Meanwhile, Lorenzo āRennieā Harris continues to garner rave reviews and a host of honors
Growing up in Vermont, Millie Heckler took classes in ballet and theatrical jazz dance for 12 years, dabbling a bit in street jazz. When she came to the ²ŹĆń±¦µä to study dance, Heckler began taking hip-hop dance classes from artist-in-residence and acclaimed hip-hop dancer and choreographer Lorenzo āRennieā Harrisāand her world was transformed.
In her undergraduate dance classes, Heckler studied a variety of styles, but it was through Harrisās classes and mentorship that she found her true beat.
āRennie was my first authentic hip-hop teacher,ā said Heckler. āGrowing up in Stowe, Vermont, I dabbled in what was called āstreet jazzā but knew nothing about hip-hop dance and culture. I was the epitome of the ignorance that makes me cringe today. I look forward to finding my own voice within the form.ā
The 2015 graduate has received hundreds of hours of training from Harris in the dance styles of popping, locking, breaking, house and hip-hop. She recently served as choreographer assistant to Harris while he was working on a commissioned hip-hop/house dance piece for the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater that had its world premier at Lincoln Center in New York City.
Harris has served as artist-in-residence in CU-Boulderās Department of Theatre and Dance for nearly four years. Itās precisely this type of real-world learning experience artists-in-residence bring to a campus, dance school leaders say.Born in the streets, hip-hop dance is a grassroots art form and a celebration of life. It can also serve as a forum for inspiring social change. According to the late Alvin Ailey, founder of the Ailey Dance Theater, the greatest works of art are those that are most personal.
For Harris, hip-hop is ālife,ā and he enjoys sharing his passion with CU undergraduates.
The piece Harris was commissioned to choreograph for Ailey is about transitioning, āabout spirit moving on.ā Harrisā mother had died prior to his choreographing the piece, and through that experience of her transition, he found inspiration forĢżExodus.
"I want them to walk away with a sense of the culture and how dance and music feeds the culture I know. In addition, I would like them to understand on a basic level the history of street dance and hip-hop dance.ā
Harris had just three weeks to teach the Ailey dancers, who are classically trained primarily in ballet and modern dance, the footwork of house/hip-hop and his own spin on the dance formāhis āvocabularyāāas well as teach them the extensive choreography for the piece.
Hip-hop and house dance differ from modern or ballet, which have a universal language in which the choreographer just adds a personal tweak to the classical steps and movements that are already understood by the dancers.
The world premiere ofĢżExodusĢżin June has garnered favorable reviews. Set to gospel and house music (a genre of electronic dance music), along with poetic narration, the piece explores the idea of āexodusā as moving toward enlightenment, leaving behind the limitations of matter.
āIn the middle of the process I knew this work was about my mother transitioning and about me transitioning,ā said Harris. āIt was also about humanity transitioning. Out of nowhere the word āexodusā popped into my head.ā
Harris pulls no punches when teaching students. He is direct, but in a supportive way that informs students artistically.
āIām interested in the student who wants to learn and specifically to become professional,ā said Harris. āFor that dancer, I want them to walk away with a sense of the culture and how dance and music feeds the culture I know. In addition, I would like them to understand on a basic level the history of street dance and hip-hop dance.ā
Growing up in Philadelphia, Harris was inspired by the Campbell Lockers, a pioneering street-dance group, after watching them on TV when he was in grade school. He became well versed in the language of hip-hop, including various street dance forms known as b-boy, house and stepping.
At age 15, Harris founded the Scanner Boys, an innovative popping dance group that pioneered the Philadelphia hip-hop movement in the early 1980s.ĢżWhile a teenager, he began teaching workshops at universities throughout the country, including one at the Smithsonian Institute.
Harrisās work incorporates diverse African-American traditions while presenting the voice of a new generation through evolving interpretations of dance.
"Our students are getting old-school hip-hop choreography from him, and itās influencing their contemporary dance and their improvisation.ā
Rome & Jewels, choreographed and directed by Harris, was his first full-length work. It is a hip-hop adaptation of ShakespeareāsĢżRomeo and JulietĢżset in North Philly and dealing with interracial love.
Other works choreographed by Harris includeĢżFacing Mekka,Ģż100 Naked Locks,ĢżHeavenĢżand a host of other innovative repertory works that have shattered the stereotypes of hip-hop.
His groundbreaking work includes being one of the first hip-hop choreographers to take hip-hop into the ballet studio at such companies as the Memphis Ballet,ĢżĢż²¹²Ō»åĢż.
His list of awards and honors is long and notable, including two honorary doctorates in arts and humanities from Bates and Columbia Colleges, a Guggenheim Fellowship, a National Endowment for the Arts grant and a William Shakespeare Award.
Last December, Harris unveiled the Grass Roots Project in Denver, his third street-dance theater company. The dance theatre company encompasses a variety of dance styles, including hip-hop, house, popping, locking, b-boying and b-girling. Dancers are of different ages and ethnic and dance backgrounds. The project is a unique off-campus dance program because of its built-in professional street-dance company.
āRennie is known as the pioneer of hip-hop dance theater,ā said Erika Randall, associate professor and co-director of dance at CU-Boulder. āOur students are getting old-school hip-hop choreography from him, and itās influencing their contemporary dance and their improvisation. They have changed so much from their interaction with him. Itās been amazing watching the transformation.ā
For more information on Lorenzo āRennieā Harris, clickĢż.
Kenna Bruner is a writer with Strategic Marketing Communications at CU-Boulder.