Legends of Press Kit Table of Contents

1. “Paying Multigenerational Tribute to the Pioneers of and ” (LEGENDS Review) TIMES, November 15, 2004 page 2

2. “Hip-hop gets new respect” (LEGENDS Review), THE STAR-LEDGER, November 24, 2004 page 3

3. “’ Legends of Hip Hop’ pays tribute to elders of locking and popping (LEGENDS Review), ASSOCIATED PRESS, November 22, 2004 page 4

4. “Dancing the History of Hip-Hop (LEGENDS Review), THE NEW YORK SUN, Nov 15, 2004 page 5

5. “Roam if You Want to, (LEGENDS Feature),” WEEKLY, June 20, 2001 page 6

6. “Save the Last (LEGENDS Feature),” THE SOURCE, October 2001 page 7

7. “Rennie Harris Festival a Homecoming (LEGENDS Feature),” INQUIRER, June 2001 page 8

Hip-hop gets new respect Wednesday, November 24, 2004 BY ROBERT JOHNSON Star-Ledger Staff

NEW YORK -- Hip-hop isn't naturally respectful. The grass-roots art movement was born when people on the margins of society rejected passive consumerism.

The inventors of hip-hop responded creatively to what they saw and heard, talked back to television, and subversively used LPs and turntables as instruments to make their own music. Finally, like computer hackers, they invaded the mainstream media, which began to broadcast and market their revolutionary art.

Yet hip-hop is also more than 30 years old now, and it has matured. "The Legends of Hip-Hop," a spectacular, hour-long program at the New Victory Theater, showcases both the East Coast breakers and DJs, whose astounding virtuoso feats represent an extreme of stylistic development and the essential discoveries of hip-hop's West Coast pioneers.

Rennie Harris, a former break dancer turned professional choreographer, has not lost his creative edge, as he demonstrated most recently in the innovative "Facing Mekka," created for his company Rennie Harris/Puremovement. But here Harris sets his own aside and waxes nostalgic, reverently honoring pioneers like and his Campbell Lockers and Sam and his Electric Boogaloos, whose early influence on video audiences fueled hip-hop's development.

Campbell, no longer thin but still clad in his trademark purple knickers, gets a flashy assist from the Tokyo City Lockers, a Japanese group that attests to his international influence. Looking sly in a bright red suit, Boogaloo Sam comes in to clean up after Poppin' Pete, Skeeter Rabbit, Suga' Pop and Mr. Wiggles, a team of dancers from and , whose robotic articulations are well- oiled.

The most exciting moments in "The Legends of Hip-Hop," however, are provided by young breakers from groups like Mop Tops, Fanatix and Skillmethodz, whose speed seems dangerous, and whose twisting, spinning pyrotechnics represent unbounded aspiration and heroic athleticism. The brilliant DJs, too, including DJ Evil Tracy, DJ Swift and DJ Razor Ramon, take charge of their material and run with it.

At the outset of this educational program, a voice asks, "What is hip-hop?" Pulsing background music and images flashing rapid-fire across a video screen suspended center-stage supply an immediate answer. Then the images settle down, and blurry video footage takes us back to the 1970s. Talking heads expound their philosophy of art.

Antique tapes of the Campbell Lockers seem to document a transitional stage between the 1960s, when television still reflected the dancing on Broadway, and the present. Now the dancing on MTV reflects the of television itself.

With its speed, dynamic cuts and commercial "breaks," TV changed the way that people danced in clubs and at parties, and their creativity, in turn, changed television. Just as a clever advertisement could enliven a dreary sitcom, the improvisational brilliance of a dancer dropping to the floor during a pause in the music could prove to be the most memorable portion of a night spent dancing on an outdoor basketball court in Philadelphia.

With all respect to the entertainment industry, it was the inspiration of ordinary people who watched television, then hit the streets to make their own art, that mattered most in the development of hip-hop.

Monday, November 22, 2004 Copyright 2004 By The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

Rennie Harris’ Legends of Hip Hop’ pays tribute to elders of locking and popping By CLAUDIA LA ROCCO – Associated Press Writer

NEW YORK (AP) – From back flips to head spins to a human beat box, Rennie Harris’ Legends of Hip Hop” zooms along like an extended highlight videotape. In such previous efforts as “Facing Mekka,” Harris has sought more esoteric explorations of the dance form. But in “Legends,” which opened Sunday at the New Victory Theater, Harris goes for—and gets—applause, along with a bit of history. Both projects are part of a larger design, as Harris reaches out to different audiences to show that hip hop is much more than what MTV would have us believe.

Harris employs DJs, several members of his own Puremovement company and others to put on a rousing performance, with lots of showmanship and one-upmanship. But all give respect to hip-hop pioneers Don Campbell, creator of The Campbellock, or locking, and Sam Solomon or Boogaloo Sam, creator of—you guessed it—Boogaloo, or style dancing.

