Dancer and choreographer Judith Jamison, 81, died on Nov. 9. The Philadelphia native began studying classical ballet, tap, and modern dance as a child, and by 1964 was performing for Agnes de Mille at the American Ballet Theater. Jamison debuted with the Alvin Ailey Dance Theater in 1964, and scored a hit with Ailey’s Cry in 1971. She performed with dance companies worldwide, partnered Mikhail Baryshnikov, appeared on Broadway in Sophisticated Ladies, and formed her own formed Jamison Project troupe in 1988. Jamison became the artistic director of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater from 1989 until 2011; she said that “What was always great about Mr. Ailey was his generosity and his brilliance when it came to movement and how organic his movement was and remains. And how much you embrace what he choreographed, on a very personal level. Everyone felt Mr. Ailey was choreographing for them, period. And when he had to explain for the 19,000th time what something was about, he was so eloquent.”
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