11/10/2024
Ms. Judith Jamison✨💫🤍 Icon and Legend. Her impact is immeasurable and we are all forever better.
Forever Grateful.
Rest Peacefully 🕊️
Posted • “Through dance, we’re as close to God as we’re going to get—until he calls us home.”
- Judith Jamison
It is with heavy hearts we share that Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Artistic Director Emerita Judith Jamison (age 81) passed away peacefully today after a brief illness. We remember and are grateful for her artistry, humanity and incredible light, which inspired us all.
Ms. Jamison joined Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in 1965 and quickly became an international star. Over the next 15 years (1965-1980), Alvin Ailey created some of his most enduring roles for her, most notably the tour-de-force solo Cry. After dancing for Mr. Ailey, she went on to star on Broadway, appeared as a guest artist with ballet companies all over the world, and formed her own company, The Jamison Project. In 1989, Mr. Ailey asked her to return to Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and succeed him as Artistic Director. During her leadership (1989-2011), she took the Company to unprecedented heights—including two historic engagements in South Africa and a 50-city global tour that celebrated the Company’s 50th anniversary. In 2005 her idea of a permanent home for the Ailey organization was realized with the opening of The Joan Weill Center for Dance, named after beloved Chairman Emerita Joan Weill.
Sending heartfelt condolences and love to all.