Both emanate cool, with Campbell honored by the over-the-top Tokyo City Lockers and Solomon (dressed all in red, down to his tie and sunglasses) flanked by his debonair Electric Boogaloos. It’s hard to imagine either struggling to build a new form, to which Campbell alludes. “I made a lot of mistakes—mistakes are new moves,” Campbell jokes in an introductory video, which sketches a history of hip-hop dance, focusing on the rise of new forms in the 1970s.

Of course, the form has much deeper roots—from the locking leaps ending in splits that reference the Nicholas Brothers to the relationship between B-boy and DJ so similar to that between tapper and trio.

DJs Evil Tracy, Ran and Razor Ramon shine in “Legends,” employing fingertips, chests and even their foreheads as the finesse the turn styles in highly physical fashion. They are balanced by the high energy of the young dancers—men and women—who must surely do Solomon and Campbell proud.

“Rennie Harris’ Legends of Hip Hop” is showing at the New Victory Theater through Nov. 28.

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The New York Sun November 15, 2004

Dancing the History of Hip-Hop

By RACHEL STRAUS

Hip-hop hit Broadway cement over 30 years ago, but it didn't make it inside one of its theaters - as entirely its own show - until now. In Rennie Harris' Legends of Hip-Hop, the originators of popping, locking and electric boogaloo celebrate, with a cadre of younger acolytes, the moves that revolutionized dance. Throughout the 90- minute performance at The New Victory Theater, no Mariah Carey pushes these dancers into the corners. No Madonna rips off their movement and waters it down, calling it vogueing. This is unfiltered hip-hop dancing at its most expansive and proud.

Legends doubles as an informal history lesson, especially for those who thought that hip-hop appeared one day in the 1980s only to show up again in suburban dance studios some 15 years later. The concept for the show evolved from workshops organized by Rennie Harris, who invited his mentors - Sam Solomon and Don Campbell among others - to contribute choreography. Legends builds on the success of Rome and Jewels, hip- hop's first evening-length narrative work, loosely based on Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, which brought Mr. Harris international acclaim in 2000.

Legends revisits hip-hop's seminal street-dance moments, where intense competition between rival gangs pushed the boundaries of human physicality. In one set, a Rock Steady Crew dancer spins off of one hand like a Lazy Susan in warp speed and then starts popping up from the ground like a fish out of water. It's flabbergasting. But then another Crew dancer tops it when he bends backward to grab his ankles, making multiple flips with his head between his feet. Above the dancers on stage, DJ Razor Ramon scratches rhythms with his back and then his nose, something not to be tried at home.

As the curator of Legends, Mr. Harris focuses on hip-hop's artistic breadth, international reach, and its innovators. Don Campbell, originator of locking, and Sam Solomon, creator of popping and the electric boogaloo, strutting across the stage and out of obscurity. Their differing styles, steps and vastly different looks couldn't be confused for one another. While Mr. Solomon's quartet, the Electric Boogaloos, plays loose, slinky footwork against electric shock muscular freezes, Mr. Campbell's locking steps, performed by the Tokyo City Lockers, resemble jack-in-the-boxes, who jump and collapse onto the floor with uncanny ease. The Boogaloos, outfitted in white pinstriped suits, also share little with Mr. Campbell's look - think Ronald McDonald crossed with the bowler-hatted boys of "Clockwork Orange."

With a cast stretching from to Tokyo, Legends underlines hip-hop's geographic scope. Half the performers are female. Lady Jules, an acknowledged champion of the fast-stepping b-boy style, dominates the first act with her rip-roaring hip thrusts and lightening quick footwork. Other standouts include beat boxer Anointed S, whose microphone and mile-a-minute mouth transform him into a human drum, rivaling the acoustic force of a Madison Square Garden rock .

The show's lessons come together fully through a series of video segments, projected onto four hanging panels, of the original hip-hop dancers. In one cut from the television show "," Mr. Campbell and his lockers twitch, and release their muscles, appearing like short-circuiting robots.

Legends falls flat in only one respect. In makes hip-hop seem far too sweet. The fight moves at the end of the evening, for example, look playful rather than threatening. In the original music by , Darrin M. Ross and Kenny Muhammad, not one obscenity is heard. The niceness of Legends reflects The New Victory's mission to provide enlightened children's entertainment. Regardless, the show's impact comes from seeing the heavies of this dance form finally acknowledged as major forces, as legends of hip-hop.

