Rennie Harris Puremovement's World Premiere of 100NakedLocks and Bang on a Can All-Stars with Glenn Kotche from Wilco at the Kimmel Center this February
JANUARY 21, 2009
Rennie Harris Puremovement
Expect the unexpected at the Kimmel Center this February, as innovative dance and contemporary music performers challenge artistic boundaries with groundbreaking, unconventional new works.
- Philadelphia's own hip-hop pioneer Rennie Harris Puremovement dance company take audiences on a sci-fi journey into the unknown with the world premiere of 100NakedLocks (Friday-Saturday, February 20-21, 2009).
- Bang on a Can All-Stars melds elements of classical, jazz, rock and world music in a genre-defying jam session with drummer Glenn Kotche from alt-country band Wilco (Saturday, February 28, 2009).
Tickets can be purchased by calling 215-893-1999, online at www.kimmelcenter.org, or at the Kimmel Center box office open daily from 10am to 6pm and later on performance evenings. (Additional fees may apply.) For group sales call 215-790-5883.
A limited number of $10 tickets are available for every Kimmel Center Presents performance at the Kimmel Center. Tickets go on sale the day of the event and can be purchased at the Kimmel Center box office beginning at 5:30pm for an evening curtain time and 11:30am for matinees. Limit one ticket per person.
Rennie Harris Puremovement
100NakedLocks (World Premiere)
Friday, February 20, 2009 at 7:30pm
Saturday, February 21, 2009 at 2:30pm and 7:30pm
Perelman Theater
Price: $34-44
"Hip-hop dance to a higher power, in both the mathematical and the metaphysical senses…"—Village Voice
"Philadelphia's greatest cultural export" (Philadelphia Inquirer), Rennie Harris Puremovement returns to the Kimmel Center with the world premiere of 100NakedLocks on Friday, February 20, 2009 at 7:30pm and Saturday, February 21, 2009 at 2:30pm and 7:30pm in Perelman Theater.
Inspired by the futuristic vistas of the sci-fi genre, 100NakedLocks surveys how tomorrow's hip-hop may appear and how today's cultural conflicts, natural disasters and environmental changes may potentially lead to the erosion of humankind, creating a desolate world for the last 100 [hip-hop] survivors. The highly-charged, evening-length work deconstructs popular perceptions of hip-hop, expanding and challenging the boundaries and definitions of this medium of expression. Throughout the piece, Harris explores the individualism, texture and physicality of the kinesthetic dance movement "locking," one of hip-hop's first variations.
Founded in 1992 by North Philadelphia native Rennie Harris, Rennie Harris Puremovement is dedicated to preserving and disseminating hip-hop culture through performances, workshops, classes and mentoring programs. The company has performed to audiences across the globe, including three sold-out performances at the Kimmel Center in 2007. RHPM has notably presented the successful crossover dance theater production of Bessie® Award-winning Rome & Jewels (2000), which retells the tragic love story of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet and West Side Story through the eyes of a hip-hop poet; as well Facing Mekka (2003), reflecting Harris' personal journey through triumph and tragedy while challenging traditional views of hip-hop. RHPM's highly acclaimed repertory works also include: "P-funk," "March of the Antmen," "Students of the Asphalt Jungle" and Harris' signature piece, "Endangered Species."
In 2007, Harris was recognized with an Artist of the Year Award as part of the 2007 Governor's Awards for the Arts. He also received one of 50 prestigious United States Artist Fellowship grants in 2007. Harris is renowned for Illadelph Legends of Hip-Hop Festival, a 10-day festival that welcomes students of all backgrounds and dance levels to learn from hip-hop dance greats. The festival has now grown to more than 500 participants, with classes, lecture demonstrations, panel discussions, jam sessions and performances featuring guest artists that include seminal performers in hip-hop dance.
"...the virtuosic footwork, the marvelous undulations of the hips and, above all, the intricate patterns of Mr. Harris's choreographic formations. He knows how to move bodies in space, how to layer his phrases and, above all, how to make dancers look good."—New York Times
Friday, February 20, 2009 | Post-Show
Perelman Theater Stage | Artist Chat
This performance features a post-show Artist Chat on Perelman Theater
stage with dancers, choreographer Rennie Harris and Kimmel Center
Director of Programming Tom Warner.
Friday, February 20, 2009 | Post-Show
Cadence Restaurant's K Lounge
Forte Young Professionals Networking Event
Forte,
the Kimmel Center's newly launched young professionals community, hosts
a networking event for performing arts lovers, ages 21-40, in Cadence
Restaurant's K Lounge immediately following Rennie Harris
Puremovement's Friday evening performance. Visit www.kimmelcenter.org/forte for more information and to purchase tickets.
