Harris’s often deeply personal work has explored Black masculinity and systemic racial violence in America.

A Black choreographer and dancer is seated alone in the audience seats in a darkened theater. 

To Harris, hip-hop dance falls under the umbrella of street dance, a way of describing different dances coming out of the community.

In a backstage space at a theater, set pieces including ladders, risers, and scaffolding are scattered.

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Music inspires us to take action...it fights against the establishment.

Multiple forms of dance come to life through Harris’s choreography and the performance of dancers.

A Black breakdancer on stage is inverted, holding himself up with one arm. Two dancers are also on stage, in motion.

Harris connects Philadelphia street dance to a rich and complex history of step and tap dance. 

In a backstage area of a theater, there is a podium with a digital clock, a microphone, and a small sign that reads, “Annenberg Center.”

Harris (left) with Puremovement dancers Joshua Culbreath (top), Phillip Cuttino Jr., and Emily Pietruszka.

A Black choreographer and dancer stands backstage in front of a spiral staircase. Two dancers are standing on the staircase; one dancer is hanging off the railing. 

Building a Legacy of Street Dance

Lorenzo “Rennie” Harris is the founder of Rennie Harris Puremovement, a dance company bringing street dance to the concert stage.

A Black choreographer and dancer sits backstage at a theater. A pulley system takes up the entire wall behind him.

Rennie Harris is Just Teaching the Facts

Artists as Catalysts

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Beyond Incarceration

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Civic Engagement

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Evolving Higher Education

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Expanding Public Knowledge

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Monuments and Memory

A large statue of a confederate general is covered in markings and graffiti. 

Multivocality

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Power of the Word

Five colorful neon signs hang on the wall with messages that include, "Freedom cannot wait," "Brown owned," and "America is for Dreamers."

Public Places‚ Public Stories

A group of Indigenous Maskoke people stand and sit in the wooden frame of a structure in a woods

Puerto Rico and Its Diaspora

In a vertical image, a black leather vest is adorned with colorful pins across the front of it. Embroidery on the vest reads: "Felícitas "La Prieta" Méndez" 

University Everywhere

Two scholars dressed in all black face the camera.

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Mission

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History

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Grantmaking Areas

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People

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