When Judith Jamison became artistic director of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in 1989, it was during a time of great loss for the company.
“Alvin had just died, so it felt terrible,” Jamison told The American in 2011. “But, you go on. He said it best when he said, ‘Dance came from the people, and we must deliver it back to the people.’”
Jamison spent nearly a quarter-century in the role. Her tenure as lead creative visionary made her more famous than her 15 years as the company founder and namesake’s muse and principal dancer. Her leadership, grit, commitment and sheer will to ensure the endurance of AADT was transformational.
By the time she was eight, she was dancing en pointe, studying tap and immersing herself in The Dunham Technique – which was created by longtime East St. Louis resident and dance icon Katherine Dunham.
More than 35 years after Jamison inherited the position of dance deliverer from her mentor, friend and teacher, she joined him as an ancestor. Jamison passed away Saturday, November 9, at a New York City hospital after a brief illness. She was 81 years old.
Jamison picked up the torch of an institution that was thriving creatively, but on the brink of financial disaster. She had left AADT to star in the Broadway hit “Sophisticated Ladies” along with the likes of Gregory Hines and Phyllis Hyman. She also established herself as an in-demand choreographer. When Ailey died, she had just started her own troupe The Jamison Project the year before. She disbanded her own company to assume her position at AADT.
“I wanted to ensure his voice continued to be heard,” Jamison told The American. “Because if Alvin hadn’t started this, none of us would be here.”’
By the time she passed the torch to Robert Battle in 2011, AADT was a thriving force within the arena of dance – as it still is today. In 2005, the company opened the Joan Weill Centre for Dance in Manhattan. The building is one of the largest buildings in the nation that is specifically used for dance.
And Jamison solidified herself as one of the most divine priestesses of dance. Just as with founder Ailey, Jamison will be forever tethered to the rich legacy of the world’s most famous contemporary dance company – an institution that demonstrates shared humanity through celebrating the Black experience interpreted through dance.
Jamison, AADT and Ailey helped redefine the commercial dance aesthetic and make space for artistry among women and men who exist beyond the mold of Eurocentric classical dancers.
Black beauty in motion
Born on May 10, 1943 in Philadelphia. At the age of six, Jamison began studying at the famed Judimar School of Dance. By the time she was eight, she was dancing en pointe, studying tap and immersing herself in The Dunham Technique – which was created by longtime East St. Louis resident and dance icon Katherine Dunham.
After graduating from Judimar, Jamison went on to attend Fisk University. After three semesters she returned home to attend Philadelphia Dance Academy (now known as University of the Arts). While there she studied dance with James Jamieson, Nadia Chilkovsky, and Yuri Gottschalk.
While participating in a masterclass in 1964, Jamison caught the eye of Agnes de Mille. She invited Jamison to come to New York City to perform in a new work that she was choreographing for American Ballet Theatre, The Four Marys. After auditioning for Donald McKayle, he told his friend Ailey about her – who offered her a position in AADT in 1965.
Standing at 5’10 with chocolate skin and a tiny afro slicked back to give her glorious cheekbones center stage, Ailey and Jamison worked in concert to show that Black is beautiful – and that Black beauty in motion is transcendental.
Never was this truer than with the physically and emotionally intense work “Cry,” Jamison’s signature piece as an Ailey dancer. He choreographed this sixteen-minute dance as a birthday present for his mother, Lula Cooper, in 1971. He later dedicated it to “Black women everywhere, especially our mothers.”
Jamison became a dancer that others aspired to be – Black, white or other – thanks to her commanding presence on stage in “Cry” and solos within Ailey’s masterpiece “Revelations.”
“That ballet came from his guts and blood,” Jamison said of Revelations. “It’s about our human condition and universally understood, because everyone understands trials, tribulations, turmoil and triumph.”
The ballet is a staple of the AADT repertoire nearly 65 years after its original premiere.
In addition to her pioneering work as a dancer and artistic director, Jamison was also triumphant in the capacity of keeping Ailey’s legacy alive in future generations.
Among them is St. Louis native Antonio Douthit-Boyd and his husband Kirven Douthit-Boyd.
“He has always been on the mark when it comes to discipline, commitment and the way he commands the stage,” Jamison said of Antonio in 2011, when he was a principal dancer for AADT. He’s constantly growing, and you know from his work at home that he’s giving back – which is equally important.”
Antonio is now Artistic Director of Dance at COCA – a position he has held for nearly 10 years. Kirven is Artistic Director of Saint Louis Dance Theatre (formerly Big Muddy Dance Company), where he became the company’s first Black artistic director in 2022. Antonio and Kirven are just two examples of how the footprint of Jamison’s work through AADT stretches across the globe.
“No one could fill Alvin Ailey’s shoes – but what I’ve done for the past 22 years is stand on his shoulders,” Jamison said. “That’s what we’ve all done, and as a company will continue to do.”