Judith Jamison, artistic director emerita and internationally acclaimed star of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater who, at Ailey’s request, took up the reins of running the company for 16 years, has joined the ancestors. On Nov. 9 at New York-Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medical Center, Ms. Jamison passed away at the age of 81 “after a brief illness,” according to a statement. Her passing is our loss and her memory is our solace.
Ms. Jamison’s long-limbed elegance etched indelible images of beauty and grace as her 5’10” body unfurled a procession of breathtaking leaps, slashing kicks, and arm movements that sculpted space. She was the embodiment of the consummate Ailey dancer and the epitome of what poet Maya Angelou called a phenomenal woman.
When she joined the company in 1965, the sight of the long-limbed beauty caused audible gasps as she glided onstage in Ailey’s masterful “Revelations” holding an umbrella aloft in one hand as the opposite, outstretched arm executed gentle rippling moves with each step. She treated the air as if it was water while a choir sang “Wade in the Water.” As the embodiment of what then New York Times chief dance critic Anna Kisselgoff described as Ailey’s fusion of ballet, modern, and more, Jamison became Ailey’s muse and dance icon. “We connected to your very core as a human being and we just happened to do it through excellent dance,” Jamison once told this reporter when describing the Ailey company.
Judith Jamison embodied excellence her entire life from her early years in Philadelphia, where she started studying dance at six years old as a student at Marion Cuyjet’s Judimar School of Dance and in ballet classes with the legendary Antony Tudor and Maria Swoboda, and later with Agnes de Mille at the predominantly white Philadelphia Dance Academy. De Mille recalled, “I saw this girl, quite wonderful, and she and I had a wordless dialogue. I taught the class for her, the others went along as best they could.” Afterwards, de Mille cast Jamison in her work for American Ballet Theatre, “The Four Marys” (1965), along with Dr. Glory Van Scott, Cleo Quitman, and Carmen de Lavallade. Following a brief hiatus, as legend has it, when Jamison attended a Donald McKayle audition for a Harry Belafonte special he was choreographing, the tide turned, not because she didn’t get that job but because she was spotted by a man sitting on the steps observing the studio crammed with dancers in a scene that looked like something out of “A Chorus Line.” The man was Alvin Ailey and, in no time, he would ask her to join his company, beginning the journey of a lifetime.
Jamison has been described aptly as “a ballet-trained dancer who wore her hair closely cropped,” but that phrase ignores the loaded historical context it evokes. It was the 1960s, and being a ballet-trained Black dancer involved a host of challenges. It was a time when the Civil Rights era was morphing into the Black Power and Black Arts movement. The slogans “We Shall Overcome” and “Black is Beautiful” encapsulated the dominant tone of a time that was changing and the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater delivered a message of hope that transcended national boundaries. As Columbia University scholar Farah Jasmine Griffin has observed, “Dance provided a new medium for the expression of protest against segregation” and “the dancer’s movement has the power to transform the observer’s consciousness.” This idea sounds similar to what Jamison said was at the heart of AAADT’s founding mission: “There were prejudices and biases going on in this country and he [Alvin Ailey] formed a company that said, ‘Yes, I will celebrate our African American experience and our cultural expression.’” Ailey and Jamison were a match made in heaven.
Jamison was Ailey’s muse and the works he choreographed on her and for her speak volumes, works like “Cry,” the powerful tour de force Ailey dedicated to “Black women everywhere, especially our mothers.” In that dance, which both celebrated and challenged the strong Black woman archetype, Jamison showed the world how strength and femininity coexist in harmony and embody a beauty that is undeniable. But, that was not all. There was Ailey’s “Lark Ascending” which showcased a femininity with its soft, light-as-a-feather lyricism, and the South African-inspired “Masekela Langage” which captured the anguish in the face of racial injustice. At the same time, there was also the elegant glitz and glamour of “The Mooche” with its echoes of the Harlem Renaissance, and the breathtaking virtuosity of “Pas de Duke.” Then, lest we forget, there was the powerful “Revelations” duet “Fix Me, Jesus.” Ailey’s choreography allowed Judith Jamison to embody a multitude of stereotype-shattering images that defied the preconceived misconceptions of the white gaze. Her beauty was subversive, with an elegant and dignified resolve that opened people’s eyes in an America wrestling with an undercurrent of unrepentant white privilege. Folks clearly got the message. She was the first African American dancer to land on the cover of more than one major mainstream publication.
In 1988, when she stepped offstage to found her own company, the Jamison Project, she did that once again, creating works that communicated powerful messages. As a highly regarded choreographer, Ms. Jamison has created many celebrated works, including “Divining” (1984), “Forgotten Time” (1990), “Double Exposure” (for the Lincoln Center Festival in 2000), “HERE . .. NOW” (commissioned for the 2002 Cultural Olympiad in Salt Lake City), “Love Stories” (with additional choreography by Robert Battle and Rennie Harris, 2004), and “Among Us (Private Spaces: Public Places in 2009).” Her 1996 ballet, “Sweet Release,” featured original music by Wynton Marsalis and “Reminiscin’” (2005) was inspired by great female jazz artists and Edward Hopper’s famous painting “Nighthawks.” In 1993, Ms. Jamison created “Hymn” as a stirring tribute to Mr. Ailey, which was the centerpiece for the Emmy award-winning PBS “Great Performances: Dance In America” special, “A Hymn for Alvin Ailey.”
