About Rennie Harris
Who is Rennie Harris?
Dr. Lorenzo (Rennie) Harris is a hip-hop
choreographer and educator, a revolutionary of
contemporary concert dance and one of the most
powerful spokespersons for the significance of
street origins in any dance style. At the age of 15,
Dr. Harris started teaching hip-hop classes and
workshops at universities around the country, and
has since become a celebrated hip-hop dance
artist, educator, and public leader.
Rennie Harris, New York Times.
Growing up in North Philadelphia, Dr. Harris had his first inspiring encounter with dance in the
fourth grade, watching The Campbell Lockers on television. When he was 13, Dr. Harris started
his first dance group, Cobra III, and as a teenager, hip-hop dance became a part of Harris’s every
day life. He founded and captained several groups such as the Step Masters, The Scanner Boys,
and was also a member of the Magnificent Force (NY) for a brief period of time. The Scanner
Boys pioneered hip-hop dance in Philadelphia in the early 1980s, and it was after their final
performance in 1992 that Dr. Harris founded Rennie Harris Puremovement.
Dr. Harris founded Puremovement with the mission to preserve hiphop culture through performances, workshops, lecture
demonstrations, residencies, and mentoring programs. Due to the
success of RHPM, Dr. Harris founded a second company in 2007
called Rennie Harris Awe-Inspiring Works (RHAW). RHAW is a
youth organization driven by community outreach, education, and
mentorship that ultimately trains its pre-professional dancers for
careers in the arts.
Rennie Harris, studio photo, 1994
Why Hip-Hop?
Meet Dr. Rennie Harris
Born: January 28, 1964
Hometown: Philadelphia, PA
Occupation: Choreographer, performer,
Professor, social innovator
Honors: Named an honorary Doctor by
Bates College and Columbia
College, voted one of the 100
most influential people in
Philadelphia history, numerous
choreography awards
For more accomplishments, see
timeline on page 8!
* Rennie Harris biography adapted from www.rhpm.com
For Dr. Harris, hip-hop is much more than a
form of entertainment; he believes it can
speak to all sorts of people despite their
differences, making it an important tool for
expression and social progress. Dr. Harris’s
work communicates these new and everevolving messages while also reflecting the
diverse cultural traditions that hip-hop
developed from. Dr. Harris’s innovative use
of hip-hop as stage art showed the public
that hip-hop has the power to draw people
together and communicate deep messages
on both an individual and universal level.
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About Rennie Harris Puremovement
What is Rennie Harris Puremovement?
Rennie Harris Puremovement (RHPM) is a dance
company that brings hip-hop to the public stage, using
hip-hop dance and culture to express what is common
to all human beings. Dr. Harris founded RHPM in 1992
based on the belief that hip-hop is the most important
original form of expression of a new generation, with
the unique ability to express universal themes that
extend beyond racial, religious, and economic
boundaries.
The company touring with Dance Motion USA, 2012
Now over 20 years old, RHPM has emerged as an
international hip-hop dance ambassador. The
company has performed for sold-out audiences in
theaters across the United States and the entire world, including Paris, the Island of St. Thomas,
Holland, Helsinki, and Italy. Wherever they go, RHPM's work encompasses rich and diverse
African-American traditions of the past while simultaneously communicating the current voice of
a new generation.
Artistic Philosophy
RHPM is guided by an artistic moral philosophy that every
individual is a creative reservoir waiting to be tapped.
Dance training enhances the individual’s pre-existing
ability and prepares dancers to work together. Through
their work, the company seeks to provide the audience
with a sincere view of the essence and spirit of hip-hop,
rather than the commercially exploited stereotypes often
presented by the media.
RHPM dancers performing their
signature “Repertory Program”
Educational Outreach
In addition to performing, the company also tours the country
teaching hip-hop dance and history. Hip-hop master classes
provide exercises to develop the dancers’ muscle strength,
flexibility, stamina, and movement vocabulary for choreography.
Hip-hop history lecture/demonstrations are moderated by
experienced members of the company and illustrate different
hip-hop techniques, styles, and the cultures and individuals that
have contributed to the development of hip-hop.
