The acclaimed hip-hop choreographer whose groundbreaking dance company, Rennie Harris Puremovement, celebrated its thirtieth anniversary in 2022, takes some time during his Five College Dance residency to discuss his work as an artist and an educator in hip-hop culture.

Harris is a self-taught dancer who got his start as a teenager in his native Philadelphia. His dance groups performed with Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, Run-DMC, Salt-n-Pepa, and the Sugar Hill Gang, among many others. He worked as both dancer and choreographer for television and the stage incorporating his mastery of hip-hop styles including stepping, poppin, boogaloo, b-boy, Campbell locking, house, and was instrumental in the development of hip-hop dance as a concert form. His numerous honors include the Kennedy Center’s Master of African-American Choreography, the National Endowment for the Arts, and a Guggenheim Fellowship. His choreographed works have been performed around the world by troupes including the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and Philadanco! – The Philadelphia Dance Company.

---

Co-sponsored by Five Colleges Inc., UMass Arthur F. Kinney Center for Renaissance Studies, Five College Dance, Smith College Dance Department, UMass Dance Program.

Thank you to our season sponsors: