Alvin Ailey Dancer Judith Jamison Joins The Ranks Of Ancestor At Age 81

Judith Jamison, iconic dancer and choreographer, transitioned Nov. 9 at NewYork-Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medical Center in NYC after a bout with “brief illness,” according to the New York Times. The Alvin Ailey alum was 81-years-old and widely known for her remarkable service in the performing arts.

Jamison’s career in dance spanned well over 60 years, having kickstarted at the tender age of six with training at the Judimar School of Dance in Philadelphia. During a chance meeting back in 2018, Jamison told AUNTIE that her introduction to dance came at the behest of parents who wanted a “graceful” daughter. 

“I was gangly, and kind of clumsy,” Jamison told AUNTIE. 

“My parents put me in dance school. When I was six, I did my first performance. Then I loved the way the audience reacted from then on in, it was just studying and performing.”

Judith Jamison, photo credit: Andrew Eccles

The famed ballerina became world renowned as a muse of Alvin Ailey, performing in notable works such as “Revelations” and “Cry,” a solo created solely for Jamison as a gift to his mother and Black women. The magnitude of “Cry,” along with Jamison’s tenure with the Alvin Ailey Dance Theater contributed to her star power and lasted a combined total of 36 years—15 as a performer and 21 as artistic director beginning 1965-1980 and returning after Ailey’s death from 1989-2011 and becoming the first Black woman to run a major dance company.

In her time away from the Alvin Ailey company, Jamison took to Broadway theater starring in the musical Sophisticated Ladies alongside Gregory Hines and formed her own dance troupe, The Jamison Project.

AUNTIE would be remiss if we did not mention Jamison’s Black and beautiful striking aesthetic. Jamison commanded attention as a regal, statuesque, 5 foot 10 inches tall, bald and bodacious diva in an industry that was—and still is—typically dominated by more demure and lighter complexioned individuals. Her award-winning talent, Dancing Spirit (also the title of her memoir), dedication to dance will forever resonate in the pantheon of excellence. 

Judith Jamison is an Ascendant Auntie.

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