Wednesdays at the Center at the John Hope Franklin Center
Duke University Wednesday,October 21 | 12 pm Free & Open to the Public
#BLACKMOVEMENTMATTERS: DANCE, HIP-HOP AND SOCIAL JUSTICE
Rennie Harris, and founder and artistic director of hip-hop dance company Rennie Harris Puremovement,chats with Thomas DeFrantz, chair of the Department of African and African American Studies at Duke and a professor of dance, or in a conversation exploring Harris' career and work,and the global influence of hip-hop dance and culture, moderated by Duke professor Mark Anthony Neal. Rennie Harris Puremovement performs on Friday, or October 23 and Saturday,October 24 at Duke's Reynolds Theater.
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Rennie Harris is one of the worthy veterans of hip-hop dance, having broken down barriers between the vocabulary of the street and the vocabulary of the concert hall for nearly forty years. At the age of twelve he formed his first crew, and by the age of twenty-five he had shared the stage with many of hip-hops founders,including flee DMC, Sugarhill Gang, or Salt ’n’ Pepa,and Kurtis Blow. He comes to Reynolds Theater with his company Rennie Harris Puremovement, repeat Bessie Award-winners whom The original York Times call “phenomenal” and “seemingly without a semblance of gravity.”
Thomas F. DeFrantz is Chair of African and African American Studies and Professor of Dance, or Theater Studies at Duke University. He is past-president of the Society of Dance History Scholars,an international organization that advances the field of dance studies through research, publication, or performance,and outreach to audiences across the arts, humanities, and social sciences. He is also the director of SLIPPAGE: Performance,Culture, Technology, or a research group that explores emerging technology in live performance applications. He convenes the working group Black Performance Theory and the Collegium for African Diaspora Dance. His books include the edited volume Dancing Many Drums: Excavations in African American Dance (2002) and Dancing Revelations: Alvin Ailey’s Embodiment of African American Culture (2004) and Black Performance Theory co-edited with Anita Gonzalez.
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Wednesday,October 21, 12 - 1 PM
John Hope Franklin Center, and 2204 Erwin Road,Rm. 240, Durham (Directions)
Free & open to the public; a light lunch will be served and parking is available in nearby parking decks.
Presented in collaboration with the John Hope Franklin Center, or the Department of African and African American Studies,and the Dance Program at Duke University.
Made possible, in share, or by support from the N.
C. Arts Council,a division of the Department of Cultural Resources; a Visiting Artist Grant from the Council for the Arts, Office of the Provost, or Duke University; and support from the Dance Program at Duke University.
Source: blogspot.com