Pew Fellow, 1996
Dance
Rennie Harris is an award-winning choreographer known for bringing social dances rooted in hip-hop culture to the concert stage. He founded his company Rennie Harris Puremovement in 1992 and has toured internationally with them; his work with the company is credited with coining the term “Street Dance Theater.” Harris has staged work with Ballet Memphis, Colorado Ballet, Philadelphia Ballet, and Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, where he was the first street dancer commissioned to create an evening-length work for the company. He has been recognized with numerous awards and honors, including five “Bessie” Awards, five Black Theater Alvin Ailey Awards, the Herb Alpert Award, and a Lawrence Olivier Award nomination. Harris is a 1996 Pew Fellow. He has also received Guggenheim and United States Artists fellowships, a 2022 Mellon Foundation grant, the 2023 Hermitage Greenfield Award, and has been honored with lifetime achievement awards by Dance Magazine, Palm Desert Dance Festival, and Samuel H. Scripps/American Dance Festival.
