Learning a complex piece of choreography is hard enough without having to do it at a moment’s notice, but that was exactly what Cleo Parker Robinson Dance was up against this month.
After returning from a series of shows in New Jersey in late March, the Denver company’s dancers had to reset and absorb an entirely new work from New York choreographer Ray Mercer — and they needed to do it in less than a week.
“Dancers need to really feel that sense of trust where they can literally fly in the air or land in each other’s arms without killing themselves,” Robinson said between rehearsals earlier this week.
Fortunately, preparation has a way of erasing time deficits, as audiences will see when Cleo Parker Robinson Dance’s annual spring concert, “Move,” opens this weekend.
The show, which runs through April 25 at Robinson’s theater in Five Points, contains the titular premiere from Mercer as well as Brazilian choreographer Rosangela Silvestre’s “Temple in Motion,” Donald McKayle’s “Nocturne” and excerpts from Robinson’s own “Spiritual Suite.”
“Ray Mercer has this unbelievable way with dancers that just physically challenges them to no end,” Robinson said. “He comes in and has all of these extraordinary ideas, but he does it in such a quick amount of time.”
Mercer says he has no choice. “I have to be that way because I just had a show last night and I flew in this morning at 6 a.m.,” said Mercer, in town earlier this week to fine-tune his creation.
An award-winning dancer in Broadway’s “The Lion King” (which also features several Robinson alumni), Mercer has been performing eight shows a week on top of choreographing his own pieces and teaching at places like Alvin Ailey’s Summer Camp Program and the Joffrey Ballet Educational Program.
“It takes an extreme amount of preparation, and there’s no plan B,” said Mercer, who has been dancing with “The Lion King” for seven years. “You have to know exactly what you want to do, so I workshop and makes videos before I come, I have tons of notes and I know the music inside and out. But the minute the dancers see that, they immediately step up to the plate.”
Better-trained dancers from more comprehensive dance programs deserve credit for quick turnarounds, Robinson said. But the amount of material they needed to absorb for “Move,” including an all-new Cirque du Soleil-inspired aerial piece from choreographer Rosalinda Rojas, would be daunting to any artist.
“Some of the works are really on the edge and dangerous,” Robinson said. “We have this real grounded work with Mr. McKayle’s ‘Nocturne,’ with intricate, challenging rhythms where the body becomes the drum.
“Then you have Rosalinda’s ‘Identity.’ Her daughter, Gabi, is a company member and grew up around the circus for most of her life. And an incredible thing about her journey is that she came into dance late because she has juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, but then she went on to be on (Fox reality show) ‘So You Think You Can Dance.’ “
“Nobody has much time anymore, and yet what’s so beautiful about dance is the process, because you have to un-layer a lot and get down deep in a dancer’s being,” Robinson said. “Our dancers are very disciplined about how to keep their own.”
John Wenzel: 303-954-1642 or jwenzel@denverpost.com
CLEO PARKER ROBINSON DANCE ENSEMBLE PRESENTS “MOVE.”
Modern dance. Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Theatre, 119 Park Avenue West. Free parking. April 16-18, 23-25. 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturday; 2 p.m. Sundays. $20-$30. 303-295-1759 ext. 13 or
