Meet the Artist: Rachel Harris
2023 Bessie Award Nominee for “Outstanding Performer,” Rachel Harris started dancing at the age of two under the instruction of Denise Britzclarke-Clarke in Charlotte, North Carolina. She graduated Cum Laude from the University of Southern California Glorya Kaufman School of Dance where she received her BFA with an architecture concentration in 2020. Upon graduation, Harris joined Zeitgeist Dance Theatre as an inaugural company member and signed with Go2Talent Agency. She later joined Parsons Dance from 2020 - 2023, where she performed nationally and internationally. Rachel has been named Howard University’s 2021 Emerging Choreographer to Watch, Gibney Dance Converge2Emerge 2021 Film Grant Recipient, and 2022 Finalist for New Century Dance Project. She also founded Make Space Artists, Inc. to house her creative endeavors. Rachel's creative exploration fuses her interest in architectural design with contemporary and social dance practices to creatively re-imagining how the human experience and fantasy is presented through film and on stage.Rachel has performed for the Metropolitan Opera and continues to freelance in New York City and Los Angeles.
Q&A with Rachel Harris
When did you start dancing, and how did you initially get involved in dance?
I started dancing at 2 years old at a competition studio in North Carolina.
Where did you grow up, and where do you live now?
I grew up in Charlotte, North Carolina and currently live in New York City.
What's your favorite part about being a professional dancer?
I love exploring movement ideas as my body changes day to day and embodying music.
What companies and/or productions have you danced in?
Metropolitan Opera, Parsons Dance, Zeitgeist Dance Theatre
What's something people may not know about being a professional dancer?
You dance who you are.
Do you have a favorite role or dance work to perform?
I enjoyed dancing in "El Niño" at the Metropolitan Opera. Director Blain-Cruz, Choreographer Marjanie Forte-Saunders, and Assistant Choreographer Winston Dynamite Brown created an epic production about the divine feminine. Dancing with the talented cast the Met Opera's enormous stage gave me chills each night.
Tell us about an onstage experience you will never forget?
Nothing compares to dancing in the Metropolitan Opera's "X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X" and hearing the amazing orchestra with the outstanding chorus. I had never heard live music so captivating. That combined with dancing Rickey Tripp's choreography made the experience definitely one that I will never forget.
Any funny onstage stories?
During the Party Scene in The Nutcracker, the dancers will sometimes play "tag" to keep each other engaged and to interact with new people.
Tell us something we don’t know about you.
My favorite color is lavender, and I'm the youngest of five sisters.
Have you been to Northern Michigan before? What are you most looking forward to this summer as part of the Traverse City Dance Project?
Nope. I'm looking forward to creating a new work for TCDP and exploring all that this experience has to offer.