KATHERINE DUNHAM
June 22, 1909 - May 21, 2006
"When you have faith in something, it's your reason to be alive and to fight for it."
-- Katherine Dunham
@2005 - 2007 www.katherinedunham.org All Rights Reserved.
Dunham Institute-Atlanta, Inc. | P.O. Box 361780 | Decatur, GA 30036-1780
Founded in 1989
CHOROS
(first performed at Royal Alexandra Theatre, Toronto, January1944)
Choreographer
Miss Katherine Dunham
Music
Vadico Gogliano
Lighting Design for Cleo Parker Robinson Dance
Keith Rice
Costume Designer
John Pratt
Costumes
Courtesy of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre
Dancers
Nichole Salazar and Nijawwon Matthews
Michelle Zada and Vernon Gooden
“Choros” was commissioned by Charles and Stephanie Reinhardt of the American Dance Festival, and the Lila Wallace Funds. Set on the CLEO PARKER ROBINSON DANCE ENSEMBLE in 1994 by Katherine Dunham, and her dancers, Tommy Gomez and Julie Belafonte, the work is a masterpiece from the 1940s, a perfect example of the fusion of strict classical ballet with Brazilian and primitive rhythms, and the Dunham technique.
To survive, dance must be performed.
That message came through with extra poignancy in the performance, by the Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble of Denver, of Katherine Dunham's 1944 "Choros," a charming quartet that fuses traditional Brazilian and Dunham dance with ballet, recalling the look of the fancy dances of American plantation slaves in part here because of the lovingly clear, fresh detail of the dancing.
-- by Jennifer Dunning | New York Times
BARREL HOUSE BLUES
(1938)
Choreographer
Miss Katherine Dunham
Music
Jess Stacy
Costume Design
John Pratt
Lighting Design
Keith W. Rice
Dancers
Cleo Parker Robinson, Marisa Mack, Vernon Gooden
“Barrel House Blues” was originally set on the the Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble by the legendary Katherine Dunham, along with Julie Belafonte and Vanoye Aikens - original members of the Katherine Dunham Dance Company. “BARREL HOUSE BLUES” premiered at the American Dance Festival in 1994 and is a signature piece of Ms. Dunham.
CLEO PARKER ROBINSON DANCE
Cleo Parker Robinson
Founder / Artistic Director
Marceline Freeman
Ensemble Rehearsal Director
Melissa McCorkle
Interim Ensemble Rehearsal Director
THE ENSEMBLE
Vernon Gooden
Hershel Deondre Horner III
Jessi Knight Walker
Marlayna Locklear
Marisa Mack
Nijawwon Matthews
Chivas Merchant-Buckman
Candice Musselman
Jessica Pearson
Nichole Salazar
Riki Wess
Michelle Zada
ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF
Cleo Parker Robinson
Founder / Artistic Director
Donna Smith
Executive Director
Tom Robinson
Business Manager
Malik Robinson
Booking Manager
Mary Hart
Director of Operations
Susan Medina
Director of Education
OUR MISSION STATEMENT
Cleo Parker Robinson Dance is a Denver-based professional multi-cultural dance-arts institution dedicated to providing instruction,
performances and programs for students, artists, and audiences worldwide, thereby fostering appreciation, access,
and the development of new audiences for dance
FOR INFORMATION ABOUT THE ENSEMBLE, YOUTH ENSEMBLE, DANCE SCHOOL, THE AYE PROJECT,
THE CLEO PARKER ROBINSON THEATRE, THE SEASON OF SCHOOLS OUTREACH PROGRAM,
THE INTERNATIONAL SUMMER DANCE INSTITUTE, OR OUR CAPITAL CAMPAIGN, PLEASE CONTACT:
CLEO PARKER ROBINSON DANCE
Located in the Historic Shorter AME Church Building
Denver's Historic Five Points Community
119 Park Avenue West, Denver, Colorado 80205
303.295.1759 -- Phone | 303.295.1328 -- Fax
Email: cleodance@aol.com
Throughout the course of her career, Katherine Dunham created over 100 original choreographic works.
Today, the Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble celebrates the legacy with presentations of living choreography.
