Black History Month dance events
Various venues, San Francisco and Oakland

Rennie Harris Puremovement performing Facing Mekka
Photo of Puremovement performing Facing Mekka by Bob Emmott
BLACK HISTORY MONTH is hopping, dancewise. Rarely have we seen so many intriguing examples of the richness that is African American dance, in such a short period of time; some events are even free. The Black Choreographers Festival: Here and Now is a two-city, two-weekend festival featuring a who's who of local dance and including free workshops and master classes. Rennie Harris finally brings his hip-hop company Puremovement's Facing Mekka to Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. Mekka's dancing is high on power and energy; its impulse is meditative and spiritual. Less high profile, but well worth mentioning, is Dallas Black Dance Theatre, making its (almost) annual appearance at City College of San Francisco. Dallas is a terrific ensemble of 11 professionals, as well as that city's oldest dance company, with a repertoire of classics such as Donald McKayle's Songs of the Disinherited and Talley Beatty's Mourner's Bench. For this performance, it brings Night Run, by Chicago choreographer Christopher Huggins, one of the rising stars of African American choreography; My Inspiration, company dancer Allyne D. Gartrell's tribute to her mentors Alvin Ailey, Beatty, and McKayle; plus works by Earl Mosley, Bruce Wood, and Darryl B. Sneed. Black Choreographers Festival: Here and Now: Fri/4-Sat/5, 8 p.m.; Sun/6, 3 and 7 p.m., Malonga Casquelourd Center for the Arts, 1428 Alice, Oakl. $10-$20. (415) 863-9835. Also Feb. 11-13, same show times, phone number, and price, Project Artaud Theater, 450 Florida, S.F. Rennie Harris Puremovement: Thurs/3-Sat/5, 8 p.m., Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Theater, 700 Howard, S.F. $24-$45. (415) 978-ARTS, www.ybca.org. Dallas Black Dance Theatre: Tues/8, 11 a.m., City College of San Francisco, Diego Rivera Theater, 50 Phelan, S.F. Free. (415) 239-3580. (Rita Felciano)