Close Menu
    Advertise With Us
    Religion

    Judith Jamison, Legendary Artistic Director of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Dies at 81

    3 Mins Read5 Views
    Advertisement

    Even after stepping down as artistic director in 2011, Jamison continued to inspire and guide the Ailey troupe as artistic director Emerita.

     By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior NationalCorrespondent@StacyBrownMedia

    Renowned dancer and choreographer Judith Jamison, who led the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater for over two decades, passed away on Saturday in New York at 81. Jamison’s death occurred at New York-Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medical Center after a brief illness, according to Christopher Zunner, managing director of public relations at the dance company.

    “We remember and are grateful for her artistry, humanity, and incredible light, which inspired us all,” Zunner stated.

    Born on May 10, 1943, in Philadelphia, Jamison discovered her love for dance early on, beginning lessons at age six at the Judimar School of Dance in her hometown. Encouraged initially to study the piano and violin, Jamison gravitated toward ballet, later training under African American dance pioneer Katherine Dunham. She attended Germantown High School and briefly enrolled at Fisk University before dedicating herself to dance and kinesiology studies at the Philadelphia Dance Academy.

    Jamison joined the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in 1965, quickly becoming a celebrated figure in modern dance when few Black women held prominence in the field. Her defining moment came in 1971 with the premiere of Cry, a 17-minute solo created by Alvin Ailey as a tribute “to all Black women everywhere—especially our mothers.” This piece became a hallmark of the Ailey troupe and earned Jamison international acclaim. Alvin Ailey later wrote of Jamison’s performance, “With Cry, she became herself. Once she found this contact, this release, she poured her being into everybody who came to see her perform.”

    In addition to her iconic work with Ailey’s company, Jamison performed with global ballet companies, including the San Francisco Ballet, Swedish Royal Ballet, and Vienna State Ballet, and even graced the Broadway stage in Sophisticated Ladies alongside Gregory Hines. She began her choreography work in the 1980s, premiering her first ballet, Divining, with the Ailey company in 1984 and launching her dance group, The Jamison Project Dance Company, in 1988.

    Following Ailey’s death in 1989, Jamison took over as the artistic director of his company, steering it through a period of profound growth and establishing its first permanent home, the Joan Weill Center for Dance. She also founded a partnership with Fordham University, creating a joint Bachelor of Fine Arts program to support a multicultural dance curriculum.

    Throughout her career, Jamison received numerous honors, including the National Medal of Arts and a Kennedy Center Honor, recognizing her contribution to the arts and her role in broadening the visibility of Black dancers and choreographers. Her legacy is preserved in her autobiography, Dancing Spirit, and her choreography, which remains foundational to the company’s repertoire.

    Even after stepping down as artistic director in 2011, Jamison continued to inspire and guide the Ailey troupe as artistic director Emerita.

    Reflecting on her role as Ailey’s successor, Jamison once said, “I felt prepared to carry [the company] forward. Alvin and I were like parts of the same tree. He, the roots and the trunk, and we were the branches. I was his muse. We were all his muses.”

     

     

    Share.

    Carma Lynn Henry Westside Gazette Newspaper 545 N.W. 7th Terrace, Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33311 Office: (954) 525-1489 Fax: (954) 525-1861

