Review: Rennie Harris' hip-hop dance mixtape
The First Art Newspaper on the Net    Established in 1996 Saturday, November 23, 2024


Review: Rennie Harris' hip-hop dance mixtape
From left, Joshua Culbreath, Phillip Cuttino Jr., Emily Pietruszka, Rachel Snider and Angel Anderson in Rennie Harris’s “Nuttin’ but a Word,” at Prospect Park in Brooklyn, July 13, 2023. The choreographer and his Puremovement troupe brought their touring show to Prospect Park for BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! (Hiroko Masuike/The New York Times)

by Brian Seibert



NEW YORK, NY.- In the middle of the opening set at BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! on Thursday, rapper and performance poet Decora dedicated a song to a man he called a mentor: folk singer Pete Seeger. The song, played by a full band with horns and electric guitar, was a riff on Seeger’s “Where Have All the Flowers Gone?”

In its unexpectedness, this was an apt introduction to the main act, Rennie Harris Puremovement dance troupe. For decades, Harris has been swerving away from stereotypes and expectations of hip-hop dance, all while staying true to its roots. As he explains in one of the video segments interspersed throughout “Nuttin’ but a Word,” the touring show he brought for this free performance in Prospect Park, he considers the three laws of hip-hop to be individuality, creativity and innovation. Which means that hip-hop is fundamentally progressive and ever changing. “To change how you view it is progressive,” he says.

“Nuttin’ but a Word” isn’t all that innovative in form. It’s a suite of numbers, a mixtape dance. But much of the music isn’t what you might expect from a hip-hop dance show: ambient tracks; the Cinematic Orchestra’s “Man With the Movie Camera,” which sounds a bit like the theme from “Mission: Impossible” with a killer drum beat. To watch these dancers tackle Al Jarreau’s vocal version of Dave Brubeck’s “Blue Rondo à la Turk,” a manic jazz standard in 9/8 meter, is great fun.

The vocabulary is likewise not strikingly new: a blend of moves from house, b-boying and Campbell locking — the bouncy articulation of arms, elbows and fingers that point every which way. There are occasional flashes of pyrotechnics — flips, head spins — and some of the fabulous footwork is almost too quick to see. But the emphasis is on subtlety and groove. These are exceptionally musical dancers who never lose their connection to an underlying rhythm even as they physically register every subdivision and stutter.

For a master like Harris, the choreography is a little short on expressive groupings and stage patterning. Once or twice, he gets some oppositional forces going, a line of dancers holding still as another line eats space. But much of the evening is just unison or solos. It’s still superior hip-hop dance.

The most affecting number is called “A Day in the Life.” Set to a hauntingly quiet track by Dhafer Youssef that builds to muezzin-like keening, it’s a narrative. Joshua Culbreath and Phillip Cuttino Jr. are two guys on the corner, sliding sideways, stopping to look around or smoke a joint. They are assailed by invisible forces, presumably the police, and Cuttino is shot and killed. Culbreath’s dance of grief, though a touch maudlin in its miming, uses the expressive potential of b-boy steps, the way he spirals and windmills on his back, to intensely moving effect.

“Rappers tell stories all the time, so why can’t a hip-hop choreographer?” Harris asks in the next video segment. It’s a question he answered long ago by showing how narratively expressive hip-hop’s dance vocabulary could be. But in these video segments, Harris is still explaining himself, still fighting battles he would seem to have won earlier in his career.

True to the laws of hip-hop as Harris defines them, “Nuttin’ but a Word” rests heavily on the individuality of its dancers. Compared to the superhuman performers of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, for whom Harris often choreographs, these dancers look more ordinary: less polished and precise in position, if always rhythmically accurate. But each one catches your eye with small-scale wonders and charm: Culbreath busting out some air guitar and the Moonwalk, Emily Pietruszka popping like a fierce robot.

The show starts with the dancers circling up to a house track and taking solo turns. It ends, satisfyingly, with a funk song by Mandrill, the kind of music for which these moves were made. In this way, “Nuttin’ but a Word” could be seen as both progressive and conservative. It follows what Harris says is his mantra: “Always Keep Moving.”

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.










Today's News

July 18, 2023

Fossils where they don't belong? Maybe we just didn't look hard enough.

Netherlands Museum for Photography receives € 38 million donation for a new home

National Gallery of Art acquires work by Raphael Morghen

Jane Birkin: An adventurous artist made in England, forged in France

Gallery FUMI presents a solo show by Sam Orlando Miller with works spanning ten years of his career

Patrycja Orzechowska's 'Embracing the Dark' opens at TRAFO Center for Contemporary Art

Milwaukee Public Museum wraps up Thinc Design's gallery unveilings for future museum

SculptureCenter presents: 'In Practice: Literally Means Collapse'

Blending dance and sculpture creates a fresh view of art

Exhibition explores how Romanticism continues to shape the digital age

The Hnatyshyn Foundation announces death of President Gerda Hnatyshyn

African American Museum extends acclaimed South African contemporary exhibition through State Fair of Texas

Madlen Strebel receives HfG Fotoförderpreis 2023 of the Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation

UK art museum presents shows on intersection of art forms, Faisal Abdu'Allah's 'Chair'

ANTI - Contemporary Art Festival announces nominees for the 2023 ANTI Festival International Prize for Live Art

Exhibition brings together specially selected monumental abstract paintings by three legendary artists

The 9th edition of Luxembourg Art Week will be held from 10 to 12 November

GRIMM opens 'The Moon and I'

Review: Rennie Harris' hip-hop dance mixtape

Jane Birkin: Decades of effortless elegance

A long, shining river of verse, flowing from a rower and writer

As climate shocks multiply, designers seek holy grail: Disaster-proof homes

Briansclub Cm: Mastering Cvv Dumps

What Landlords Need to Know About the Law in Alabama

What Is Slot88? Unveiling The Basics Of This Amazing Gaming Platform

How To Play Top Casino Games At Slot88? Step-by-Step Guide For Beginners

Unveiling Hidden Gems: Finding Valuable Art at Pawn Shops

Casinospel med konstnärliga motiv

The Pros And Cons Of Different Garage Door Materials

The Secret to Maintaining Healthy Trees in Alpharetta: Expert Tips

The Evolution of Engagement Rings: From Tradition to Modern Trends

The Green Revolution: Sustainable Landscaping Trends That You Should Try




Museums, Exhibits, Artists, Milestones, Digital Art, Architecture, Photography,
Photographers, Special Photos, Special Reports, Featured Stories, Auctions, Art Fairs,
Anecdotes, Art Quiz, Education, Mythology, 3D Images, Last Week, .

 



Founder:
Ignacio Villarreal
(1941 - 2019)
Editor & Publisher: Jose Villarreal
Art Director: Juan José Sepúlveda Ramírez
Writer: Ofelia Zurbia Betancourt

Attorneys
Truck Accident Attorneys
Accident Attorneys
Houston Dentist
Abogado de accidentes
สล็อต
สล็อตเว็บตรง
Motorcycle Accident Lawyer

Royalville Communications, Inc
produces:

ignaciovillarreal.org juncodelavega.com facundocabral-elfinal.org
Founder's Site. Hommage
to a Mexican poet.
Hommage
       

The First Art Newspaper on the Net. The Best Versions Of Ave Maria Song Junco de la Vega Site Ignacio Villarreal Site Parroquia Natividad del Señor
Tell a Friend
Dear User, please complete the form below in order to recommend the Artdaily newsletter to someone you know.
Please complete all fields marked *.
Sending Mail
Sending Successful