This engagement with Rennie Harris Puremovement is partially funded by grants from Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation — ARTSConnect and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Bang on a Can All-Stars
With Special Guest Glenn Kotche from Wilco
Saturday, February 28, 2009 at 7:30pm
Perelman Theater
Price: $19-32
"A fiercely aggressive group, combining the power and punch of a rock band with the precision and clarity of a chamber ensemble."—New York Times
New York-based contemporary music ensemble Bang on a Can All-Stars returns to the Kimmel Center for the first time since its debut in 2005, with special guest drummer Glenn Kotche from Wilco on Saturday, February 28, 2009 at 7:30pm in Perelman Theater. The band will perform a new composition from Kotche, as well as selections from his work Mobile. The program also features two Philadelphia premieres by Bang on a Can founders, Sunray by David Lang and Lick by Julia Wolfe, and the world premiere of a new work by Michael Gordon.
Bang on a Can has grown from a one-day marathon festival to a multifaceted organization providing young composers and performers the opportunity for cross-disciplinary collaborations and projects with DJs, visual artists, choreographers, filmmakers and more. Formed in 1987 by Michael Gordon, Julia Wolfe and 2008 Pulitzer Prize winner David Lang, the organization has since assembled a group of versatile, virtuosic performers, Bang on a Can All-Stars, to present new music at festivals and concert venues worldwide.
The six-piece band records and performs groundbreaking music, and has the ability to morph onstage from classical ensemble to rock band to jazz sextet within a single set. The group has commissioned new works from both established and up-and-coming composers, as well as performed at various venues from Carnegie Hall to Paris' Theatre De La Ville. Fellow musicians have honed their talents in collaborations with Philip Glass, Steve Reich, Meredith Monk, Brian Eno and Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore, among many others. Bang on a Can All-Stars recent albums include A Ballad for Many (2006) with clarinetist Don Byron; Elida (2005) with Czech violinist and vocalist Iva Bittova; and Music in 5ths (2004), featuring two classic works by composer Philip Glass.
Glenn Kotche has explored the creative use of rhythm and space through various percussion projects over the past 18 years. A member of Wilco since 2001, his contributions include performances on the band's gold-selling album Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (2002), the Grammy® Award-winning A Ghost Is Born (2004) and the live double record Kicking Television (2005). The band's most recent release, Sky Blue Sky (2007), debuted on the Billboard charts U.S. Top 5 and was nominated for a Grammy® Award for Best Rock Album. Beyond his work with Wilco, Kotche has participated on over 80 albums, including three solo albums, and recordings by experimental jazz duo On Fillmore and indie rock trio Loose Fur with Jeff Tweedy and Jim O'Rourke. Kotche's 25-minute, seven movement composition "Anomaly," commissioned by the Kronos Quartet, premiered at the San Francisco Jazz Festival in 2007.
"Bang on a Can is one of the most captivating and forward-thinking modern classical/new music ensembles in the country…imagine the most regal and vivacious avant-garde classical/rock music…" —Village Voice
Bang on a Can All-Stars
Robert Black, double bass
David Cossin, percussion
Ning Yu, piano and keyboard
Mark Stewart, electric guitar
Caroline Stinson, cello
Evan Ziporyn, clarinets
Special Guest
Glenn Kotche, drums
Bang on a Can All-Stars Program:
MICHAEL GORDON: New Work
JULIA WOLFE: Lick
DAVID LANG: Sunray
GLENN KOTCHE/STEVE REICH: Clapping Music Variations
STEVE REICH: Music for Pieces of Wood (For Drums – arr. by David Cossin)
GLENN KOTCHE: Mobile
GLENN KOTCHE: Snap
Saturday, February 28, 2009 | Post-Show
Perelman Theater Stage | Artist Chat
This performance will conclude with an Artist Chat featuring that
evening's artists and Kimmel Center Director of Programming Tom Warner,
during which performers speak about their music making as well as take
questions from the audience.
Saturday, February 28, 2009 | Post-Show
Cadence Restaurant's K Lounge
Forte Young Professionals Networking Event
Forte,
the Kimmel Center's newly launched young professionals community, hosts
a networking event for performing arts lovers, ages 21-40, in Cadence
Restaurant's K Lounge immediately following Bang on a Can All-Stars'
performance. Visit http://www.kimmelcenter.org/forte for more information and to purchase tickets.
This performance by Bang on a Can All-Stars is part of the Fresh Ink Series supported by Montgomery, McCracken, Walker & Rhoads LLP and The Pew Center for Arts and Heritage, through the Philadelphia Music Project.
Kimmel Center Presents' 2008/2009 Season is sponsored by Citi. The Great Orchestras on Tour Series is supported by 10 Rittenhouse Square. Additional support is provided by the University of Pennsylvania Health System, American Express, and Interpark. American Airlines is the Official Airline of Kimmel Center Presents. NBC-10 is a media partner for Kimmel Center Presents.
Free in the Plaza programming and subsidized tickets offered to the community and social service groups for $10 are made possible through the Wachovia Gateway to the Arts Community Access Program, supported by a generous grant from the Wachovia Foundation.
The Kimmel Center is the recipient of partnership funding through the nationally recognized PNC "Grow Up Great" initiative, a ten-year, $100 million investment in preparing children for success in school and life. Funding gives support to the Kimmel Center's early childhood program "Bop and Swing," an arts program for children 1-5 years old, designed to promote an appreciation for American culture.
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