Judith Jamison
Judith Jamison
Judith Ann Jamisonis an American dancer and choreographer, best known as the Artistic Director of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionDancer
Date of Birth10 May 1943
CityPhiladelphia, PA
CountryUnited States of America
choosing trying
I'm very smart when it comes to choosing dancers and trying to show the world that there's a whole lot of dancing going on.
strive
Strive for perfection. Nobody's going to be perfect on this earth. But strive for perfection.
life
I've had a really charmed life, you know. Things always come to me - they just do.
episodes happen love mood piece relationships
It's a mood piece about love and relationship, like a slice- of life- pie at 2 a.m. with episodes that happen quickly.
born catch everybody felt street wondering
At 10, I could walk down the street and see over everybody's head. I don't remember being little or having to look up at people. I think I was born 5 feet 10. It's not that I felt especially tall. I was wondering when everybody else was going to catch up.
full people
The world is full of ways for people to dance. Concert dance doesn't get its due.
basement brought craft father growing house kid saw shine smelled smells steel tear wood
I smelled the same smells as a kid growing up in my little house in Philadelphia. My father used the basement as his craft shop. And when I smelled the wood and saw the shine of the stainless steel set, it brought a tear to my eye.
bill donald fact general john ways
The way Alvin Ailey has transformed modern dance and dance in general is the fact of variety. It's a cornucopia of ways to move. There are choreographers in the company as - as diverse, as different from each other as Donald McKayle and Bill T. Jones, or Jawole Zollar and John Butler, Lar Lubovitch, you know, and Judith Jamison.
dancer high indelible legs people though touched
People don't remember me for how high my legs went, even though they went up very high, and how many pirouettes I did. They don't remember me for that. They remember me and any other dancer because something touched them inside. It's an indelible memory on the heart and in the mind.
director foot stay true trust trusted whatever
As a dancer, you really try to stay true to whatever the choreographer/artistic director is giving you. So, now the shoe is on the other foot and I have to trust everyone else - I have to trust the dancer. As I was trusted as a dancer, I trust my dancers.
moved
As a dancer, he was quicksilver. He moved like a cat.
alive dance dancer dancers hit love miss soon
As long as there are dancers around who love to dance, there will be an Alvin Ailey American Dance Company. We miss him so much, but he's alive as soon as you see a dancer hit the stage.
ask cost dream executive focus support
One couldn't ask for better support in an executive director. I am able to focus on what the dream can be, not how much the dream will cost me.
certain good major wake
You wake up white, and you think about certain things every day. You wake up black, and you think about certain things. You wake up Chinese, and you think certain things - but those things aren't major. What's major is that you are good at your craft.