Hip-Hop Artist’s ‘RHAW’ Dance Company to Perform

September 6, 2015

A dance company founded by Dr. Rennie Harris, one of the world’s most influential hip-hop choreographers and historians, will perform at Johnson State College on Wednesday, Sept. 30. The 8 p.m. show in JSC’s Dibden Center for the Arts is free and open to the public.

Harris founded his second dance company – called RHAW, for Rennie Harris Awe-inspiring Works – to showcase the talent of teens and young adults. RHAW trains young dancers in the street dance styles featured in Harris’ internationally renowned Rennie Harris Puremovement, including Campbell locking, popping and boogaloo, B-boy/girl, house and hip-hop.

Started by Harris in 1992 in Philadelphia, Puremovement has toured worldwide and won numerous awards, including three Bessie Awards, two Black Theater Alvin Ailey Awards, a Herb Alpert award and a nomination for a Lawrence Olivier Award for the Shakespeare-inspired Rome & Jewels. Harris has been involved with hip-hop dance since he was a teenager, becoming internationally known not only for his choreography but his lectures on hip-hop culture and history and its significance as an American art form.

RHAW’s performance will feature seven to eight dancers performing works choreographed by Harris, Raphael Williams, Moncell Durden, company manager Rodney Hill, Brian Newby and Harris’ eldest son, Brandyn Harris.

For more information about the JSC show, contact the Dibden Box Office, at 802-635-1476 or jscboxffice@jsc.edu.

For more information about RHAW, visit http://rennieharrisrhaw.org/.