I danced since 3 years old. I was tall, skinny, and Black with all white dancers.. It wasn't until I was 13 when our dance instructor who was white gave me a book with pictures of this beautiful Black woman with long legs and arms. Madame Morrison told me to "stop hiding behind your body with insecurities, show your legs and arms, do pirouettes and extensions with pride like Madame Jamison." I was like a butterfly from the cocoon. Merci, spasiba, and thank you Madame Jamison and Madame Morrison.
kudos to all the great dancers who performed cry. they were all special in their own way but for those of us lucky enough to have seen judith, well, there are no words. it was the most spectacular solo i have ever seen. when it was over, i knew why it was called cry, cause i did, and did for may days following. a timeless work of art by two masters in a class all by themselves......
i had the honor of briefly meeting Mr Ailey. it was 1969 at the Billy Rose Theatre in NY where I worked as a coat check person in my senior year. anyway, there was two weeks of contemporary dance groups and Alvin Ailey's group was one of them. I was up in the balcony standing next to a guy and I turned to him and said "wow this is an amazing company!" He replied, "yes, it is. Not bad." to be fair that is not an exact quote but that is an accurate rendition of our exchange. then I had to go back downstairs as their show was ending with revelations. the audience went wild! at the end they invited Ailey up to the stage and there he was! the guy with whom I had just spoken and I had no idea. and although i was trained in a very physical theatre and used a lot of dancers in my work, i was innocent as to the people from whom much of these techniques were taken. Well, the point is, that was my very brief personal interaction with someone who was truly transcendent in every sense of the word -- as an artist and as a person. Wish I had known him. I never missed an Ailey performance each Christmas at Town Hall. they were the first dance company I introduced to my adopted child and her mother as they were recent immigrants. I have another story about J. Jamison but i've taken up too much space already. But all I will say that even when she walked across the street, she was pure poetry.
jack thanks for this great memory. please feel free to tell the j. jamison story whenever you're ready. i'm quite sure that you won't be accused of taking up too much space. :)
....she is both EVERY BLACK WOMAN...and EXTREMELY SINGULAR at the same time....she was THE REPRESENTATIVE WOMAN for black female dancers and black women in general...truly a CULTURAL ICON.....
+Jay Young The possibility of Jamison being fond of Martha Graham is highly unlikely. Her teacher, the immortal Alvin Ailey wasn't a fan of Grahmas... "finicky and strange", is a quote for how he described it. So i'm sure, at bare minimum Jamison most likely met her...but doesn't remark it as special.
maybe. i never heard that quote of his, but his use of fabric is very graham like. i used the same techniques without knowing (I was a bit of a "dolt") it was Graham's invention.
NO OFFENSE TO THE TEACHER BUT HER APPROACH ALTHOUGH CORRECT IS NOT BACKED UP BY EXAMPLE IN SOME VIDS..I KNOW SHE IS OLDER BUT A STUDENT NEEDS TO SEE THE MOVE NOT JUST HEAR IT
I danced since 3 years old. I was tall, skinny, and Black with all white dancers.. It wasn't until I was 13 when our dance instructor who was white gave me a book with pictures of this beautiful Black woman with long legs and arms. Madame Morrison told me to "stop hiding behind your body with insecurities, show your legs and arms, do pirouettes and extensions with pride like Madame Jamison." I was like a butterfly from the cocoon. Merci, spasiba, and thank you Madame Jamison and Madame Morrison.
kudos to all the great dancers who performed cry. they were all special in their own way but for those of us lucky enough to have seen judith, well, there are no words. it was the most spectacular solo i have ever seen.
when it was over, i knew why it was called cry, cause i did, and did for may days following.
a timeless work of art by two masters in a class all by themselves......
