Investigate the history and moves of street dance with Rennie Harris, the “Basquiat of the U.S. contemporary dance scene” and literal embodiment of hip-hop dance.
Undergraduate: DANCE 421, 3 units Graduate/Post-baccalaureate: DANCE 621, 3 units
None
This course welcomes all levels of abilities, interest, and experience; dancers who are willing to try on different street stylings, to grow creatively, and expand their knowledge of the “street” legacies and embodied histories
Professor Gayle Fekete(909) 869-2790
Rennie Harris Puremovement – www.rhpm.org
Known for bringing social dances to the concert stage and coining the term Street Dance Theatre, Harris has broken new ground as one of the first hip-hop choreographers to set works on ballet-based companies including Mallet Memphis, Colorado Ballet, Pennsylvania Ballet, Philadelphia Dance Company (Philadanco), Giordano Dance Chicago, Lula Washington Dance Theatre, Cleo Parker Robinson, Dallas Black Dance Theater, Dayton Contemporary Dance Company, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, and more. Harris has received three Bessie awards, five Black Theater Alvin Ailey awards, a Herb Alpert award, and has been nominated for a Lawrence Olivier award (UK). In 2017 he received the coveted Dance Magazine’s “Living Legend Award.” Harris was also voted one of the most influential people in the last one hundred years of Philadelphia’s history by City Paper. He has been compared to Basquiat, Alvin Ailey and Bob Fosse.
July 6 to July 19, 2021