Mwanamugima Essay
JUDITH JAMISON
Judith Jamison was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on May 10, 1944. She began
dancing at the early age of six. Her first lessons were taught at the Judith School of Dance, where
she trained mainly in ballet. She was also very athletic. She was given a scholarship to Fisk
University, in Nashville, Tennessee, for physical education. There, she majored in psychology and
studied for three semesters before she decided that her heart was in dancing. Henceforth, she
returned to Philadelphia to study dance.
In Philadelphia she enrolled in the Philadelphia Dance Academy and made her formal
debut in 1959 as Myrtha in Giselle. Later in 1964, while still dancing for the Academy she was
discovered by the great choreographer Agnes de Mille. De Mille took Jamison to New York to
dance with three other black dancers in The Four Marys.
Soon there after, her contract with De Mille and the American Ballet Theatre was up and
she was out of a job. However, determined to make it in New York Jamison began living with a
former colleague, Carmen De Lavallade, who consistently encouraged her to continue her dancing
career. Unfortunately, unlike De Lavallade, Jamison was big, athletic, with exceptionally long
arms, tall, and dark skinned. Jamison could not help but to think that if she were as fair skinned
and petite as her friend that she would have had a job by now.
The Essay on Dominican Republic Dance Music Dancing
Merengue - A Vivid Kaleidoscope Latin Dance has evolved into a vivid kaleidoscope of many different cultures dancing to the beat of a single drum. These types of music which find their origin in African influence have developed into a meshwork of individual sounds and have grown to be identified with a particular culture. An example of such can be seen in the evolution and history of one of these, ...
In due time, things began to change for Judith Jamison. She finally heard of an audition
for the Donald McKayle Company, an audition in which she was cut after the first round. Yet,
after a few weeks she was called back by Alvin Ailey, who had been watching the audition,
fascinated by her grace and presence. He asked her to dance for his company and she became his
most prized possession. He created whole works just for her, the most famous entitled Cry.
Whenever Jamison performed this piece she made the audience do just that.
She has received several awards. The most renown being from Dance Magazine, which was
presented to her by Katherine Dunham. She has also been acknowledged by Richard Nixon and
been apart of the National Endowment for the Arts board. She is presently the artistic director for
the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre.