* RHPM biography adapted from www.rhpm.com
For more information about
Dr. Rennie Harris and Rennie
Harris Puremovement, visit
their website:
http://www.rhpm.org/
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About Rennie Harris Puremovement
A Timeline of Achievements
1991: Rennie Harris receives his first commission for work, by
Michael Pedretti of Movement Theater International
1992: Rennie Harris Puremovement is founded
1995: Chuck Davis invites RHPM to perform as part of Dance
Africa-America, giving the company national visibility
1998: Harris forms Illadelph Legends Festival, the first official
hip-hop dance festival, and first street dance event to
specifically focus on education
1996: Harris receives his first fellowship, the Pew Charitable
Trust Choreographer Initiative
Rennie Harris, studio photo, 1994
1999: RHPM receives status as a non-profit
organization, and premieres Legends of HipHop
2004: Rennie Harris receives keys to the cities of
South Beach Miami, FL and Philadelphia, PA
2007: Harris receives a United States Artist
Fellowship of $50,000
2007: Harris creates his second company, Rennie
Harris Awe-Inspiring Works (RHAW), for upcoming
street dancers
RHPM dancers, photo by Jon Stark
2008: Harris receives the William Shakespeare Award for
Classical Theatre from the Shakespeare Theatre
Company for significant contributions to classical
theatre in America
2010: Harris awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in recognition
of his work as a hip-hop choreographer
2010: Harris receives an honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts
degree at the Bates College 144th commencement
ceremony
2013: Harris receives an honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts
degree from Columbia College in Chicago
2013: Harris is nominated for a Bessie Award in Choreography
for Philadanco’s “Wake Up”
* Timeline adapted from www.rhpm.com
Rennie Harris teaching at
Stanford in 2011
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About the Performance: Repertoire
At the school performance, Rennie Harris Puremovement will be performing select pieces
from the repertory below.
Church (2014)
Church, a brand new work, is a house dance piece inspired by the freedom of house dance
and its spiritual aesthetic. House dance clubs were often referred to as “church”, because
they were the place where dancers found connection with a higher being and were most
comfortable. In this piece, house music takes on the voice of God and the dancers reflect the
physical, mental, and spiritual connection to a higher being that dance clubs provided.
Get It! (2014)
Get It!, a brand new work, is a tribute to old school funk music and dance, confirming the
foundation of the identity of street dancers. Traditionally, Campbell Locking is a freestyle
dance from the late 1960s. When it was mingled with social and party funk dances of the
1970s, the perception of locking shifted and was abstracted physically and mentally. Get it!
demonstrates the original locking style that helped establish a formal genre of street dance.
Nothin’ But A Word!
“This suite of works challenges hip-hop purists at every turn. The title of this work was
taken from a cultural phrase used amongst Blacks in the States, ‘You Aint Said Nothing But A
Word’. Loosely translated, it means your words mean nothing, and to pay close attention
because what I do next will trump anything you have to say. Hip-hop/Street Dance is
progressive by design. There is nothing about the three Laws of Hip-hop (individuality,
creativity, and innovation) that suggest stagnation or that we as practitioners of the form
should only adhere to foundation; it is quite the opposite. Without individuality, creativity,
and innovation, we will not evolve as a form.”
- Dr. Rennie Harris
P-Funk (1992)
P-Funk is about the funk of Philadelphia and moving forward no matter what gets in your
way. Known as the City of Brotherly Love, Dr. Harris calls Philadelphia a “City of
Neighborhoods” and remembers the violence of the city once considered a “vortex”, where
people are stuck in their neighborhoods from birth to death. P-Funk is dedicated to the
street dancers who where murdered on the streets of Philadelphia and specifically to Dr.
Harris’s brother Patrick, who was shot 13 times but survived. P-Funk is about brotherhood
and support, with simple but poignant choreography that focuses the work on aesthetic, not
dynamics.
March of the Antmen (1992)
March of the Antmen was inspired by the life and death of Dr. Harris’s friend Dru Minard, and
a song Minard composed in 1989 titled “March of that Antman” that questioned Blacks who
joined the US Military. March of the Antmen is a reflective and politically charged work that
challenges the effectiveness of violence to make a true change, no matter how good and
genuine our intentions.
Repertory descriptions provided by Rodney Hill/Rennie Harris and adapted by Ordway
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About the Performance: Additional Famous Works
The following are well-known works that will not be a part of the Ordway performance, but
provide additional understanding of the company’s work and achievements.
For video samples of these works, visit http://www.rhpm.org/works.php
Rome & Jewels (2000) is the first evening-length work of RHPM.
The piece was choreographed and directed by Rennie Harris, in
collaboration with dramaturge Ozzie Jones and composer/sound
designer Darin Ross. Rome and Jewels tells a story based on
West Side Story and Romeo and Juliet, using Shakespeare’s text
as well as original material contributed by RHPM dancers. Rome
and Jewels has performed nationally and internationally and has
won three Bessie Awards and two Black Theater Alvin Ailey
Awards.
