Cleo Parker Robinson & Adonis Rose talk about new collaboration "Sacred Spaces?"
CBS News Colorado is dedicated to Elevating Black Voices in our communities. Denver treasure Cleo Parker Robinson is a prime example, as her dance company is performing a world premiere on Saturday night. It's called "Sacred Spaces?," a production that focuses on a topic not often discussed: injustices to Black churches.
Recently, CBS News Colorado Anchor Mekialaya White sat down with Robinson and Adonis Rose, the Artistic Director of the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra, to talk about their new collaboration.
"We've been doing pieces about social justice for a long time," explained Robinson. "This one is close to our hearts. We are in the shorter A.M.E. Church, and it was burned by the Klan in the '20s. But these churches we're performing about are most recent, 2019, in Opelousas, Louisiana. These churches were most recently in the news and it's important that we really recognize these kinds of things are still happening in our country."
Rose composed the music for the project and says audiences can expect to be immersed in the experience and feel what it was like when the churches burned. "They can see the musical work humanized by Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Company, so it's a beautiful piece of work."
"The act itself of having something that is real to people right now," Robinson continued. "We were in the community with the ministers and their families. We could feel the pain that they still have to try and rebuild. So, it's helping the community rebuild awareness. But also in our own communities, be aware that people have to come together in a place of building and not destroying."
Robinson says the piece is considered modern ballet, designed to heal. "I was inspired by the story, the idea because sacred spaces can be anything. Which, of course, is our Black churches which have been destroyed. But it can also be mosques and sacred ground by Indigenous people. It can also be our own bodies."
Both are anxiously anticipating their big debut. Rose said, "I'm excited about the process."
"We've been following each other's leads," said Robinson.
You can purchase tickets here: cleoparkerdance.org/tickets
