Rennie Harris
Rennie Harris is Artistic Director and choreographer of Rennie Harris Puremovement in Philadelphia. He is well versed in the vernacular of hip-hop which includes the various techniques of B-boy (misnomer "breakdancing"), house dancing, stepping and other styles that have emerged spontaneously from the urban, inner cities of America like the North Philadelphia community in which he was raised. He has brought these "social" dances to the "concert" stage, creating a cohesive dance style that finds a cogent voice in the theater. He is a powerful spokesperson for the significance of "street" origins in any dance style. Intrigued by the universality of hip-hop, he seeks inspiration from other forms and performance art.
Since the age of 15, he has taught workshops and classes at many schools and universities including University of the Arts, UCLA, Columbia College and Bates College. He is a 1996 recipient of the Pew Fellowship in the Arts for Choreography and has received awards from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, a Pew Repertory Development Initiative grant, the City of Philadelphia Cultural Fund and 1996 Philadelphia Dance Projects commission. Harris was voted one of the most influential people in the last one hundred years of Philadelphia history and has been compared to twentieth-century dance legend Alvin Ailey and Bob Fosse. He was also nominated for the Laurence Olivier Award and has been recently awarded the Herb Alpert Award in the Arts. His group of dancers and their infectious brand of movement have toured around the globe.