Lorenzo “Rennie” Harris has been called “the most respected—and the most brilliant— hip-hop choreographer in America” by The New Yorker. Recently, The New York Times called Harris “the Hip-hop master who has become one of the most exacting and exciting choreographers of his generation.” There are two sides to Harris’s rhythmic wizardry; both are impeccable. Born and raised in an African American community in North Philadelphia, Harris has taught at universities around the country. Advocating for the significance of “street” origins in any dance style, Harris believes Hip-hop expresses universal themes that extend beyond racial, religious, and economic boundaries and one that, because of its pan- racial and global popularity, can help bridge these divisions. Harris toured with the first rap tour to cross the country entitled The Fresh Fest, starring Run DMC and Jam Master Jay, LL Cool J, Kurtis Blow, Fat Boys, Salt-N-Pepa, and many noted pioneers of rap.

Known for bringing social dances to the concert stage and coining the term street dance theater, Harris has broken new ground as one of the first Hip-hop choreographers to set works on ballet-based companies such as Ballet Memphis, Colorado Ballet, Pennsylvania Ballet, Philadelphia Dance Company (PHILADANCO!), Giordano Dance Chicago, Lula Washington Dance Theatre, Cleo Parker Robinson Dance, Dallas Black Dance Theater, Dayton Contemporary Dance Company (DCDC), Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, and more. The first street dancer commissioned to create an evening length work on Alvin Ailey American Theater and to serve as a resident artist at the Alvin Ailey school for dance, he’s received three “Bessie” awards, five Black Theater Alvin Ailey Awards, a Herb Alpert Award and was nominated for a Lawrence Olivier Award (UK). He’s also received a Lifetime Achievement Award in choreography (McCallum Theatre 2019). Harris was also voted one of the most influential people in the last one hundred years of Philadelphia’s history (City Paper). He’s been compared to Basquiat, Alvin Ailey, and Bob Fosse.

In addition, he’s received a Guggenheim Fellowship, a PEW Fellowship, a USA Artist of the Year Fellowship, and a Governors Artist of the Year Award and is noted as the first street dancer to receive two honorary doctorate degrees from both Bates College (Lewiston, ME) and Columbia College (Chicago, IL). He served as cultural ambassadors for former President Ronald Reagan’s US Embassy Tour in 1986 and was invited to the White House by the President Clinton Administration to share in the recognition of African American artist making a difference in the world (2001) and received a medal in choreography from the Kennedy Center. Rennie Harris Puremovement has performed for such dignitaries as the Queen of England and the Princess of Monaco and was chosen as one of four US companies to serve as Hip-hop cultural ambassadors for President Obama’s Dance Motion USA and toured Israel, Jordan, Ramulah, Egypt, Palestine, and surrounding countries, as well as Japan, China, Gambia, and Kazakstan to name a few. In 2020 Harris became a recipient of the Doris Duke Artist Award. He was also awarded an The Andrew W. Mellon Grant for “Building A Legacy of Street Dance” (2022), as well as the Hermitage Greenfield Prize (2023), and the Samuel H. Scripps/American Dance Festival Award (2023). Lorenzo “Rennie” Harris is atop the Hip-hop heap, its leading ambassador.