• October 15th, 2024
  • Tuesday, 03:29:24 PM

Free MLK Tribute with Cleo Parker and Grand Design


Celebrate a Martin Luther King tribute with the   metro areas largest and longest running multi-cultural, multi-collaborative cultural concert series featuring Cleo Parker and Grand Design on Jan 23rd, at the Aurora Fox Theater, 9900 E. Colfax Ave., from 12 noon-1pm. The event is free and open to the public.

The Colorado Folk Arts Council in conjunction with the Aurora Fox Theater and Metropolitan State University of Denver Journey Through Our Heritage present this mini tribute to MLK as part of their Cultural Concerts on Colfax series.

Dr. Martin Luther King Day is a staple holiday in every school and government agency throughout the nation. Accompanied by much pomp and circumstances, this auspicious anniversary is one of the United States largest community wide events. Yet it is in the smallest of ways that the great civil rights leader is best remembered.

Join Colorado Folk Arts Council, Metropolitan State University of  Denver Chicana/o Studies Journey Through Our Heritage program  and the City of Aurora  in paying tribute to this great humanitarian. The concert features Grand Design Inc., Aurora’s oldest arts non- profit. Under the direction of Dr. Barbara Shannon-Banister the troupe is celebrating over 27 years in the metro area where they provide cultural workshops and concerts for schools and organizations year long. The show will highlight historic spirituals, modern gospel and original scores.

Also, featured at this year’s MLK Celebration will be Cleo Parker Dance. This nationally acclaimed and award-winning troupe was founded by Cleo Parker over four decades ago. In 1998, President Clinton named Ms. Parker Robinson as one of two artists to be appointed to the National Council on the Arts where she served until 2005 as one of the two appointed members of the fourteen-member council in Washington D.C.  In 2005, Ms. Parker Robinson received a Kennedy Center Medal of Honor during the Center’s “Masters of African American Choreographers” series.

 

“The spirit of MLK have never been more vibrant and alive” said Ron Gehauf, president of the Colorado Folk Arts Council. “This is a great opportunity to see history come alive at the hands of some very talented and sensitive artist who have been involved first hand in the civil rights struggle. We are especially excited to have Metropolitan State University working with us.”

The event is co-Sponsored by Metropolitan State College Chicana/o Studies Journey Through Our Heritage Program, Arapaho SCFD, Colorado Cultural Connections and the Aurora Fox.

The show is free to the public. For groups of 10 or more reservations are required. For more information call text 720-329-0869 or email jtoh2016@gmail.com.

 

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