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

A side profile of a Black poet who is wearing glasses and a hat with a feather hat pin.

Civic Engagement

A man in a brown jacket stands in front of blue bulletin board that is covered with papers and advertisements  

Evolving Higher Education

A vertical image of an Indigenous person who is sitting on a chair in front of a backdrop.

Expanding Public Knowledge

An interior room filled with audio and video equipment 

Monuments and Memory

A multicolored painted totem pole set in front of a foggy forest landscape

Multivocality

Five people stand together in a group photo. They are laughing and smiling.

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

Students walk through the campus of the University of Hawaii

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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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Financials

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