Then, in 1989, she made the most powerful statement of all, agreeing to Alvin Ailey’s request that she take over the company when the time came. “I was appointed artistic director of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater on Dec. 20, 1989,” she told Howard Kaplan, who co-wrote Jamison’s autobiography, “Dancing Spirit,” edited by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and published in 1993. “It was a very traumatic experience to have Alvin pass away on the first of December, with the New York season beginning on the sixth.”
True to Alvin Ailey’s vision, the company flourished under her leadership. In 2004, under Ms. Jamison’s artistic directorship, and with the help of a staff led by Associate Artistic Director Masazumi Chaya, the idea of a permanent home for the Ailey company was realized and named after the company’s beloved benefactor and chairman Joan Weill. And, even when she relinquished the reins and became artistic director emerita, Ms. Jamison continued to dedicate herself to asserting the prominence of the arts in our culture, and remained committed to promoting the significance of the Ailey legacy — using dance as a medium for honoring the past, celebrating the present, and fearlessly reaching into the future.
Jamison has been the recipient of numerous awards, among them a primetime Emmy Award, an American Choreography Award, the Kennedy Center Honor, a National Medal of Arts, a “Bessie” Award, the Phoenix Award, and was presented the Handel Medallion by Mayor Bloomberg, the highest honor awarded by the City of New York. She was also listed in “The TIME 100: The World’s Most Influential People” and honored by First Lady Michelle Obama at the first White House Dance Series event. In 2013, Ms. Jamison was the 50th inductee into the Hall of Fame at the National Museum of Dance.
A recent Instagram post that has thousands of views captures her aesthetic and her legacy: “I don’t ask dancers to join the company to do steps. You can get robots to do steps. What separates these dancers is that they’re human beings first so that they can inform you about your humanity.” She told one interviewer, “We don’t survive unless we have something to say …. And boy we’ve had something to say for a long time and will continue to do so.”
While information about a future celebration of her life and legacy will be forthcoming, the testament to the magnificence of Judith Jamison as an incomparable artist and warm visionary leader is reflected in the memories of the many who knew her, worked with her and loved her, as reflected by a tiny sampling below shared with my colleague Charmaine Warren and me:
Robert Battle,
Former Artistic Director, AAADT
“Judith Jamison was a bright light in this world. She generously shared that light with me. Our bond is deep and wide. I am forever grateful for the honor she bestowed upon me. She blessed the world with her talent, tenacity and courage. We can be and be and be better because she existed.”
Matthew Rushing,
Interim Artistic Director, AAADT
“One of my most cherished lessons I learned from Ms. Jamison is the importance of excellence. Not only did she model integrity, elegance, and wisdom but she pushed us to never settle for mediocrity. Excellence was ALWAYS the goal:
Excellence of artistry.
Excellence of technique.
Excellence of humanity!”
Sylvia Waters
Former Ailey Dancer, Founding Artistic Director Of Ailey II
“Judith Jamison was a treasure. To dance with her on the same stage was always inspirational and to just be in her orbit anywhere was uplifting. I always admired how she had a very high barre and she was all about excellence. Alvin was right choosing her. He had that in mind for a very long time. She took the Ailey company to new heights by realizing his vision for it. She said, ‘he left me the blueprint’ and she followed that blueprint. As a leader she was very strong, passionate, and dedicated to sustaining the company and Alvin’s legacy. She never wavered from that.”
Masazumi Chaya
Former Associate Artistic Director
“Judy and I talked every day. She was gorgeous, strong, and warm. When she came into the Ailey building she always greeted everyone, ‘Good morning. How is everyone this morning?’ Her impact was felt at every level of the organization. She knew how to raise money, and, of course, she knew how to work with the dancers. She came to every rehearsal and the dancers felt seen and heard. Alvin was that way, too. That open-mindness made dancers free to be their best selves.”
Mary Barnett
Former, Associate Artistic Director, AAADT
“I was there when she first got into the company in the 1960s. I have seen this woman set fire to the stage from downstage diagonal to upstage diagonal, eating up the floor. Girlfriend looked like she was flying. I’d stand backstage and say “Wow, to dance like that!” She just seemed to fly through the air like a gazelle.”
Glory Van Scott
Educator, Writer, Actress & Dancer
“Judy was in ‘The Four Marys’ ballet that Agnes de Mille created. There’s a picture of the four of us — Judy, me, Cleo Quitman, and Carmen de Lavallade in an American Ballet Theatre Souvenir Book. It was an incredible experience. She was a young, long-limbed, beautiful dancer. The thing that was so great about Judy was that she was willing to learn, and very open, warm, and loving.”
Alvin Ailey
Founder, Artistic Director of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre
“I respect and admire her for her compassion and her beauty as a dancer. She has musicality, discipline and taste — marvelous taste. Above all, Judy is able to justify movement. That is all I ask of a dancer, to justify movement. Judith does that. She is, of course, an extraordinarily gifted dancer, but another extraordinary thing about her is her capacity for growth. She is always learning. I love her, we all love her.” (Ailey to ZDA in a 1975 interview)
