California, Irvine where she graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Dance Performance. While at UCI, she was honored to perform as part of the distinguished Donald McKayle’s Etude Ensemble. She has performed works by Donald McKayle, Martha Graham, Darshan Singh Bhuller among others. Upon graduation, Ms. Maduro joined Cleo II, and after one season as an apprentice, joined the Ensemble, where she is now her second season.
LAMAR D. ROGERS Guest Performer
Mr. Rogers is a performer and choreographer hailing from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Having graduated from The Philadelphia High School for the Creative and Performing Arts, he later earned a Bachelors of Fine Arts in Dance Performance from The University of the Arts under the direction of Donna Faye Burchfield.
During his college career, he toured and performed with Eleone Dance Theatre under the direction and mentorship of Shawn-Lamere Williams. He has trained at various institutions throughout the Philadelphia area as a scholarship student attending Koresh School of Dance, DCNS Summer Dance Intensive and the Rock School for Dance Education.
Following graduation, he joined the Philadelphia Dance Company (PHILADANCO!) as a full-time company artist. He has performed works by Sidra Bell, Kyle & Dinita Clark, Merce Cunningham, Ulysses Dove, Tommie-Waheed Evans, Helen Simoneau, Rennie Harris and other acclaimed choreographers. He now joins Cleo Parker Robinson Dance for his first season with the Ensemble.
TOPAZ VON WOOD Ensemble Member
Originally from Sarasota, FL. Ms. von Wood began her earliest classical ballet training under the direction of Wilmian Hernandez. At age fourteen, she joined the Sarasota Cuban Ballet School Conservatory under the direction of Ariel Serrano. Having participated in Summer Intensives with The Ailey School, Joffrey Ballet School, Sarasota Ballet School, and The Carreno Dance Festival, she later graduated from The Ailey School Certificate Program in New York. While touring with the Ailey Student Performance Group, she performed works by Ray Mercer, Carlos Dos Santos, Jr., and Earl Mosley. Upon graduation, Topaz joined Cleo II, was an apprentice to the company for one season, and is now in her second season as an Ensemble member.
TYRONE C. WALKER Guest Performer
Originally from Washington DC, Mr. Walker is a graduate of Duke Ellington School of the Arts. A former member of Nashville Ballet 2, Ailey II, Moveius Contemporary Ballet, and Dallas Black Dance Theatre, he has performed works by many notable choreographers, including Robert Philander, Alvin Ailey, William Forsythe, George Faison, Troy Powell, Ben Stevenson, Christopher L. Huggins, Robert Battle, and Judith Jamison. He has also performed with the Nashville Ballet, and Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in Alvin Ailey’s “Memoria”. He has been a guest artist with the Tallahassee Ballet, Eglevsky Ballet, and Philadanco, with theater credits including Father Panik Village: The Untold Story (Bridgeport, CT), The Wiz (Dallas, TX) with Dallas Theater Center, Matilda (Tuacahn), Cinderella (Tuacahn), and The Prince of Egypt (Tuacahn). Mr. Walker performed the choreography of Sean Cheesman in a production of Art on Ice (Switzerland) featuring Aloe Blacc and Rebecca Ferguson and, most recently, danced the role of “Joseph” in Dominion Entertainment Group’s Black Nativity.
CLEO II
DEVRAE JEFFERSON | SADIE SANDOVAL | LAUREN SLAUGHTER | MELVIN SUTTON
Cleo Parker Robinson Founder / Artistic Director
Winifred R. Harris Associate Artistic Director
Rhetta Shead Production Director
Gabriella Shead Stage Manager
Chloé Grant Abel Ensemble Rehearsal Director
Cedric D. Hall Cleo II Rehearsal Director
Ralaya S. Goshea Wardrobe Mistress
Trey Grimes Technical Director
Conor Morford Senior Technician
Digital Audio
Video Programming
Anastazia Coney Senior Technician / Original Lighting Design and Adaptations
Eli Lynch Technical Crew
Jody Gilbert Playbill Design
Mary Hart Playbill Editor
Amelia Dietz-Rowe Media Design
Micah Bursh Group Sales Coordinator
Jeff Hirsch CPRD Photographer
ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF
Cleo Parker Robinson Founder / Artistic Director
Malik Robinson E xecutive Director
Rhetta Shead Director of Administration
Hillary Harding Director of Development
Shelby Jarosz Senior Director of Programs and Education
John Byers Director of Operations
Tobias Juniel Director of Advocacy and Engagement
Mary Hart Director of Booking and Touring
Amelia Dietz-Rowe Marketing Manager
Micah Bursh Marketing Communications Specialist
Kollin Payne Grants Manager
Victoria Shead Johnston Academy Manager
Shawnee De Christopher Academy Assistant Manager
Amandine Aubertot Academy Administrative Assistant
Michael Battle Academy Administrative Assistant
Gabriela Maduro Academy Administrative Assistant
Trey Grimes Technical Director
Anastazia Coney Theatre Lead Technician / Rental Assistant
Conor Morford Theatre Lead Technician / Rental Assistant
Patricia Smith OnTarget Public Relations
Sylvia Lambe Lambe PR
ARTISTIC STAFF
Winifred R. Harris Associate Artistic Director
Chloé Grant Abel Ensemble Rehearsal Director
Cedric D. Hall Cleo II Rehearsal Director
Jessica Horton Youth Ensemble Director
Jasmine Francisco Junior Youth Ensemble Director
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Gwen Brewer, Chair
Cleo Parker Robinson *Founder / Artistic Director
Malik Robinson, Executive Director
Tyrone Gant, Treasurer | Debbie Herrera, Vice Chair | Shale Wong, Vice Chair
Lisa Levin Appel, Toni Baruti, Christopher Cardenas, Darryl Collier, Tim Davis, Demesha Hill, Lisa Hogan, Matt Keeney, Kelli Kelly, Tony Price, Maria
Sepulveda, Robert Thompson, J. Matt Thornton, Josett Valdez
Alfred Walker, Jennifer Wozniak
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 (Deceased)
Rosalind “Bee” Harris
Eric Hughes
Renee Hurley
Henry Lowenstein (Deceased)
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 DirectorsSpecial thanks to the Ensembles, Board of Directors, Sponsors, Donors & Foundations, Education Partners, Administrative & Technical Staff, Faculty, Students, Parents, & Volunteers of CLEO PARKER ROBINSON DANCE and the “LEGACY” community
We also thank the following for their extraordinary support of this production.
Pat Brooks
CBS4
Colorado Expression Magazine
Denver Gazette (John Moore)
Denver Post (John Wenzel)
KMGH The Denver Channel
KUSA 9News
National Endowment for the Arts
Stan and Chris Obert
The Parker and Robinson Families
Theresa Peoples
Deborah Powell
PSI Production Services International
Queen Anne Bed and Breakfast
Malik and Vianey Robinson
Rocky Mountain Arts Association (Michael Sattler, Raul Dominquez, James Knapp)
Scientific and Cultural Facilities District (SCFD)
Rhetta Shead and Family
Two Sistahs Catering
Leslie Sue Parker Wallace
Warwick Hotel
Letitia Williams
Martha Wirth
In memoriam
Tom Robinson
Harry Belafonte
Jonathon “JP” Parker, Martha Parker, James Wallace
Marceline Freeman, Robertta Freeman, Carl Bourgeois
Abuelita Olga Gonzalez, Jaime Gonzalez, Kevin McNicholas, Ron Thornton
