Over the last 45 years, Judith Jamison has been instrumental in the success of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater--first as a dancer with Ailey from 1965 to 1980, and, for the last 20 years, as the company's artistic director.
Dancer Matthew Rushing has been with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater since 1992, but he has only recently started spreading his wings as a choreographer.
For 20 years, Judith Jamison has not just tended the flame, but fueled the company so that it burns more brightly.
Judith Jamison has accomplished so much in two decades as artistic director of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater that she had to ask her office to fax a fact sheet to her hotel, during a Washington tour stop, so she could be reminded of it all before an interview.
Judith Jamison has accomplished so much in two decades as artistic director of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, that she had to ask her office to fax a fact sheet to her hotel, during a Washington tour stop, so she could be reminded of it all before an interview.
Judith Jamison’s home is on the stage. It is there where she has captured the hearts of audiences around the world and astonished them with her beauty and grace.
In a special ceremony tonight at The Kennedy Center, Judith Jamison, artistic director of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, will donate her costume from the 1975 ballet, The Mooche, to the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History.
"We're about to twirl your socks," Judith Jamison, artistic director of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, announced to the Kennedy Center Opera House audience on Tuesday from the stage, flashing a grin to dazzle the upper tier. "All right?"
"You ever play an old record that just made you feel good about everything?" Judith Jamison asked. "These times make me feel very good about the work I'm doing."
"I will be making a lot of surprise drop-in visits to The Ailey Extension. I love seeing the surprised look on the students' faces."