UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Philadanco and Rennie Harris Puremovement, two of Philadelphia’s premier African-American dance companies, will represent the City of Brotherly Love with their collaborative performance “Straight Outta Philly.” The dancers will interpret social, political and historical issues through contemporary and hip-hop-themed pieces at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 27, in Eisenhower Auditorium.
The program will feature five pieces: “Nuttin’ But a Word!!!” and “A Day in the Life,” created by Harris for his company; “A Movement for Five” and “Folded Prism” by Philadanco; and “Philadelphia Experiment,” a finale featuring both companies and choreographed by Harris. “‘Philadelphia Experiment’ just grabs you by the throat and doesn’t let go,” wrote a reviewer for CultureVulture.net. “It is a modern dance masterpiece, and Philadanco refines it every time out.”
The Philadelphia Dance Company, known as Philadanco, was founded in 1970 by longtime dancer, choreographer and artistic director Joan Myers Brown. She saw her troupe as a professional dance training center for black artists who historically were not welcome at other schools. The troupe performs a repertoire espousing predominantly black dance traditions and choreographers. In addition to myriad awards and nationwide recognition, Brown was awarded a National Medal of Arts by President Barack Obama in 2012.
Rennie Harris Puremovement also celebrates the dance and works of black artists but through the lens of theatrical hip-hop styles. Harris helped to put hip-hop dance on the map with the dance crew The Scanner Boys, which performed with legends of hip-hop including Whodini, Run DMC, Salt-n-Pepa and Gloria Gaynor. After concluding his professional dance career in the early 1990s, he formed Puremovement to further his efforts to keep hip-hop dance thriving and innovative. His choreographed works — including commissions for ballet-based companies including Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and Memphis Ballet — aim to break down stereotypes and expectations of the broad hip-hop genre.