Heaven
Rennie Harris Puremovement
Friday, April 15 @ 7:30pm
Saturday, April 16 @ 2:30pm and 7:30pm
Sunday, April 17 @ 2:30pm
Perelman Theater
Kimmel Center
Rennie Harris Puremovement, the world-renowned dance company founded by hip-hop ambassador Rennie Harris, presents the most intricate work of his choreographic career. In collaboration with French choreographers Gemini and Michel “Meech” Onomo, Harris has created a new work inspired by Stravinsky’s masterpiece Rite of Spring, rethinking how shared cultural vocabularies in dance and music cross generations and cultural divides. Complete with 15 dancers, Japanese motifs, and multimedia anime that includes an innovatively designed lighting installation and live music, Heaven reflects on the emergence and popularization of hip-hop dance. Artist chat following the April 15 performance.
Rennie Harris Puremovement (RHPM) continues to flourish beyond its 15th Anniversary Season and has emerged as the international hip-hop dance ambassador and surviving senior member in the world of organized hip-hop dance theater. They provide audiences with a sincere view of the essence and spirit of hip-hop, rather than the commercially exploited stereotypes most often presented by the media.
Harris, a North Philadelphia native, founded RHPM based on the belief that hip-hop is the most important original expression of a new generation, with the unique ability to express universal themes that extend beyond racial, religious, and economic boundaries.
In 2007, RHPM and Harris garnered a number of coveted opportunities. Harris was named Artist of the Year by Pennsylvania’s First Lady Judge Marjorie O. Rendell and received one of 50 prestigious United States Artists Fellowships. RHPM was honored to receive one of Philadelphia’s ten “Rocky Awards” for our “absolutely heroic” efforts of producing (3) back-to-back opening nights at the Kimmel Center for our 15th Anniversary retrospective in June.
In a society where hip-hop is often portrayed as a violent, undisciplined counterculture, RHPM deconstructs popular perception of this medium, expanding and challenging the boundaries and definitions of hip-hop in general. As hip-hop continues to be chosen as the modern generation’s medium of expression, RHPM works to honor its history, explore its ideas, and further its contributions to the surrounding community.
