If Cities Could Dance

African American dance legend Katherine Dunham turned East St. Louis into an important hub of the Black Arts movement. By 1972, she directed an artist relief program, started a student dance company, and opened a museum dedicated to African art. Meet some of the city's culture keepers and watch Dunham program alums perform in front of the Katherine Dunham Museum, and in downtown East St. Louis.

Dancer, Choreographer and Artistic Director Rennie Harris explains his time founding and running the first and longest running hip hop dance company in the U.S., Rennie Harris Puremovement; working on performances "Endangered Species" and "Rome and Jewels"; dancing with The Scanner Boys; touring on the U.S.'s first hip hop tour, The Fresh Festival; and hosting the TV dance show One House Street.

The infusion of soul helps make Philadelphia house so distinct from its harder-edged Chicago, Detroit and New York counterparts. More than three decades later, a tight-knit, intergenerational community of house dancers, DJs and event producers in Philadelphia are still working, amidst commercialization and club closures, to keep the original underground spirit of the scene alive.

For Native Hawaiians, the origins of hula are deeply spiritual and rooted in Hawaii’s creation stories and the history and culture of their kūpuna or ancestors. Many sacred dances have been passed down through centuries of kumu hula, or hula instructors, like Honolulu’s Snowbird Puananiopaokalani Bento, who trained decades to master the language, choreography and protocols.

In LA, jam skaters draw from a community and culture built over generations at Venice Beach and at rinks across the city. Over the past year, roller skating hit the mainstream as a safe and relatively accessible pandemic-era pastime. Skates were sold out for months, and skaters became major influencers on Instagram and TikTok. But longtime skaters are quick to remind everyone: This isn’t a fad.