Strolling through the $25 million Cleo Parker Robinson Center for the Healing Arts is a bit like seeing the world through the eyes of Robinson herself. Lofty. Colorful. Splashed with light and visual interest. But like Robinson, the space is also disciplined, sleek and, by any standard, world-class in its presentation. “This has been a long time coming, and the idea is we’re not going to do this again,” she said of the 25,000-square-foot, four-story addition, which was still getting finishing touches last week as workers milled in the lobby with drills and ladders. “This is it.” The 77-year-old founder of the celebrated dance company, which stages and creates diverse works while specializing in African dance and the diaspora, has been operating out of the converted, former Shorter AME Church in Five Points since 1988, having signed a $1-per-year lease with the city. They bought the church in 2021 and now own it outright. But they had never developed the triangular outdoor lot next to the church, which Cleo also owns. That changes with the addition, which now includes offices, updated rehearsal spaces, reception rooms, bars, and a state-of-the-art theater joining the existing building, at 119 Park Ave, West. The $25 million project has already been paid for with public and private funds, Robinson said, but the company’s still trying to raise additional money by selling naming rights to individual theater seats and other perks that will blunt an estimated 30% jump in operational costs. “Ten years ago, our biggest donor was like $1,000 per year,” said Malik Robinson, who is president and CEO of Cleo Parker Dance, and Cleo’s son. “We have a lot of social capital, so to speak, but transforming that into money is hard. But once we figured out this could be affordable, we thought, ‘We have to do this.’ ” The new wing opened to fanfare from the public, local artists and politicians this week with sold-out shows and receptions. The Robinsons hope those will continue as outside groups apply to rent the spaces for performances and private events in what’s become vital revenue for the nonprofit, which sports a $2.5 million annual budget to support its shows, classes and tours. It’s easy to see why the public would want to, given the building’s unique design and amenities. There’s the decorative labanotation (or choreography notes) on the eastern exterior wall, featuring hieroglyphic-like markings. It’s surrounded by 225 semi-transparent, vibrantly colored fins, whose panes collect and scatter light for aesthetic beauty. There are also 55 photovoltaic (or electricity-conducting) panels under the labanotation that flank huge, programmable windows that can change their tint. A skylight connects the old building to the new, gathering and diffusing natural light. The original building, with its beige-and-brown-brick exterior, is now partially indoors. Cleo loves that her new office overlooks the addition’s main dance studio, which is generously spaced with 28-foot-high ceilings and 1,400-square-foot of elbow room. It’s one of three, and she joked that she needs a “goddess microphone” to project her voice over loudspeakers to the dancers below, even when she’s not in the actual rooms. “If somebody says, ‘Cleo, you can’t be in more than one place at the same time,’ I’m thinking, ‘Yes. Yes, I can,'” she said. “But I forget they can all see me, too.” A new, 240-seat theater slopes 12 feet under street level to take advantage of the relatively tight, 6,000-square-foot size of the plot. Like the other features, it incorporates technical aspects learned from not only Cleo’s thousands of shows over the years in the U.S. and abroad, but also best practices from dance companies such as Alvin Ailey Theater and the Joyce Theater in New York. (Architecture firm Fentress Studios, in fact, accompanied Cleo there for the research and took extensive notes, she said.) The seats can retract to fit the space needs of the performers and audience, Malik said, whether they’re dancers, musicians, or lecturers. “Even in the old theater, dance companies would come in and perform and say, ‘We wish you had a black box theater,’ ” Malik said. “So we designed that into the new one to make it a flex space.” “Jobs are won and lost before you even get in the ground and start doing construction,” said Brian Fitzpatrick, vice president of Mortensen’s Denver office. “And we had a good design partner in Fentress, which has been in Denver for a long time and understands the ins and outs these (cultural nonprofit) projects. You’re protecting the past, not raising it and gentrifying what was there. That’s a tricky balance.” Dancers rehearse in the Marcelline Freeman Studio, which boasts a 28-foot-tall ceiling at the Cleo Parker Robinson Center for the Healing Arts in Denver on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (Photo by Hyoung Chang/The Denver Post) Related Articles Colorado’s gay ski weeks are more than just LGBTQ+ parties. They are tied to a mission. Things to do in Denver: The very best ‘Nutcracker,’ a vinyl-centric holiday pop-up, and more 12 of Denver’s best New Year’s Eve parties and concerts to ring in 2026 Denver music festival scenesters wanted for new reality dating show: ‘Wooking For Love’ A guide to Denver’s best 2025 holiday lights, displays, shows and parades The overall project has employed hundreds of people, from carpenters and electricians to sprung-wood floor installers and the visual artists commissioned to create original work, such as Jenn Goodrich. The designer and illustrator, who mounts exhibits at the Denver Art Museum, was tapped to do an image-transfer, or large graphic application, to a 26-by-20-foot wall in the lobby, just across from a shiny new bar. Like every aspect of the new space, it’s a reference to a past show (in this case, the Bahamian “Junkanoo King”) that holds a lot of meaning for the company. Cleo’s family grew up a couple of blocks away from the church. Malik’s father and Cleo’s husband, Tom Robinson, attended Boy Scouts in the church’s garden-level gymnasium, he said. The converted space has since hosted more than 30 performing arts companies and welcomed countless children into high-level classes taught by Colorado’s best dancers and choreographers, according to the company. (Currently, there are about 1,000 students enrolled in the academy, Malik said.) Cleo, a former dancer who still occasionally performs, said she’s accustomed to building up and digging deep at the same time. It’s how she brings so many artists with her to national and global stages. And how she’s managed to sustain her dance company for 55 years. “I’m always inviting people into our home — anyone, anywhere, any time. And we’ve been so lucky to get a great response for this opening, with sold-out shows and people flying in from all over. I just hope they know they needed to buy their tickets in advance.” Subscribe to our weekly newsletter, In The Know, to get entertainment news sent straight to your inbox. ...read more read less