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) \u2014 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