    Related Posts

    This College Chaplain Fills The Pews By Teaching, Not Preaching Lawrence Lockett Jr., Morgan State University chaplain. Credit: Lawrence Lockett Jr. via LinkedIn By REV. DOROTHY S. BOULWARE (Source: Amsterdam News) It’s understandable for parents of strong faith to worry about the spiritual lives of their children who’ve gone away to college. After all, it’s easy for a young person, perhaps on their own for the first time, to suc-cumb to the temptations of partying late on Saturday night and sleeping in on Sunday morning. But Minister Lawrence Lockett Jr., chaplain at Morgan State University in Baltimore, is packing them into the pews most Sundays. He is engaging them in lively ways during the week. And students are joining the choir, accompanying worship on various instruments, and serving as readers and leaders throughout the service. It is by the grace of God for sure, but also by the loving service of Lockett, who’s beginning his second year as the school’s director of chapel. He has grown his flock from the 25 or so students who showed up at his first services to more than 200 each Sunday. Sometimes, it’s standing room only. “We’ve been trying to figure out what to do next because on Easter Sunday we had 342 people, and some were standing in the back,” he said. Word In Black talked to Lockett about the secrets of his success: how his adjustment of Sunday ser-vices got people into the pews, why his philosophy for guiding students on their spiritual journey centers on independent thought, and how his “Spin the Block” initiative is shaking things up on campus. The in-terview has been edited for length and clarity. Word in Black: The first thing we want to know is, how do you get so many young people to chapel every Sunday?. Lawrence Lockett: Well, first of all, I changed the time of service from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. I realized a lot of the students like to sleep in late. It gives them time to do whatever they need to do. I’m sure many of them still like to party hearty over the weekend. So they have a good chance just to kind of refocus, recali-brate, get themselves lunch, and then come over to the chapel for service. When I started in November, maybe 20-25 students came, but now it’s over 200 that come every Sun-day, and it’s pretty cool. So now we’re repositioning ourselves to go after the freshman class this year. If we have the same success as last year, there’s definitely not going to be any room. Word in Black: Tell me about pastoring on a college campus. Lawrence Lockett: Morgan actually started as a biblical institute, so the Christian traditions have al-ways been here. As a pastor or shepherd, I’m walking students through their questions, not always just trying to preach answers to them. It’s about being vulnerable. I tell them I was in their same position, just trying to figure it out. And it’s not me just trying to give them answers. Having been there helps me really walk with them and anchor them in the storm of life that’s going to come. I want them to understand that their soul really matters. A lot of students focus on mental health, but they really need to focus on spiritual health as well. It should be one and the same. So I’ve been trying to preach that, if anything, spiritual health is just as important as your mental health. But we do encour-age the use of the counseling center, for sure, if there is a mental health crisis. WIB: What does Monday through Friday look like for you? LL: Mondays, we are usually off because of Sundays. On Tuesdays, we have Bible studies, so I’ll host a Bible study at noon along with my colleagues that work in the chapel. And then, I’m teaching a class called Hip-hop and the Gospel on Tuesdays at 2:30 p.m., dealing with mixing culture and religion. On Wednesdays, we do something called “breath and balance,” which is just a meditative type of pro-gram with breathing exercises as stress relievers. We work with the School of Nutrition Science and the food resource center so that the students get a nice free meal and practice breathing exercises and meth-ods to feel good about the day. For Thursdays, we started something called the mosaic, in which we have different campus ministers gather in small groups, just like a mosaic painting. So the students who come on Sundays then get plugged into small groups on Thursdays. And on Fridays at 1 p.m., we do prayer for Muslims.. We have an imam lecture and then lead in corporate prayer. It’s a good mix. WIB: What is “Spend a Block?” Didn’t you receive an award for it? LL: That started last year. We just basically do services outside: outside the residence halls, in the quad, wherever it may be. Honestly, worship on a college campus looks different than it did 20 or 30 years ago. Students want something real and authentic, something they can gravitate to, and something that’s convenient. So when we’re outside, people are like, “What’s all the noise outside? What’s all the music?” Then they come outside, and there are chairs, so they grab one and sit and enjoy the service. We come to them. They don’t have to come to us. At the very beginning of the semester, we do services outside the four resi-dence halls. And that kind of gives us a steamroll into homecoming week. And we’ve seen a lot of success because of that. WIB: What should I expect when I arrive for Sunday service? LL: You’re gonna see a lot of involvement with students. I’ve learned that students like to feel invested, and they want to participate in what’s going on. They don’t want to be told by adults what they should and shouldn’t do. So when you go to the service, you’ll see our praise team full of students. You’ll see a choir full of students. You’ll see students reading scripture. You’ll see students giving testimonies. And then I’ll come in and give a sermon, or I’ll have a guest friend or a guest preacher come in to do the sermon. But you’re gonna see a lot of student involvement, and I think that also assisted with a lot of the growth be-cause when they see fellow students, they understand they’re just like me, and if they can do it, I can do it. WIB: What about musicians and choir? LL: The musicians are also students. They say, “Hey, I love to play. I wanna use my gifts in some way, shape, or form.” And they’ll ask whether or not there’s a spot for them. And we say absolutely. And there is a chapel choir. Some of the members are also members of the university choir. WIB: What is the “next” you see for the chapel? LL: I want the students to know God, find freedom, discover purpose, and make a difference. The chapel really is the heartbeat of the campus, and I want students to know more about where faith, hope, and belonging really stem from. I also want the chapel to become more interfaith and involve as many students and beliefs as possible.