Rennie Harris in Residence

Penn Live Arts

Rennie Harris Puremovement company dancer does a backflip in the air. — Rennie Harris Puremovement company dancer. Photo courtesy of Rennie Harris Puremovement.

Photo of Rennie Harris wearing a black sports coat, graphic Nike t-shirt, and Phillie's baseball cap. — Rennie Harris. Photo by Osamu Inoue.

Recipient

Grant Year 2023

Grant Amount $360,500

Status Active

Updated March 11, 2025

During a three-year residency, choreographer and Pew Fellow Rennie Harris creates and presents new hip-hop dance works along with a retrospective of his established repertory, confronting ongoing and pressing social issues like gun violence. The residency offers Harris—a Philadelphia native and internationally known artist—the opportunity to reconnect with the communities who influenced his artistic vision. Harris revisits his existing repertory in the first year of the residency, exploring new works in years two and three. The residency culminates with a collaboration between Harris and a visual and lighting designer to create and exhibit new visual works. Rennie Harris Puremovement company members also participate in programs at public high schools each year of the residency.

The total grant amount represents project funding plus an additional 20% in unrestricted general operating support.

Primary EventsEvents & Exhibitions

Rennie Harris Puremovement’s American Street Dancer

Mar 14–15, 2025
Zellerbach Theater
3680 Walnut St, Philadelphia, PA 19104

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Rennie Harris Puremovement’s American Street Dance Theatre

Mar 22–23, 2024
Penn Live Arts, Annenberg Center, 3680 Walnut St., Philadelphia, PA 19104

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Recipient

Penn Live Arts

An urban performing arts center on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania, Penn Live Arts (formerly Annenberg Center Live) presents touring theater, jazz, and world music. Penn Live Arts engages world-renowned and emerging artists who express adventuresome perspectives on contemporary issues and who further the organization's commitment to artistic and intellectual excellence, diversity, and arts education for adult, student and family audiences.

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