Cleo Parker Robinson is troubled by the word “fame.”
The esteemed Afro-modern choreographer and Denver native may head up one of the region’s popular dance companies, and garner national praise for experience with the likes of Alvin Ailey, Debbie Allen, Harry Belafonte and Gordon Parks. But Robinson still pauses when considering the significance of the title of her new concert, “Roots to Fame.”
Cleo Parker Robinson Dance marks its 35th season tonight with a black-tie gala, followed by two weekends of performances at the Newman Center for the Performing Arts. The concert includes “Spiritual Suite,” a signature work Robinson created during the dawn of her career, along with two works by frequent collaborator Christopher Huggins, and a world premiere by recent Metropolitan Opera Ballet hire Roger C. Jeffrey – one of the few black men ever to dance with that company.
“It’s wonderful when you have young choreographers reaching for the same roots we were reaching for,” Robinson said earlier this week while seated with Jeffrey in her Five Points office just blocks from where she lived as a child.
“We’ve always supported the masters,” she said, “but to see that continuity (in young choreographers)? … It’s exactly where I’m at.”
Jeffrey, 31, is a New York City native, a founder of his own grassroots dance company there and a performer with a résumé that includes dancing for the likes of Twyla Tharp. He selected music by South African-born jazz pianist Abdullah Ibrahim, known as Dollar Brand before his conversion to Islam in the late 1960s, for “Know Thyself,” a moving, abstract ensemble piece the Cleo Parker Robinson’s dancers will premiere Saturday night.
“Each of the dancers takes a ritualistic journey,” Jeffrey said of “Know Thyself.” He was in Denver just one day this week before needing to return to New York and his job dancing with the Metropolitan Opera Ballet.
“It’s a rite of passage,” he said of the work he created for Cleo Parker Robinson Dance.
Rehearsals reveal Jeffrey’s controlled yet frenetic style is a fusion of classical ballet, jazz and hip-hop. His score is powerful and purposeful.
“I wanted to expose people to Islam without passing judgment on it,” Jeffrey said of the Ibrahim music. “It’s a beautiful and wholesome religion … (and) Cleo’s dancers bring a calm perspective to the work.”
In another move that recalls the founding of Cleo Parker Robinson Dance in 1970 and its multicultural vision, a guest dancer from Japan, Kayoko Amemiya, will perform the Huggins’ solo “Essence” about the many aspects of one woman’s personality. That dance has significance for Robinson, in part, because before founding her own company, she danced and taught in Denver with a Japanese choreographer.
“We were different, but we had one vision,” she said.
For Jeffrey, working on “Roots to Fame” provided an opportunity for artistic freedom that young choreographers rarely find. Many dance companies say they want to showcase new talent, he said, but few are willing to do it.
“This was a very qualifying experience,” he said.
That too is part of the “Roots to Fame” that Robinson is trying to define.
“Every New York choreographer I ever brought here in the early days took chances they would never take in New York,” she said.
Robinson added that the decision to showcase new choreographers instead of just producing her own work is one she sometimes has to defend.
But “Roots to Fame” is as much about looking forward with new talent as it is about reaching back.
“I am showing my work,” she said of this concert, which features three dances by Jeffrey and fellow New Yorker Huggins, and only one choreographed by Robinson. “In the largest sense of the word, this is my work.”
Staff writer Elana Ashanti Jefferson can be reached at 303-820-1957 or ejefferson@denverpost.com.
Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble
The Denver modern dance company marks its 35th season with an anniversary gala and a concert featuring new work by rising modern-dance choreographer Roger C. Jeffrey.
ANNIVERSARY GALA|Seawell Ballroom, Denver Performing Arts Complex; 6:30 tonight|$150; limited walk-up space; reservations encouraged|303-295-175, ext. 14
“ROOTS TO FAME”|Newman Center for the Performing Arts, University of Denver; 8 p.m. Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday, 8 p.m. Oct. 1 and 2 p.m. Oct. 2. A portion of opening night proceeds benefit Hurricane Katrina relief efforts. | 18-$38|Ticketmaster, 303-357-2787 or ticketmaster.com
