RENNIE HARRIS PRESENTS: ROME & JEWELS is Coming to the Joyce Theater in February

The Joyce Theater Foundation will takes audiences back in time to the '90s-the 1990s and the 1590s simultaneously-with Rennie Harris presents: Rome & Jewels, the first breakout masterwork of Rennie Harris Puremovement American Street Dance Theater, to celebrate the company's 30th anniversary. The contemporary interpretation of Romeo and Juliet, set in the streets of Harris' native Philadelphia and told through hip-hop and street dance, will play The Joyce Theater from February 7-12. Tickets, ranging in price from $10-$65, can be purchased at www.Joyce.org, or by calling JoyceCharge at 212-242-0800. Please note: ticket prices are subject to change. The Joyce Theater is located at 175 Eighth Avenue at West 19th Street. For more information and to read about The Joyce Theater's detailed health and safety protocols, including required face-coverings and proof of vaccination policies, please visit www.Joyce.org.

For 30 years, Rennie Harris Puremovement American Street Dance Theater has been the preeminent ambassador of hip-hop and street dance culture, starting in founder and artistic director Rennie Harris' home city of Philadelphia and taking it to a global audience. To celebrate the company's milestone anniversary, they are taking it back to where it all began: Rennie Harris presents: Rome & Jewels. This early-career masterpiece takes the well-worn story of Shakespeare's most famous star-crossed lovers and moves it to the streets of Philly, infusing this tale of love, fear, violence, and triumph with the racial, religious, and economic questions and insights that are just as relevant now as they were when Harris created the piece in the late 1990s. The Shakespeare Theater Award and three-time Bessie Award-winning work reinvents the timeless tale yet again by embodying the diverse African-Diasporic traditions of the past while paving the way for innovative story told through dance. This anniversary restaging of Rennie Harris presents: Rome & Jewels will introduce new generations of audiences to Rennie Harris' powerful work and the essence of real hip-hop.

ABOUT Rennie Harris

Lorenzo "Rennie" Harris is a leading ambassador for hip-hop, having grown up entrenched in its culture and immersed in all its forms. Throughout his career, he has embraced hip-hop culture and sought to honor its heritage from both African and African American-Latino cultures. Devoted to bringing hip-hop and street dance to all people, Harris's artistic philosophy reflects a deeper understanding of people that extends beyond racial, religious, and economic boundaries. He is well-versed in the vernacular of hip-hop "proper," as well as B-boy, house, GQ, and other styles that have emerged spontaneously from the inner cities of America, like the North Philadelphia community in which he was raised. Noted for coining the term "Street Dance Theater," Harris has brought social dances to the concert stage, creating a cohesive dance style that finds a cogent voice in the theater. He is the recipient of three Bessie Awards, four Alvin Ailey Black Choreographer Awards, an Ethnic Dance Award, and the Herb Alpert Award in the Arts for Choreography. Harris was nominated twice for Olivier Awards, for his seminal work Rome & Jewels, as well as Love Stories in 2006. He has received a Doris Duke award, Guggenheim Fellowship, PEW Fellowship, USA Artist of the Year Fellowship, and the coveted "Philadelphia Rocky" Award, among others. In 2000, Harris was voted one of the most influential people in the last 100 years of Philadelphia, alongside the likes of Dr. Julius Erving and Princess Grace Kelly.

ABOUT The Joyce Theater

The Joyce Theater Foundation ("The Joyce," Executive Director, Linda Shelton), a non-profit organization, has proudly served the dance community for almost four decades. Under the direction of founders Cora Cahan and Eliot Feld, Ballet Tech Foundation acquired and renovated the Elgin Theater in Chelsea. Opening as The Joyce Theater in 1982, it was named in honor of Joyce Mertz, beloved daughter of LuEsther T. Mertz. It was LuEsther's clear, undaunted vision and abundant generosity that made it imaginable and ultimately possible to build the theater. Ownership was secured by The Joyce in 2015. The theater is one of the only theaters built by dancers for dance and has provided an intimate and elegant home for over 400 U.S.-based and international companies. The Joyce has also expanded its reach beyond its Chelsea home through off-site presentations at venues ranging in scope from Lincoln Center's David H. Koch Theater, to Brooklyn's Invisible Dog Art Center, and outdoor programming in spaces such as Hudson River Park. To further support the creation of new work, The Joyce maintains longstanding commissioning and residency programs. Local students and teachers (K-12th grade) benefit from its school program, and family and adult audiences get closer to dance with access to artists. The Joyce's annual season of about 48 weeks of dance now includes over 340 performances - both digital and in-person - for audiences of over 150,000.

The Joyce Theater presents Rennie Harris Puremovement American Street Dance Theater in its classic evening-length work Rennie Harris presents: Rome & Jewels from February 7-12. The performance schedule is as follows: Tue-Wed 7:30pm; Thu-Fri 8pm; Sat 2pm & 8pm; Sun 2pm. Tickets, ranging in price from $10-$65, can be purchased at www.Joyce.org, or by calling JoyceCharge at 212-242-0800. Please note: ticket prices are subject to change. The Joyce Theater is located at 175 Eighth Avenue at West 19th Street. For more information and to read about The Joyce Theater's detailed health and safety protocols, including required face-coverings and proof of vaccination policies, please visit www.Joyce.org.