On January 18, Deerfield Academy welcomed Dr. Rennie Harris and his street dance theater company, Rennie Harris Puremovement American Street Dance Theater. Puremovement came as a part of the Academy Events program, in celebration of the 50th anniversary of hip-hop. While COVID-19 prevented this annual rotation of music, dance, and theater performances for the past four years, Director of Dance Jennifer Whitcomb had a chance this year to revive the program.
Ms. Whitcomb said that she decided to invite the Puremovement company after attending Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival in the Berkshires, where she watched Harris perform. She said his performance was like “watching a story unfold before my eyes that made me feel that this was really the right thing to bring to Deerfield.”
Street dance, a subgenre of hip-hop, arose in the 1970s among African-American teens and young adults, before becoming widely popular. Harris started street dancing in his teenage years in his hometown of northern Philadelphia.
Describing the phenomenon, Harris said, “You create your own language … and then all of a sudden everyone learns your language. Then, the world is affected by your language, a thing that you just came up with without thinking about it.”
The Puremovement company’s one-and-a-half-hour performance at Deerfield assembled the talents of its 12 dancers, whose time with the group spans from just a few months to over a decade. They performed a total of nine pieces, occasionally interspersed with a few clips from Harris himself, describing moments from his life and the experiences that influenced the choreography of the dances.
Although Harris was physically on campus, he did not make an appearance on stage.
Students and faculty in the audience were captivated by the performance, dazzled by the fluidity and talent of the dancers. After the event, Annie Egleston ’27 said, “It was really amazing watching the powerful story that Renne Harris weaved behind the upbeat hip hop.”
Harris said that dance is “the one thing you could just engage in without thinking,” noting that he grants his company liberty to interpret his choreography in whatever means helps them maintain the integrity of his narratives. His sole expectation is that “with African-American culture and hip hop, it’s not about everyone being together, it’s just everyone getting there at the same time.”
This performance marks the long-awaited return of Deerfield’s Academy Event performances, a tradition that the Arts Department plans to continue.