ComePassion at Cleo Parker Robinson Dance

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 "ComePassion" blends generations and genres of dance in a hybrid concert of five works (three performed live and two pre-recorded).Being present with both passion and compassion in this extraordinary time, we cant claim entry to a post-Civil Rights era, but every step forward brings us closer to community and healing. Our work over the past two years focused on the Civil Rights Movement from the 1950s into 2021. We continually respond to the times through our art. "ComePassion" allows us to connect with our audiences virtually and in person, said Cleo Parker Robinson, Founder and Artistic Director of Cleo Parker Robinson Dance.

"ComePassion" takes a global migration perspective, presenting four works and introducing a fifth, across generations and genres:

Two CPRD Ensemble alumni ignite two works presented in-person, livestreamed: 1) UM Kansas City Modern Dance Associate Professor Gary Abbotts commission of "Check Cashing Day," choreographed by Cleo Parker Robinson, has its Denver premiere. Created in tribute to the rich jazz history of Kansas City, Mo., and the music of Bobby Watson, Bettye Miller, and Milt Abel, this work honors each generations voice, speaking the truth of the struggle for equality and justice through the power of music, dance, and spoken word. 2) Winifred R. Harris, CPRDs Associate Artistic Director, presents the World Premiere of "Depouille" (Bare), describing, This work pays 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.

"Black Angels" (film performance streamed) was commissioned by Cleo Parker Robinson Dance, and is choreographed by Boulder, Colo.-based Robert Sher-Machherndl, Founder of Lemon Sponge Cake Ballet. Created through the lens of a European choreographer, it is performed on film to create a more intimate look at the work. Filmed at Denvers RedLine Gallery, "Black Angels" explores the trauma of racial violence.

"MOVE: From the Inside Out!" (in-person livestreamed performance) was choreographed on commission and set on the Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble by Ray Mercer, long-term cast member of "The Lion King." "Move" is an inventive ensemble ballet that embraces and celebrates the spirit of dance in three parts, and it is accompanied with a poem/spoken word performance.

"Four Journeys" (documentary film excerpt) is an international masterwork scheduled for its World Premiere Fall 2021 at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House in Denver. Introduced via a documentary film excerpt, Four Journeys is created by choreographer Amalia Viviana Basanta Hernndez, Director of the Ballet Folkrico de Mexico set on the Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble. Because the COVID-19 pandemic temporarily halted in-person development, Basanta Hernndez and Parker Robinson shifted into virtual collaboration, as documented by filmmaker Alan Dominguez, in a variety of locations. Four Journeys migrates across centuries of cultural crossroads by Indigenous, Spanish, African, and Asian peoples in Mexico and the North American continent.