i had the honor of briefly meeting Mr Ailey. it was 1969 at the Billy Rose Theatre in NY where I worked as a coat check person in my senior year. anyway, there was two weeks of contemporary dance groups and Alvin Ailey's group was one of them. I was up in the balcony standing next to a guy and I turned to him and said "wow this is an amazing company!" He replied, "yes, it is. Not bad." to be fair that is not an exact quote but that is an accurate rendition of our exchange. then I had to go back downstairs as their show was ending with revelations. the audience went wild! at the end they invited Ailey up to the stage and there he was! the guy with whom I had just spoken and I had no idea. and although i was trained in a very physical theatre and used a lot of dancers in my work, i was innocent as to the people from whom much of these techniques were taken. Well, the point is, that was my very brief personal interaction with someone who was truly transcendent in every sense of the word -- as an artist and as a person. Wish I had known him. I never missed an Ailey performance each Christmas at Town Hall. they were the first dance company I introduced to my adopted child and her mother as they were recent immigrants. I have another story about J. Jamison but i've taken up too much space already. But all I will say that even when she walked across the street, she was pure poetry.
jack thanks for this great memory. please feel free to tell the j. jamison story whenever you're ready. i'm quite sure that you won't be accused of taking up too much space. :)
+Jack Schimmelman I agree with Anony Mouse Thanks for sharing and please take up as much space as you need.
Jack Schimmelman this is a very interesting story.I wish you tell us about J.Jamison as well.
Beautiful and brilliant!!
Janet Hubert-Whitten ( former dancer of Alvin Ailey Conpany) inspired me to watch this!!❤❤❤
....she is both EVERY BLACK WOMAN...and EXTREMELY SINGULAR at the same time....she was THE REPRESENTATIVE WOMAN for black female dancers and black women in general...truly a CULTURAL ICON.....
This world will miss such a beautiful soul! ❤
Rest In Eternal Heaven 💔 🙏 👏🏾👏🏾🙌🏽👸🏿Queen Judith 💃🏿💎👑💎👑. You'll be greatly missed ♥ 😢 💔
One saw Judith Jamison in an Atlantic City casino; one of the greatest memories of my life!❤
💐💐💐JUDITH JAMISON WAS THE ORIGINAL DANCER OF THE LATE ALVIN AILEY'S👼🏾🥀 "CRY"💐💐💐
Happy Mothers Day and thank you for the post.
....sheer Artistic Excellence! Lovely! Empowering! WOW!
"This Is Absolutely Beautiful!" Thank You So Much!"❤
Dance with the ancestors now. Your legacy will live forever.
A name I could not forget Judith Jameson legendary dancer Artistic Director boy could those Alvin Aliey dancers dance!!! Rest in heaven my love.
What an unbelievable talent! She is dancing among the stars for eternity now.
Rest in power Ms Jamison
She is the best in Cry. Is just amazing.
so... WHERE is the video of her performance?
One of the souls of art that I wish I had met. Jamison is poetry on two feet. Did she ever meet immortal Martha Graham? Or was Graham before her time?
Extraordinary
RIHP Great Alvin Ailey Principal Empress Judith Jameson!!❤❤❤
very expressive
I loved you, Queen Judith. You made me want to be a dancer. You saved me. 💐 🌹 🌸 💐 🌹
R. I. P.👑💔
RIH Queen Judith Jamison
Rest in peace 🌹
What a vision Mr Ailey had!
+Jay Young The possibility of Jamison being fond of Martha Graham is highly unlikely. Her teacher, the immortal Alvin Ailey wasn't a fan of Grahmas... "finicky and strange", is a quote for how he described it. So i'm sure, at bare minimum Jamison most likely met her...but doesn't remark it as special.
maybe. i never heard that quote of his, but his use of fabric is very graham like. i used the same techniques without knowing (I was a bit of a "dolt") it was Graham's invention.
Absolutely correct!! Great comment and spot on.
Love it love it love it...
what was that song playing in the beginning?
rip Queen
name of this song
💜💜💜💜💜
Rest In Peace
Happy Birthday Judith 3/10
No justification please!!
💎💎💎💎💎
don't like this......i get hypnotized by these peoples movement..i f......... love this!!
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I'm proud of you
I love you JJ🩵
NO OFFENSE TO THE TEACHER BUT HER APPROACH ALTHOUGH CORRECT IS NOT BACKED UP BY EXAMPLE IN SOME VIDS..I KNOW SHE IS OLDER BUT A STUDENT NEEDS TO SEE THE MOVE NOT JUST HEAR IT