Cleo Parker Robinson Celebrates Her Mentor's Legacy
When the curtain rises for the Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble's production of "Katherine Dunham...She Lives!" on Thursday, February 28, the company's founder, internationally acclaimed artistic director, choreographer and dancer Cleo Parker Robinson, expects to be one of the most exhilarated performers waiting in the wings.
"I anticipate with great joy performing again one of Ms. Dunham's most celebrated works "Barrel House Blues" in concert." Robinson said. "No one in the Dunham Company other than Ms. Dunham herself has ever danced this role, so each time I perform it, I feel her spirit."
The Ensemble's Spring concert series is a celebration of the life and work of Katherine Dunham, the legendary African American dancer, choreographer, actress, cultural anthropologist and humanitarian who, as early as the 1930s, mixed traditional ballet with multi-cultural dance styles to create a new genre of performance that inspired audiences around the world. During her career, Dunham created, choreographed, and performed more than 100 original works including choreography for Broadway, for films such as "Stormy Weather", and operas such as "Aida". After her death in 2006 at the age of 96, the preservation of her works became even more significant to Robinson and her Ensemble, as they are the only professional dance company actively preserving and performing choreography set on them by Ms. Dunham. Robinson was recently named by the Dunham Estate, Ms. Dunham's daughter Marie-Christine in Rome, and the National Dance Notation Bureau in New York, to officially set two of the works that will be featured in this concert - "Choros" and "Barrel House Blues". Any company worldwide wishing to acquire these works may do so only under the direction of Ms. Parker Robinson. Robinson is deeply humbled and honored to be so entrusted.
"Katherine Dunham...She Lives!" opens during Black History Month in February and continues into the first two weekends of "Women's History Month" in March., Robinson believes the concert, like Dunham herself, defies easy classification, and crosses many boundaries. Two of the works included in the program - "Barrel House Blues" and "Ragtime" - draw heavily on African American cultural traditions. "Barrel House Blues" is based on the Shimmy of the Florida Gulf Coast, while "Ragtime" comes out of Scott Joplin's opera, TREEMONISHA, The Denver premier of "Ragtime" is made possible by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts (American Masterpieces) and the New England Foundation For the Arts (NEFA) which supports the setting and touring of the work by Robinson's Ensemble. After its Denver premier, a "Katherine Dunham...She Lives!" legacy tour is scheduled for the 2008/2009 season.
The work "Choros," is a stylized version of a nineteenth-century Brazilian quadrille set to music by Vidaco Gogliano. This work was first commissioned for presentation by the Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble at the American Dance Festival, funded by ADF and the Lila Wallace Fund.
Other works presented in this concert will reflect the influence of Dunham's unique style on a myriad of 20 th Century American choreographers, including Robert Joffrey, Talley Beatty, Donald McKayle, and the acclaimed Alvin Ailey whose dynamic work "Escapades" will be performed by the Ensemble.
Robinson feels presenting the "Katherine Dunham...She Lives!" concert in her theatre located in Denver's Historic Five Points community has special significance. "Dance must be performed to thrive. Having this concert here in our house, in the space where Miss Dunham was in residence, working, teaching and mentoring, means so much to us, I cherish this opportunity to share the legacy of an extraordinary American treasure with our audiences, young and old, and to insure the preservation of Miss D;s life and work forever.".
- Details -
What: "Katherine Dunham...She Lives!" A Salute to an Extraordinary American Dance Legend by the Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble.
When: Feb. 28-March 1 and March 6-8 at 7:30 p.m.; March 2 and March 9 at 2 p.m.
(Media preview: Feb. 27 at 7:30 p.m.)
Where: Cleo Parker Robinson Dance, 119 Park Avenue West, Denver, Colo., 80205
in Denver's Historic Five Points.
Tickets: Order by phone: 303-295-1759, ext. 13, purchase online through TicketsWest, at area King Soopers, or at the door one hour before curtain.
Adults: $30 / seniors, students, children $20.
Special individual pricing available for Thursday performances, and for Groups of 8 or more for any of the performances.
Cleo Parker Robinson Dance (CPRD) is now celebrating its 38th Season. Founded in the belief that the language of dance transcends the boundaries of culture, class and age, this institution is committed to bringing dance into the lives of diverse people. CPRD is composed of a professional modern dance ensemble, year-round dance school, three-hundred seat theatre, in-school lecture demonstration series, international summer dance institute and outreach programs for community youth. In 2007, the Dunham Estate requested that CRPD act as agent for all rights, licenses, and contracts for the presentation of "Barrel House Blues" and "Choros" to control the artistic integrity of these works. CPRD is a 501 (c) (3) multicultural performing arts organization in Denver, Colorado.