Just on the other side of the holiday season, Cleo Parker Robinson Dance, the organization that helped raise me and that I currently lead, is celebrating the grand opening of our new Center for the Healing Arts.<\/p>\n
As I think about this milestone, I\u2019m reminded of a Denver interview a decade ago with the great Black American ballerina Misty Copeland as she reflected on how dance rescued her from a chaotic childhood to help her find her voice through artistic expression.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2026Once I discovered ballet it was so clear to me that it was such an escape from all of the obstacles at home \u2026 \u00a0And when I was in the studio is really the first time that there was this clarity, and it was something that was so beautiful that again was my own. And I never experienced that as a child. And to this day it still is an escape for me,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Copeland was addressing young girls, but her comments resonate for anyone curious about the power of dance. The arts have been a balm for the soul, for individuals young and old, from every background, and political persuasion. It is something Cleo Parker Robinson Dance has understood for our 55 years of existence.<\/p>\n
Our 25,000 square-foot expansion, adjoining our longtime home in the Historic Shorter African Methodist Episcopal Church (100 years old in 2026), is not just a beautiful edifice. It represents a melding of the old and new to forge an expansive future.<\/p>\n
My parents grew up a couple of blocks away and my late dad, Tom Robinson, attended Boy Scouts in the church\u2019s garden-level gymnasium. Thirty-eight years ago, CPRD transformed that very gym into dance studios and the sanctuary upstairs into a theatre that has been home to more than 30 performing arts companies from around the metropolitan area.<\/p>\n
But we always dreamed of a new facility to match the quality of the organization\u2019s educational and artistic programs.<\/p>\n
After fits and starts, including surviving the pandemic and price escalations, we launched a multi-phased capital campaign. In 2021, CPRD purchased the historic building and adjacent land, and today stands a new four-level structure that includes a state-of-the-art theater with world-class acoustics, new studios, rehearsal spaces, and gathering areas designed for our community wellness programs.<\/p>\n
With an annual budget of $2.5 million, CPRD has always punched above its weight, but we would not have succeeded in raising the $25 million for the expansion without the support and collaboration of the Denver arts, political and philanthropic infrastructure<\/a>.<\/p>\n What we have accomplished is a testament to the galvanizing power of bringing people together and the learning that brings about. Through an extensive public-private partnership, funding for the project came from every corner of our city and state.<\/p>\n Community foundations, political representatives and corporate partners stepped forward as well as individual donors from across the community (who contributed nearly 20 percent of the total cost) — proof that Cleo Parker Robinson Dance is a valued asset to Denver and Colorado.<\/p>\n For five decades, we have championed the arts to spark curiosity and learning, promote healing and foster belonging.\u00a0My mother, our founder, Cleo Parker Robinso<\/a>n, established the company after earning double degrees in dance and psychology.<\/p>\n Her passion and vision have integrated the arts and behavioral health into award-winning programs.\u00a0Those early \u201chealing power of art\u201d workshops have morphed into the new Center for the Healing Arts.\u00a0Our work is not only cross cultural, but intergenerational, multi-regional and deeply rooted in African Diasporic traditions.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a big reason for our success.\u00a0Over the decades, we\u2019ve trained thousands of\u00a0young dancers in ballet, hip-hop, jazz, African dance, and tap. Our company has performed all over the world, and touched every corner of Colorado, making more than\u00a02,000 school visits to reach kids from pre-K to high school who might not otherwise have seen a professional dance company.<\/p>\n