Dancer Darrell Jones is working up a sweat for sure, performing choreographer Bebe Miller's "Rhythm Studies" on a stage that features a forest scene with trees and a patch of real sod.

It's a piece Miller first performed back in 1999.

Miller, who grew up in Brooklyn and Queens, says it was at a time of great change in her life when she moved from New York to Ohio to be a professor at the Ohio State University.

"All the pieces have some kind of a reference to our land, our way of life, our sense of ourselves in our communities," said Miller of the three pieces that her company will perform during performances at Harlem Stage. 

The Bebe Miller Company is kicking off Harlem Stage's "E-Moves Festival: A Movement," which is in its 26th year. It's the performing arts institution's signature dance series.

Harlem Stage, founded in 1983, has made its home since 2006 inside a historic gatehouse building on Convent Avenue near City College that was once a key piece of the city's water supply system.

Dr. Indira Etwaroo is in her first season leading the organization.

"It's a place for artists of color from across the world to convene, and challenge the society that we are a part of. They are constantly pushing to ask questions, it's this dynamic hub of artistic experimentation," said Etwaroo. 

Performing at the E-Moves series in June are artists Eiko Otake and DonChristian Jones, who have been collaborating for years. Their work is called "Soak," and yes appropriately there will be water involved.

"Our process of creating work is very experiential and experimental," said Otake.

Jones added, "I think water, as a source and element, it's interesting to us for its properties like absorption, capillary properties, the membrane, boundaries, when does one substance became the next, or when does something become a solution."

To find out more about any of the Harlem E-Moves festival performances, head here.