Rome & Jewels is a reimagined version of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet directed and choreographed by Hip-hop dance pioneer and griot Rennie Harris. In Harris’s adaptation, it is “set in the streets of Philadelphia,” using Hip-hop dance vocabulary, DJing, dialogue, set design and the Black experience. Like other choreographers, Harris has taken an established work, whether it be a book or dance, and questioned how it can be reimagined. When he was young, Harris watched West Side Story and questioned why there weren’t any street dancers. Years later, he had the idea of choreographing a Hip-hop version of West Side Story. In Unsequenced, a podcast dedicated to dance journalism and criticism, from inside the dance, Harris noted how he allowed the artists to bring themselves to the script and characters through improvisation. Considered his seminal work, Rome & Jewels is Harris’ first evening-length work that includes dialogue and a live DJ, as foundational elements.

Choreographed in 1997, it was restaged/reimagined to celebrate Rennie Harris Puremovement’s 30th Anniversary in 2022. After the premiere in Philly, the company performed it at the Joyce Theater in New York City. The Joyce is a notable dance performance space, and since 1982 has hosted emerging and established dance artists and companies of all aesthetics. The Joyce is a benchmark of approval in the dance world and the fact that RHPM performed Rome & Jewels again in February 2023, is an accomplishment to the longevity and relevance of the dance, the company and Rennie Harris. Since these two benchmarks performances of Rome & Jewels, there have been notable actions with either use of Hip-hop culture on Broadway and Blacks in Ballet. In June 2015, Misty Copeland became the first Black woman principal dancer of the American Ballet Theatre and danced the role of Juliet in Romeo and Juliet. In 2015, Lin Manuel Miranda debuted Hamilton, a Hip-hop musical of the American founding fathers played by performers of color. 

Hip-hop started in the streets of the Bronx in the 1970s when DJ Kool Herc began to use two turntables to extend the instrumental beat in the music, which gave breakdancers an avenue to show the moves they practiced. The dance started in city streets and clubs, then shifted to dance crews and the crews being opening acts for concerts. Then backup dancers appeared in concerts and videos, commercials, and the concert dance stage. Rome & Jewels is a demonstration of how Hip-hop dance transcended into different iterations. Although many consume, dance, and enjoy Hip-hop music, dance, and culture, they may not be aware of its foundational elements. Hip-hop is more than just music or dance; it’s a culture that has foundational elements: DJing, MCing, beatboxing, breaking, graffiti, fashion, and the relationship to self.

As there are foundational elements of Hip-hop, there are also many different styles of the dance genre, including breaking, house, popping, locking, social dances, Boogaloo, whacking, voguing, and krumping. As a first-year graduate student at the University of Colorado, Boulder, I chose to take a class taught by Rennie Harris. Hip-hop dance was not a genre that I studied in-depth prior to that, and I knew that spending a semester in his class would be valuable for my foundational knowledge in the genre and I now know, to the culture.

Over the last several months there have been numerous events celebrating the 50th anniversary of Hip-hop. The ones I have consumed are heavy on music, which include the Brooklyn library exhibit, The Book of HOV: A celebration of the life and work of Shawn “JAY-Z” Carter. The artifacts, archives, photos, and music of Jay-Z demonstrated his metamorphosis to the mogul he is today. Jay-Z, founder of the Roc Nation, has a social justice partnership with the NFL and curates the annual halftime show. The Show: California Love, a documentary on the Super Bowl LVI Halftime Show that featured Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Kendrick Lamar, and other notable artists, gave Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg an opportunity to demonstrate their longevity as well. Dre and Snoop survived the censorship debate that they and others faced with parental advisory stickers on their CDs and cassette tapes.

Hip-hop artists who once faced derision in some American households are now beloved celebrities, due to their metamorphosis to acting, reality TV shows, and branded products Just like these artists have transitioned, so has Hip-hop dance. You find Hip-hop dance being sought after and offered at suburban dance studios and university dance programs. My time in Rennie Harris’s class let me experience house movement vocabulary, hear stories about dance legends and gain valuable knowledge and insight on what learning Hip-hop dance should look like in an academic setting. As a dance educator, I wonder what young dancers know about the pioneers of Hip-hop dance? Do they know Rennie Harris or Rennie Harris Puremovement? Do they know the social dances, up rock, foundational elements? I know that my experience cannot be everyone’s, but FirstWorks has brought Providence another opportunity to see Rennie Harris Puremovement, this time, the company is performing Rome & Jewels.

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By 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.

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