Photo by Jerry Metellus
CLEO PARKER ROBINSON is founder and artistic director of the nearly 51-year-old Denver-based artistic institution, CLEO PARKER ROBINSON DANCE (CPRD), leading a professional Ensemble, a second company (Cleo II), a Youth Ensemble, an Academy of Dance, an International Summer Dance Institute, a 240-seat theatre which bears her name and numerous community outreach programs throughout Colorado, nationally, and internationally. She is the recipient of honors and awards from corporate, civic, community and artistic entities world-wide, and is continually called upon by a myriad of organizations and performance venues to bring her Ensemble for performances, teaching residencies and motivational workshops. A master teacher/choreographer and cultural ambassador, she and her Ensemble have performed nationwide and internationally throughout Europe, the Caribbean, Asia, and the African continent, with their most recent international tours taking them to Bogota, Colombia in the Spring of 2019 and Mexico in Fall 2019.
Ms. Parker Robinson’s numerous 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 Doctorate from Denver University (1991), an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Colorado College (2003), and an Honorary Doctorate of Public Service from Regis University in Denver (2008). The University of Denver honored her with an Alumni Award in May of 2021, and in June of 2021, she is receiving a 2020 Honorary Degree, Doctor of Humane Letters, Honous Causa from CU Boulder.
In 1991, Ms. Parker served on the task force for the creation of 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 became the recipient of the highly prestigious DanceUSA Honor Award and in September 2017, the Randy Weeks Arts Leadership Award from the Denver School of the Arts.
Ms. Robinson has served on NEA panels on Dance, Expansion Arts, Arts America and Inter-Arts panels for the USIS. Ms. Robinson is a regular panelist for the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts as well as other national task forces, boards and committees in the arts arena. 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 and reviews and making recommendations to the Chairman on grant applications.
Since 2011 and 2012, Ms. Parker Robinson has returned to her greatest passion, the art of the choreographer, creating and presenting two new full-length works, “Dreamcatchers: The Untold Stories of the Americas” and the riveting world premiere of her “Romeo and Juliet”, which was first presented 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 both nationally and internationally. In Spring 2017, audiences were thrilled with the re-staging of two of her works melding the worlds of 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 her “Copacetic: A Tribute to Jonathon ‘JP’ Parker”, honoring her father. In the 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 the premiere of her collaboration with the Colorado Ballet, entitled “The MOVE/ment” as part of the Tour de Force performance series at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House, Denver Center for the Performing Arts. Her most recent choreographic project brought her to UMKC in 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. She is currently working on a new work entitled “Standing On the Shoulders” commissioned by the Vail International Dance Festival for premiere in August 2021.
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.