Join us for this special virtual artist talk with legendary choreographer, Rennie Harris, as he talks about the restaging of his classic work, Rome & Jewels, with his company Rennie Harris Puremovement American Street Dance Theater (RHPM). Critically acclaimed as an Elizabethan masterpiece Rome & Jewels is a retelling of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet set in the streets of Philadelphia. The production broke ground nationally and internationally, winning 3 Bessie awards, a Shakespeare Theater Award, and a nomination for the United Kingdom’s Lawrence Olivier award. Rennie Harris Puremovement is the longest-running street dance theater company in American history and is “the” preeminent ambassador and elder of Hip-hop and Street dance culture.

In conversation with Rennie is Providence-based dancer, educator and choreographer, Jessica T. Pearson. Jessica is an Associate Professor of Dance at Rhode Island College and has danced with the Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble, Gesel Mason and Concepts In Motion (Bermuda). She has been invited to teach and choreograph at Ballet West, Brown University, Providence College, Salve Regina University,  University of Kentucky Lexington, Utah Regional Ballet and has taught overseas. Her choreography has been presented at Urbanity Next (Boston) and Utah Regional Ballet. She received her MFA in Dance from the University of Colorado, Boulder where she studied dance pedagogy, dance wellness and choreography and holds a BFA from Towson University in Dance Performance.