Copyright 2004 The New York Sun

involves quick hand motions, kicks and steps); Boogaloo Sam and the Electric Boogaloos (yes, as in Break-in' 2), who happened to teach the aforementioned Jackson some of his moves; from the legendary Rock Steady Crew. Ifyou've Roam if You Want To been paying attention to the commercials during the playoffs, you've seen him a million times in that for the moment and focus on celebrating the roots of super-long Nike ad; a bunch of seminal Philadelphia their form. dancers, like the Untouchables and the Scanner Before Rome &Jewels-that is, before extensive "Illadelph Legends: Honoring the Source" is a two- Boys; and for the musical side of things, Newcleus week festival featuring master classes, jam sessions, will be on hand and will no doubt perform their world tours, before getting big write-ups in lecture demonstrations, panel discussions and, of electro rap classic "Jam on It." publications like Vibe and , Kicking off Monday with classes running through- before having in their course, performances with the Puremovement folks as out each weekday at the Community Education audience and before making real money-the dancers well as legendary figures in the history of hip-hop of Rennie Harris Puremovement were simply known dance from around the country. After the success of Center and weekend performances at the CEC and as Philadelphia's resident b-boys. Some of the best last year's weeklong "Legends"-Philadelphia's first hip- Annenberg, "Illadelph Legends" will not end on its last hip-hop dancers and breakers-and just dancers, tival-Harris and co. decided to make day here in Philadelphia (July 7), but will continue on period-in the city, the Puremovement crew rocked this one twice as long, and the guest to Denver to take part in the Colorado Dance Festival. such houses as the Painted Bride and the Annenberg list is appropriately impressive. And Philadelphia fans surely won't mind seeing Center and impressed audiences with their Included in the schedule are Don Puremovement leave town again after beadspins, backflips and popping and locking, not to Campbell, who's credited with they've spent some quality time here mention some pretty impressive choreography. creating locking, one of at home. (Roll v Mack-Ward) >> Fans are happy for RHPM's success and the fundamental June 25-July 6. Various times, recognition outside city limits and b-boy conferences. components of prices and locations. But now that their hip-hop version of Romeo hip-hop dance andJuliet has taken them to the next level, their 215.382.8191. www. (which mostly absence from the Philly dance scene has been pure movement.com. palpable. That is, until this week, when the Puremovement crew will not only be around, but they'll put Rome &Jewels on hold Break fest: Rennie Harris and crew bring hip-hop dance back for a second year. HIP-HOP. CHOREO- GRAPHER RESURRECTS SAVE THE LAST DANCE THE ART OF DANCE WITH ANNUAL FESTIVAL WORDS BY AKIBA SOLOMON

Although the 31-year-old was once a "It used to be that it was the MC next to member of the hottest break dance crew the DJ and at the forefront were the Hip-hop heads have a notori- in St. Louis, he doesn't want to be the dancers. Now, the MC is in the front," sole hip-hop influence on his young white explains Harris, the festival's founder and ously short memory. That's why noted hip-hop legend in his own right. "That's dancer and choreographer Rennie Harris students. The Midwesterner ended up fine, just don't forget the history, and pay makes it his mission to ensure that we learning a few things himself. "I was talk- don't forget hip-hop dance legends and ing to Crazy Legs and he [insisted] that us the way we're supposed to get paid." their acrobatic maneuvers. His answer to '' is a name the media cre- The critically acclaimed dancer and choreographer isn't bitter. He's rightfully the amnesia-stricken masses? "Illadelph ated," informs Peters. "I knew [dancers] disturbed by how often hip-hop dancers Legends: Honoring the Source," a two- were called break boys and break girls week-long event in late June that creates get jerked these days. "The legends were because they would dance on the break an outlet for those who want to learn really amazed that we treated them about hip-hop dance. For $350 a week of a song. It would seem that the verb [correctly]," says Harris. "Sometimes (or a need-based scholarship), students would be 'breakdancing' but Legs was people just fly them out and the gig gets take classes like Boogaloo Basics, B-Boy like, 'Nah, nah, it's called b-boying!"' cancelled. Or, they get kicked out the Basics and Campbell Locking. Created Sounding weary, he continues, "I also hotel because the promoter ran out of by Philly's Rennie Harris noticed the different names that we money. Everybody's trying to be Big Puremovement last year, the fes Willy, but they don't understand that they tival also features several panel have to have the funding to support these discussions, lectures and shows. cats." This year, West and East Coast legends Don Campbell, Electric Boogaloos, Pop Master Fabel, Lil LEP, Crazy Legs and Alien Ness were also on deck to teach, speak and perform the moves that made them famous. During one of the classes, Crazy Legs desperately tries to convey the mechanics of a battle combination. "It's like you're hopping over a fence and trying to be cool about it," explains the used for moves. It's a lot of different ter- With monetary support from Dance original Rock Steady Crew member. "And minology, but it's all the same." Advance, the National Endowment for the none of this stuff," he cautions before Of course, many would argue that it's Arts, and the Council on the demonstrating some Steve Urkelesque not "all the same." After all, dance is one Arts, Harris's festival is one of few footwork. His white, Latino, Black and of the last underground forms of hip-hop domestic events that highlight and Asian students do as they're told. The expression. In the world of popping, lock- properly compensate hip-hop dancers. results are as varied as the crowd ing, b-boying and boogying, "true" history Most important, Illadelph Legends creates assembled in the West Philadelphia lies in the memories of its masters. If you a space for the old school and the new dance studio. want their stats, you must hunt them school to interact. It's a place where the Although the festival site feels like a down-literally-whether it means bumping legends get their props and incredible sauna, you'll find some dance enthusiasts into them at anniversary celebrations, newcomers like The Untouchables get to enduring six classes a day. Take Z.I., a combing through early '80s episodes of prove why hip-hop dance will never die. 22year-old, deaf Philly native. "I've [been] Soul Train, or logging onto devotees' "When I was learning how to break dance, dancing since I was 13. Now I'm here to websites and cross-referencing I did it to the point that I was carrying learn how to dance hip-hop, to break- everything. To further complicate matters, around linoleum and Pledge because I dance and all that," he explains between rap music's million-dollar mouths have kept bruisin' my back," recalls The gulps of water. "Hopefully, I'll be able to obscured hip-hop dance. Untouchables member Brady Hill, 31. go into a [dance] circle with confidence." "Sure, it takes lots of commitment. But Dance teacher Kelly Peters brought his Left: Bustin' moves. Right: Crazy you gotta keep on practicing, and one day class down from Martha's Vineyard. Legs at the head of the class. someone will see you. You just gotta keep dancing. "© THE SOURCE Review Dance Rennie Harris festival a hip-hop homecoming