Facing Mekka (2003) is a journey in the language of
hip-hop dance that weaves hip hop with its global and historical
influences. In Facing Mekka, hip-hop and African cultures are
fused together through music, movement, visual images, rhythm,
and sound, as Harris challenges assumptions about what hip-hop
dance is. Facing Mekka is an international celebration, and
ultimately an expedition to find cultural commonalities surveyed
through the lens of hip-hop.
100 Naked Locks (2005) is a hip-hop sci-fi that deconstructs
locking, what many consider the first hip-hop dance
movement. The work also addresses the negative portrayals
of hip-hop in popular entertainment, providing the audience
with alternate depictions of various cultural figures and
concepts. 100 Naked Locks is a politically and socially
significant work for RHPM, and an imagination of hip hop’s
great potential as the world develops.
Heaven: A B-Girl Ballet (2011) is a hip-hop makeover of Rite of
Spring and Harris’s self-described most ambitious and intricate
work yet. Heaven showcases often neglected b-girl dancing and
allowed Harris to challenge the possibilities of hip-hop theater and
his own artistic merit. Heaven is a collaborative and classic love
story, juxtaposed with the physical and athletic aesthetic of b-girl
movement.
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About the Art Form: Hip-Hop
What is Hip-Hop?
Hip-hop is a cultural and artistic movement that was pioneered by African American and Latino
youth in New York City in the early 1970s. Hip-hop is not just a form of music and dance, but an
entire culture full of tradition in itself, founded on the principles of expression, self-awareness,
and community despite the social frustrations of the time period.
Hip-Hop Pioneers:
DJ Kool Herc was born in Jamaica and is
considered a father of hip-hop. DJ Kool Herc
invented the breakbeat by isolating and
repeating the instrumental breaks of songs that
people loved to dance to.
Don “Campbellock” Campbell invented the
locking dance style that revolutionized street
dance, and formed The Lockers in 1973 with
Toni Basil, Dave Gregory Pope, Fred Berry, Leo
Williamson, Bill Williams, and Adolfo Quinones.
Afrika Bambaataa is a DJ from the 1970s hiphop scene of South Bronx who coined the term
“hip-hop”. Afrika Bambaataa began recording
music in the 1980s and also founded the Zulu
Nation, an international hip-hop awareness
group.
x Listen to his 1982 smash
hit, Planet Rock!
Grandmaster Flash is one of hip-hop’s first
and most creative DJs. He is often credited
for inventing back spinning and scratching. In
1978, he formed Grandmaster Flash and the
Furious Five with five other rappers in the
Bronx.
DJ Grand Wizzard Theodore grew up in the
Bronx in 1970s. Along with his mentor
Grandmaster Flash, DJ Theodore is given
credit for inventing back spinning and
scratching.
The Rock Steady Crew was the first
breakdancing crew and still exists today.
Rock Steady was established by Jimmy D and
JoJo in the Bronx in 1977 and brought to
Manhattan two years later by member Crazy
Legs.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hh1AypBaIEk
For more information
about these
pioneers, see “Resources”
on page 29!
Did You Know?
x
Some hip-hop music may carry elements of social protest and commentary, since it
emerged from a community in the midst of social frustration and is based on honest selfexpression. Because of this, rapping and breakdancing provided (and continue to provide)
many youth with alternate means of self-expression, decreasing the likelihood of violence.
x The four elements of hip-hop all originally developed as competitive activities. Rappers,
dancers, graffiti artists, and DJs always tried to outdo one another, and boasted about their
talents and accomplishments through their art forms.
x Hip-hop is all about innovation, individuality, and creativity. Hip-hop is always being
renewed and changing, just like the world around us. Hip-hop artists are dedicated to a
fresh understanding of their community– after all, that’s what it means to be hip!
“Pioneers” adapted from www.theroot.com with consultation from Rodney Hill, RHPM
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About the Art Form: Hip-Hop (cont.)
The “Four Elements” of Hip-Hop
Hip hop is a compound art, meaning it is made of different parts. The four main elements
of hip-hop are DJing, rapping/MCing, breakdancing, and graffiti art.
1) DJing: DJing is said to have originated in
the Bronx in the mid 1970s. Disk Jockeys
(DJs) manipulated the
needle of a record
player to produce
creative sounds over a
track of music or
isolate percussion
breaks in popular
songs. DJs were also
able to mix samples
A DJ manipulating a
from one song into
record on a turntable 1
another.
