Rennie Harris Puremovement | Press Releases

8 p.m., Friday, February 22, 2013
Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts
Fairfield University, Fairfield, CT

Image: Puremovement Presenting hip-hop dance as one of the most important original expression of a new generation, Rennie Harris Puremovement performs at 8 p.m. on Friday, February 22, 2013, at Fairfield University's Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts .Support for the Quick Center's 2012-13 Dance series provided, in part, by the Department of Economic and Community Development, which also receives support from the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency. Media sponsor is Morris Media Group. Tickets are $40, $30, and $20 .

Rennie Harris Puremovement was founded by Rennie Harris in 1992 as a hip-hop dance company dedicated to preserving and disseminating hip hop culture through workshops, classes, hip-hop history lecture demonstrations, long term residencies, mentoring programs and public performances. With its roots in the inner-city African-American and Latino communities, hip-hop can be characterized as a contemporary indigenous form, one that expresses universal themes that extend beyond racial, religious, and economic boundaries, and one that, because of its pan-racial and transnational popularity, can help bridge these divisions. Harris' work encompasses the diverse and rich African-American traditions of the past, while simultaneously presenting the voice of a new generation through its ever-evolving interpretations of dance.

Using some of the world's most influential forms of movement, music, and storytelling Rennie Harris is an artistic director, choreographer, professor, and innovator, who is revolutionizing contemporary concert dance. Born and raised in North Philadelphia, Harris has been teaching workshops and classes at universities around the country and is one of the most powerful spokespersons for the significance of "street" origins in any dance style. He began his career as a performer and was a founding member of the Scanner Boys, a hip-hop performance group in the 1980s. According to Harris, he didn't become a part of the "legitimate" dance community until 1992, when he was invited to participate in the Susan Hess Choreographer's Project, the same year he founded Rennie Harris Puremovement.

Rennie Harris has been named Pennsylvania Artist of the Year and received one of only 50 United States Artists Fellowships. Dr. Lorenzo Rennie Harris received an honorary doctorate from Bates College and became a Guggenheim Fellow in 2007. In 2012, Rennie Harris Puremovement was named one of only four U.S. companies to serve as cultural ambassadors for President Obama's Dance Motion USA, the same year the company celebrated its 20th anniversary.

The Philadelphia Inquirer says: "Harris has built a wedge that will open the doors of America's art centers, displaying hip-hop as clear cultural expression, compelling to all races and generations." London's Sunday Times praised Harris, saying he has "become "the Basquiat of the US contemporary dance scene." And The New York Times said "The patterns and the dancers' physical control were stunning."

Tickets and subscriptions are available through the Quick Center Box Office: (203) 254-4010, or toll-free 1-877-ARTS-396 (1-877-278-7396). Tickets can also be purchased online at www.quickcenter.com .

The Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts is located on the campus of Fairfield University at 1073 North Benson Road in Fairfield, Connecticut. Entrance to the Quick Center is through the Barlow Road gate at 200 Barlow Road. Free, secure parking is available. Access for people with disabilities is available throughout the Quick Center for audience members and performers. Hearing amplification devices are available upon request at the Box Office. Fairfield University is located off exit 22 of Interstate-95. For further information and directions, call (203) 254-4010 or 1-877-278-7396, or visit www.quickcenter.com .