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Honoring Judith Jamison, Philadelphia native, dancer, choreographer, educator and artistic director of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, for her lifetime contributions to education through the arts.
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WHEREAS, Judith Jamison was born and raised on Duval Street in Germantown, and began her career as a dancer studying under African American ballet pioneer Marion Cuyjet at the Judimar School of Dance in Center City; and
WHEREAS, Ms. Jamison honed her craft at the former Philadelphia Dance Academy where she was discovered by innovative dancer and choreographer Agnes De Mille, and made her New York debut with the American Ballet Company in 1964; and
WHEREAS, Ms. Jamison joined the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in 1965 and for 15 years danced and studied under her mentor Alvin Ailey, and subsequently became the muse for some of Ailey’ s most notable creations, including Cry, which was dedicated by Ailey to “all black women everywhere”; and
WHEREAS, After leaving the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in 1980 Ms. Jamison appeared on Broadway in the musical “Sophisticated Ladies”, and then traveled as a guest artist with dance companies around the world, including the American Ballet Company, Ballet of the 20th Century, and the state opera ballets of Vienna, Austria, Munich and Hamburg; and
WHEREAS, Ms. Jamison formed her own dance company, the Jamison Project, in 1988 in Philadelphia, Detroit, and New York, and in 1989 was called upon to rejoin the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater as artistic director to fill the void left by the untimely death of Alvin Ailey; and
WHEREAS, Judith Jamison has revived the Ailey organization, setting it on a renewed course of dance education and artistic creation, and has been the recipient of honorary degrees and numerous awards including the Kennedy Center Honor and the National Medal of the Arts; and
WHEREAS, Having long been an advocate for education through the arts, Ms. Jamison continues to ensure the prominence of arts in American culture, and spearheads efforts to introduce children and adults to the arts through dance education; now therefore
RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, That we as a body honor Judith Jamison, daughter of Philadelphia, for her lifetime contributions to education through the arts.
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