Judith Jamison was an acclaimed dancer and choreographer who eventually became artistic director of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, the famed modern dance company based in New York City.
- Died: November 9, 2024 (Who else died on November 9?)
- Details of death: Died in New York after a brief illness at the age of 81.
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Judith Jamison’s legacy
Judith Jamison was just a child in Philadelphia when she began to dance seriously. She began attending the Judimar School of Dance at just six years old, and she continued her studies through her teen years, learning a wide array of dance disciplines in the process. By the mid-1960s, she was doing choreography work for the American Ballet Theatre in New York. That’s where she caught the attention of dancer and choreographer Alvin Ailey, who had founded the Alvin Ailey Dance Theater several years prior.
She debuted with the company in 1965, toured Africa and Europe with the troupe the following year, and soon Jamison was one of the company’s mainstays. In 1971, she debuted “Cry,” her most famous piece, a 16-minute solo dance choreographed by Ailey, one that is still widely performed today.
In the late ‘80s, she launched The Jamison Project, an effort to create her own visionary works and train dancers to perform them, resulting in pieces like “Time Out” and “Divining.” Jamison returned to Alvin Ailey as an artistic associate in 1988, became its artistic director a year later, then for the next two decades helped guide the company out of financial debt and into wider popularity and success. She was hand-picked by Ailey just before his 1989 death to take on the role. Under her leadership, the renowned troupe performed across the world. They built and, in 2004, moved into the Joan Weill Center for Dance in Manhattan. In 2011, Robert Battle became the company’s artistic director, with Jamison stepping down to serve as artistic director emerita.
Jamison has received widespread acclaim for her achievements in the arts, including a National Medal of the Arts, Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement, an Emmy Award, the BET Black Girls Rock Living Legend Award, and many other honors.
On dancing for an audience
“By the time they leave the theatre, they should feel different. Be open to it, but fasten your seatbelts. We’re not dancing in a closet or vacuum. We’re dancing for you. That you take some gift away with you is our pleasure.” — interview with Dance Consortium, 2005
Tributes to Judith Jamison
Full obituary: The New York Times