HBy Elizabeth Zimmer FOR THE INQUIRER Hip-hop choreographer Rennie Rennie Harris visits Philly Harris, who's been touring for more than a year with his astonishing Rome to run "Illadelph Legends," and Jewels, tonight winds up Illadelph an annual dance workshop Legends, his annual workshop and gathering of the tribes. Last weekend's and festival that ends at the Annenberg's tonight. Theater showcased celebrity guests; performances this time display local by reputation), you'll have to ask them, favorites in an intimate setting. Your perhaps during intermission on the final chance to see them is at the porch of the compact building, a former Community Education Center, where Quaker meetinghouse that houses the Rennie Harris Puremovement and the Kumquat I)ance Center. Montazh Performing Arts Company an- Quaking is still on the agenda. Harris chor a short, sweet show. Corporations performs an excerpt from his powerful aren't breaking down doors to co-opt "Endangered Species," a fusion of "elec- the festival Harris animates; as casual tric" hip-hop and contemporary move- master of ceremonies, he notes that ment that put him on the international there's no reception, but invites the dance map several years ago. Here, the packed house to "check out the Wawa" work, originally accompanied by a down the block after the show. soundtrack including a heartbeat and There are no tickets, no programs or heavy breathing, is enhanced by a re- posters beyond the enigmatic card an- cording of autobiographical text illumi- LUIS SANCHEZ / Ir nouncing the festival. If you need the nating the repressed rage clearly visi- performers' names (that is, if you're ble in the tightly controlled movement. among the few spectators who don't al- See DANCE on E2 Jules Urich, a member of Rennie Harris readv know them, either personally or Puremovement, rehearses her moves. Philly hip-hop dancers perform

DANCE from El flected jazz routines to recorded MTV and other mainstream tunes. video institutions appropriate Jules Urich, a wiry blonde Members of Puremovement the genre for their own and one of the few women in perform snatches of choreogra- exploitive purposes, Harris and Harris' ensemble, opens the phy including a section of his young posse want to ensure show, demonstrating great broken unison that takes their that local dancers understand prowess at achieving the acro- rubbery, rhythmic forms in where hip-hop came from, and batic poses central to hip-hop's several directions at once. how it works. lexicon. Rodney Mason, the sly They're a berserk regiment, If you've ever longed to ob- actor-dancer who plays a cen- utterly in tune with one serve this form from practically tral role in Rome and Jewels, another, centered and underfoot, to study the moves offers a few moments of raun- grounded. Four of them riff on up close, tonight's closing show chy hip-hop stand-up. He also bouncing a fifth as if he were a is the place to do it. It's hot in hallucinates a girl in a red biki- basketball. the hall, in every sense. Wear as ni; she actually materializes, Like tap dancing, hip-hop is little as you can get away with. but he seems unable to grab an urban folk-art form, and, Rennie Harris Puremovement her. like tap, it has deep roots in at the Community Education Montazh, a multiracial Philly neighborhoods. For Center, 3500 Lancaster Ave., at female sextet on the threshold upward of 25 years, inner-city 8 tonight. Phone: 215-382-8191. of fabulousness, performs hip- youngsters who hone their art hop-in on street corners have been in a media spotlight. Even as