ABOUT THE ARTISTS
LORENZO (RENNIE) HARRIS is Founder and Artistic Director of Rennie Harris Puremovement, a hip-hop dance company dedicated to preserving and disseminating hip-hop culture through workshops, lectures, residencies, mentor programs, and performances. Harris’s work tours the globe and encompasses diverse African-American traditions while simultaneously presenting the voice of a new generation through its ever-evolving interpretations of dance. Harris is committed to providing audiences with a sincere view of the spirit of hip-hop rather than the commercially exploited stereotypes portrayed by the media. Harris is most known for his evening length work, Rome & Jewels, choreographed and directed in collaboration with dramaturge Ozzie Jones and composer/sound designer Darin Ross. Rome & Jewels uses Shakespeare’s text and original material by the cast to tell its own story based on West Side Story and Romeo and Juliet. Rome & Jewels is the longest touring hip-hop dance theater work in American history. Harris also created the full-length shows, Legends of Hip Hop, Students of the Asphalt Jungle, and Facing Mekka. Rome & Jewels was awarded three Bessie Awards, two Alvin Ailey Black Choreographers Award, an Ethnic Dance Award, Herb Alpert Award in the Arts for Choreography and nominated for a Laurence Olivier Award (UK). He has received the “Philadelphia Rocky” award, Governors Artist of the Year Award, USA artist award for choreography, and honorary doctorates from Bates College and Columbia College-Chicago and was a USA cultural ambassador in President Obama’s cultural exchange program, Dance Motion, traveling to Egypt, Jordan, Palestine, and Israel.
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