August 28, 2001
Contact: Susan Gwynne
(805) 893-2098
e-mail: gwynne-s@sa.ucsb.edu

Philadelphia’s Hip-Hop Sensation
Rennie Harris Puremovement to dance at UCSB

Summary Facts:

• Rennie Harris Puremovement with Special Guest Bill Shannon “CrutchMaster”
• Pioneering dancer/choreographer Harris leads his high-impact dance troupe into Campbell Hall
• Special guest Shannon fuses disability-based breakdance crutch technique with fluid lyricism
• Tuesday & Wednesday, October 2 & 3
• 8 pm / UCSB Campbell Hall
• General: $25/$22, UCSB Students: $19/$16
• Tickets/information: UCSB Arts & Lectures at 893-3535

Rennie Harris Puremovement, the foremost emissaries of hip-hop in the contemporary dance world, will perform on Tuesday and Wednesday, October 2 & 3 at 8 pm in UCSB Campbell Hall. Defying categorization, the company builds on diverse African and African-American traditions to create ever-evolving interpretations of dance that have wowed audiences from the Kennedy Center to Jacob’s Pillow. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch claims, “They transcend gravity and stretch the margins of concert dance.”

Performing with Puremovement will be special guest Bill Shannon, dubbed “CrutchMaster” for his breakdance prowess. Shannon, an interdisciplinary artist and street performance provocateur, has developed a unique movement style incorporating his history of using crutches for his disability. He was the Pennsylvania Developmental Disability Council Fellow in 1997 and named one of Dance Magazine’s “25 to Watch” in January 2001.

Rennie Harris Puremovement, founded in 1992, is dedicated to moving beyond commercially exploited images of hip-hop. The company not only performs but also leads various workshops, classes and residencies, especially in its hometown of Philadelphia. Puremovement’s most recent success was the tour of Rome and Jewels, its hip-hop opera variant on Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. The Philadelphia Inquirer claims that Harris and Puremovement “have created a dance-theater work of such accumulating force and power from its fusion of Shakespeare and African American cultural forms that audiences have been left stunned...it’s sure to put black Philadelphia on the international arts map.”

While still in high school, Rennie Harris, artistic director and choreographer, performed in the group the Scanner Boys. That group evolved through phases of hip-hop dance, from stepping to popping to B-boying, a style defined by its acrobatic floorwork and footwork. Since forming Puremovement, Harris has performed with major hip-hop stars, including Run DMC, Kool Moe Dee and Salt ‘n’ Pepa. He is a 1996 recipient of the Pew Fellowship in the Arts for Choreography, among other awards. Harris remains committed to developing works that challenge racial and socio-economic structures; as the Philadelphia City Paper claims, “Harris is a man with a message. The impressive athleticism and crowd-pleasing choreography are vehicles for hard-hitting subject matter.”

The program to be danced at UCSB will feature several works. One highlight is “Endangered Species” (1994), a powerful solo danced by Harris that presents a man on the run and captures the prejudice black men face daily. Another feature is “P-Funk” (1995), a tribute to all those lost to violence who get resurrected in physically spectacular, funkified flashes. These dances draw from street origins as well as Brazilian capoeira and Afro-Caribbean roots. “The movement is immaculate, devoid of ornament, without pretense,” claims the San Francisco Bay Guardian. “Every gesture is loaded with social commentary...Every bravado moment is full of kinesthetic integrity.”

After each evening’s performance members of Rennie Harris Puremovement and Bill Shannon will take part in a Meet-the-Artists discussion. During their visit to UCSB, members of Rennie Harris Puremovement will visit students in Introduction to African-American Studies, Modern Dance and African Theater and Performance. As part of his residency, Bill Shannon will take part in a panel discussion, “Boundaries Blurred: The Politics of Dance and Disability,” on Monday, October 1 at 5 pm in UCSB MultiCultural Center Theatre. He will be joined on the panel by Catherine Cole, UCSB Department of Dance, Christopher Pilafian, UCSB Department of Dance and Hugh Marsh, UCSB Writing Program. This event is free and open to the public.

Presented by UCSB Arts & Lectures, this residency is sponsored by the Santa Barbara Independent, the Blue Dolphin Inn and the Access Theatre Fund at the Santa Barbara Foundation.

For tickets or more information,
call UCSB Arts & Lectures at (805) 893-3535.

Editor: For photos, please call
Susan Gwynne at (805) 893-2098.