Choreographer Rennie Harris pays homage to Alvin Ailey with new ballet Lazarus

Alvin Ailey was a prolific choreographer and dancer who founded one of the United State's most important dance companies, the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.

Ailey left behind more than 80 original works when he died in 1989, but his best known work was the classic ballet, Revelations. Debuting in 1960, it was inspired by the black American experience and by Ailey's own upbringing.

Rennie Harris is an award-winning choreographer, dancer and artist-in-residence for the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. He's paying tribute to the life and legacy of Ailey by incorporating contemporary dance crazes like the Running Man, the Nae Nae and the Dab into a new ballet called Lazarus.

Harris joins Tom Power live from Austin, Texas to talk about why he thinks street dances are right in line with Ailey's legacy. If you're in Toronto, you can catch it at the Sony Centre for the Performing Arts tomorrow and Saturday.

— Produced by Beza Seife