| Rennie Harris | |
|---|---|
| Born | Lorenzo Harris January 28, 1964 Philadelphia, PA |
| Occupation | Dancer, Choreographer, Director |
| Years active | 1976 - Present |
Rennie Harris (born Lorenzo Harris on January 28, 1964) is a dancer, choreographer, artistic director and professor of Hip-hop dance. Harris formed the first and longest running hip-hop dance touring company, Rennie Harris Puremovement in 1992. [1] In 2007, he conceived another touring company, RHAW or Rennie Harris Awe-Inspiring Works.[2]
In addition to touring with his companies, he teaches the technique and history of hip-hop dance in its various forms. Versed in Popping, Campbellocking, House dance, GQ, B-boying and Hip-Hop (proper), he continues teaching at universities in the US and internationally. Rennie Harris also organizes an annual Hip-Hop Dance Festival entitled, Illadelph Legends of Hip-Hop Festival, which brings together the original hip-hop street dances and the pioneering legends to give lectures and mentor students from around the world.
Harris has received numerous awards for his theatrical Hip-hop dance performances or what he refers to as, "Hip-Hop concert dance". He is known for such works as Rome and Jewels, Facing Mekka, 100 NAKED LOCKS, Heaven, and a host of innovative repertory works, which have broken many stereotypes and expectations of hip-hop dance. After receiving an honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts in Hip-Hop from Bates College, Harris' company was chosen as 1 of 4 US companies to serve as cultural ambassadors for President Obama's "Dance Motion USA" and will be touring the middle east.
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Growing up in North Philadelphia, PA, Rennie was first inspired by Don Campbell (dancer)’s group, The Campbell Lockers, after seeing them on the TV show Soul Train. He started dancing socially as a kid but when he was around 12 years old, he started a dance group called Cobra III with his brother and childhood friend, nicknamed “Brainy.” Cobra III entered and won a local church talent show, marking the beginning of Harris’ life commitment to dance.
Rennie Harris started his career by forming dance groups during his teens, such as the GQ group called, The Step Masters and a popping crew called, The Scanner Boys. These groups opened and performed with such acts as: Afrika Bambaataa, West Street Mob, Kool Moe Dee and the Treacherous Three, Super Nature, currently known as Salt-n-Pepa, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, and Doug E Fresh, Double Trouble, Roxanne Shante, UTFO, Whodini, Newcleus, Run DMC, Kurtis Blow, Madonna (entertainer), Brandy (singer), Aliah, Sugar Hill Gang, Sister Sledge, Gloria Gaynor, The Tramps, and Debarge, among others. Also known as, Prince of the Ghetto, Harris was also a member of The Magnificent Force. Rennie worked for the TV dance shows: "Dancin' On Air", "Dance Party USA", and then was given his own show to host called, "One House Street." Rennie Harris finished his commercial career with a prolonged tour with Cathy Sledge of Sister Sledge, as a choreographer and dancer. Harris then returned to Philadelphia and The Scanner Boys to continue to innovate hip-hop dance. The Scanner Boys disbanded in 1992 with their last performance at the “Dancing in the Streets" festival held at 30th Street Train Station in Philadelphia.
In 1992, Rennie Harris formed, Rennie Harris Puremovement, the company created to further his efforts to preserve and disseminate hip-hop culture. The company's mission is to re-educate about hip-hop and its culture through its artistic work, lecture demonstrations, and discussions. The company currently performs newer repertory works such as: "Something to Do with Love", "Got to Get It," and "Queen," among a host of other works. The company has performed such evening length productions as: "Rome and Jewels", "Facing Mekka", "100 NAKED LOCKS", and "Heaven", of which they have won numerous awards for. 2012 marks the 20th Anniversary of Rennie Harris Puremovement and the company is set to tour excerpts of past works as well as newer works in commemoration.
Billed as the longest running evening length hip-hop dance production, "Rome and Jewels" is based on Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet and the movie, West Side Story. It is one of the first of its kind as being a hip-hop dance play/dance production. The piece features all hip-hop dance vocabulary, poetry, DJ's, projected video and live video feed. The show has won numerous awards and was even nominated for a Laurence Olivier Award.