2) Rapping/Emceeing: Rapping, originally
called emceeing, developed as performers
began speaking over music that DJs created.
Rappers delivered lyrics using rhythm, rhyme,
and other poetic devices to tell a story, boast
about their skills or accomplishments, or
express an opinion about a particular subject.
Rapping draws roots from various African oral
and musical
traditions, and
from the
Rapper Talib Kweli,
2009, photo by Kyle
Gustafson 2
3) Breakdancing: With
the musical foundation
of DJing and rapping, a
hip-hop dance style
naturally developed.
Breakdancing evolved
as dancers improvised
A graffiti mural by artist DEMIER 3
during pauses or
instrumental breaks
4) Graffiti Art: The history of graffiti is traced to
RHPM dancers in a
created in music by
individuals or groups tagging their turf with a
photo shoot
DJs. The acrobatic,
stylized signature or symbol to identify themselves.
athletic quality of breaking is traced
Graffiti was also used to make visual political statements.
to a Brazilian martial art form called
In New York in the 1970s, the subway system provided
Capoeira. B-boys and B-girls also
tagging artists with a way to easily spread their name
danced to solve disputes and show
through the five boroughs, increasing the sense of
off their skill.
competition between neighborhoods.
… And the Fifth Element is... Knowledge!
Knowledge is the vital fifth element of hip-hop that encapsulates self-expression and identity,
connection to the community, and understanding hip-hop culture. Knowledge is essential for
DJs, b-boys and b-girls, graffiti artists, and rappers to remain true to the hip-hop spirit. None of
the four elements are really hip-hop without being infused with knowledge, social awareness
and self-reflection.
1– Photo from Supreme Reaction blog: http://supremereaction.com/
2– Photo by Kyle Gustafson Photography: http://kylegustafson.com/
3– Photo from http://undergroundhip-hop.net/graffiti/
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About the Art Form: Major Moves in Hip-Hop Dance
Hip-Hop dance is the collection of social dances of the 1970s-1990s, and has many
different components and elements. Here is a run-down of a few different styles and
major moves that appear in hip-hop dance and breakdancing
Breakdancing is one of the four major
elements of hip-hop, pioneered by the Rock
Steady Crew before hip-hop was even named.
A person who breakdances is called a b-boy or
b-girl (Bronx-girl/boy).
Popping, a funk street dance style dating back
to the 1970s, was pioneered by Sam Solomon
in Fresno, California. His dance group called
the Electric Boogaloos introduced the style on
the popular television dance program, “Soul
Train”. Popping is based
on the technique of
quickly contracting
specific muscles to
cause an isolated jerk in
the dancer’s body,
sometimes called a hit or
a pop. Popping is done
continuously in rhythm
with music, and can
The Electric Boogaloos
produce a robotic look.
Locking began as a comical street dance style,
created by Don Campbell in the 1960s. It
relies on perfect timing and the “locking” or
pausing of the dancer in time with the music.
Locking traditionally involved a specific style
of dress, which was incorporated into the
performance (for example, a
dancer may grab and rotate
their hat). A locker might create
a comical character in a
dramatic performance involving
pointing at the audience,
waiving arms,
and
making facial
expressions.
Toprock is the general
name given to breakdance
moves performed in a
vertical, standing position.
Toprocking movements can
demonstrate a dancer’s
coordination, flexibility, and
personal style, and can be
used as transition before
performing and after
different tricks.
A RHAW B-girl
performing toprock at
Fire Island Dance
Festival
Downrock, in contrast to
toprock, describes all moves performed closer
to the ground. The dancer makes contact
with the ground with either their hands, arms,
torso, or even head.
Downrock moves are
usually acrobatic and
athletic, reminiscent of
martial arts and gymnastics
movements.
A RHAW dancer performing a
downrock series at their debut
performance
A freeze is a move that
involves the dancer
becoming totally still,
suddenly “freezing” into an
interesting shape in the
middle of their dancing.
Freezes often
B-boy Spazem doing a basic
challenge the balance freeze called the baby freeze1
and strength of the
dancer.
Don Campbell
A RHAW b-girl and
b-boy doing the six-step
The six-step is a basic and important
breakdance step that prepares the dancer
for other, more complicated steps. In a
six-step, the dancers hands are on the
ground, supporting the body while the
feet travel around the body.
1 Image courtesy of Marc Bellefeuille/ B-boy Spazem, http://www.break-dancing.net/
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