COLORADO BALLET 

CLEO PARKER ROBINSON DANCE 

Denver 

News: The 2026 Vail Dance Festival, an 11-day “Celebration of creativity, collaboration and world-class artistry,” closed on Aug. 10 with a program of world premieres and new works created for the festival.  

But on Aug. 9 it was Colorado’s chance to shine, when the evening’s “Colorado Dances” program put the spotlight on works performed by Colorado Ballet and Cleo Parker Robinson Dance. 

The program included “The Open Door,” choreographed by Charles “Lil Buck” Riley, a dancer, actor and model from Memphis who specializes in a style of street dance called jookin’. The piece had its world premiere in January at Cleo Parker Robinson Dance’s new Center for the Healing Arts. 

To the delight of many, Lil Buck made a cameo appearance in the dance. 

Lil Buck has described “The Open Door” as a “Nod to legacy and how Memphis jookin’ became an open door to the arts, combining all I know with how the dancers approached learning a new way of movement, walking through that open door, allowing other cultures and dances to be a part of their DNA.” 

Cleo Parker Robinson Dance also performed Winifred Harris’ “Internal Landscapes” and Donald McKayle’s “Uprooted: Pero Replantado.” 

Colorado Ballet’s contribution was “S. Rachmaninoff” by Yoshi Arai and “Can’t Stop the Feeling” by Sandra Brown. 

The performances were underwritten by Jane and Skip Netzorg, longtime supporters of both dance companies, with additional support from Alexia and Jerry Jurschak. 

Receptions held both before and after the performances were occasions for Denver-area dance aficionados who’d traveled to Vail to salute Gil Boggs on his 20th anniversary as artistic director for Colorado Ballet.  

Also celebrating a 20-year anniversary: Damian Woetzel, who has been artistic director of the Vail Dance Festival since 2006. Woetzel, a former principal dancer with the New York City Ballet, also is president of The Juilliard School. 

Among the guests: Allie Coppeak, a former Vail Valley Foundation staffer who is one of the Dance Archive’s 2026 Legends of Dance; Sally Hybl; Colorado Ballet trustee Joanne Posner-Mayer; emeritus trustee Christin Crampton Day, who also serves as executive director of Colorado Business Committee for the Arts; Lisa Appel; Julie Gart; Chad and Marisa Hollingsworth (she’s the executive director of Presenting Denver); Dee Wisor; Sue Parker Williams; Gary Steuer, former head of the Bonfils-Stanton Foundation and a new member of the Cleo Parker Robinson Dance board; Gwen and Moses Brewer, longtime supporters of Cleo Parker Robinson Dance; writer and marathon runner Jay Wissot; and Vail Dance Festival board member Susan Campbell. 

About the organizations:  

Colorado Ballet, established in 1961, is a nonprofit organization whose 43 professional company dancers and 18 studio company dancers present more than 50 world-class classical ballet and innovative dance performances per year. 

Cleo Parker Robinson Dance, founded in 1970, is an internationally known dance company that uses dance to foster an inclusive, welcoming atmosphere centered on peace, love, respect and cross-cultural understanding. 

Websites: cleoparkerdance.org  coloradoballet.org