Started in 1998, Rennie Harris started Illadelph Legends of Hip-Hop Festival to bring together the pioneers of the various forms of hip-hop dance in a teaching festival that offers dance classes, panel discussions, and performances with such pioneers as Don Campbell (dancer) of The Campbell Lockers, Mr. Wiggles, Ken Swift, Budda Stretch, Tweety, Caleaf Sellars, Moncell "Ill Kosby" Durden, and international artists like Meech from France, Hiro from Japan, and Eva Shou from Denmark. The festival passes on the knowledge, tradition, and dance vocabulary of the various forms, such as Popping, Breaking, Locking, House dance, Waacking, and Vogue (dance), that have been umbrellaed under the term Hip-hop dance. Illadelph Legends is the first Hip-hop dance festival to specifically feature and promote technical classes and workshops on the history and theory with the pioneers and historians of street dance young and old. Illadelph Legends served as a model for many street dance festivals who now focus on workshops and classes only.
Rennie started teaching hip-hop at the age of 15 with the Smithsonian Institute and continues to teach at various universities across the world. He teaches lectures on the history of Hip-Hop and the various techniques of Hip-Hop street dance through guest classes, residencies, and panel discussions. In 2010, Harris received an honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts from Bates College, for his work with Hip-hop dance. He has taught at Universities such as the University of Colorado-Boulder, Stanford University, New York University, University of California, Los Angeles, Temple University, Villanova University, University of Pennsylvania, Drexel University, Ohio State University, Michigan University, University of Hawaii, among many others. As apart of his efforts to educate the world about Hip-hop, he passes on his historical knowledge of the dance through performances all over the world, including but not limited to: London, Italy, Japan, China, Switzerland, Germany, Scotland, West Africa, Finland, Holland, France, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, New Zealand, Perth, Auckland, Brazil, Jamaica, Trinidad, and the Bahamas. In addition, he has performed in theaters such as the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Lincoln Center, Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, Kennedy Center, Jacobs Pillow, Joyce Theater, Symphony Space, New Victory Theater, The Apollo Theatre in New York, Sadler's Wells Theatre (London), The Southbank Centre (London) and many other theaters and universities in the US and internationally.
Rennie Harris has broken new ground as being one of the first, if not "the" first, Hip-Hop choreographer to set works on Ballet based companies such as the Memphis Ballet, Colorado Ballet, Pennsylvania Ballet, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Dayton Contemporary Dance Company, Philadelphia Dance Company, Gus Giordano (Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago), Lula Washington Dance Company and many others.
After a large interest of young hip-hop dancers wanting to join his main company Rennie Harris Puremovement, Rennie decided to create his second company RHAW, an acronym for Rennie Harris Awe-Inspiring Works. This company features young dancers performing the various forms of Hip-Hop to various genres of music. RHAW performances are less complex then the main company in the areas of narrative and theatrics but maintains the high level of Hip-Hop technique, performance, and talent. The company also focus on community outreach and education.
Voted one of the most influential people in 100 years of Philadelphia history and compared to legends such as Bob Fosse, Alvin Ailey and Nijinsky, Rennie Harris' legacy is creating the very first Hip-Hop concert dance company to tour the fine arts circuit, Rennie Harris Puremovment. The company brought the street dance and aesthetic of hip-hop into the theatre and mixed it with: narrative, abstracted aesthetics, and various music genres. Rennie Harris is featured in books and publications written by such authors as: Brenda Dixon Gottschild, "Digging the Africanist Experience in America", "The Black Dancing Body", Jeff Chang, "Can't Stop Won't Stop" and "Total Chaos", Publication Columbia University, Constance Kreemer, "Further Steps", Martha Cooper, "We B-Girlz", Rose Eichenbaum, "Master of American Choreography", Joan Acocella, "Off the Street" (The New Yorker), and Julie Malnig, "Ballroom, Boogie, Shimmy Sham, Shake: a Social and Popular Dance Reader."