Judith Jamison / 2010 National Awards Honoree
Judith Jamison
Artistic Director, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
"Alvin Ailey believed that dance was about more than steps or shapes – that it could be a mirror to the soul and a universal expression of the human experience. Since Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater's first international tour in 1962, we've been inspiring and uniting audiences around the globe through dance. It is so gratifying to receive the 2010 National Award for Citizen Diplomacy, as it is with great pride that I've continued Ailey's legacy of representing this country as an ambassador of the American spirit."
Born in 1943 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Judith Jamison is best known as the artistic director of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, a New York-based organization that brings the spirit of dance to people the world over. It does this through inspiring performances, innovative community outreach and arts education that build cultural bridges and relationships -- reaching more than 500,000 people annually.
Ms. Jamison broke through racial barriers in the 1970s as an internationally recognized star and when she succeeded Alvin Ailey as artistic director in 1989, Ms. Jamison became one of only a handful of women in the world to direct a major dance company.
With Ms. Jamison at the helm, the Ailey organization has established an extended cultural community using the beauty and humanity of the African-American heritage and other cultures to unite people of all races, ages and backgrounds. In 2008, Congress named the Company "Cultural Ambassador to the World."
Ms. Jamison has been a critical factor in this effort -- first as a dancer and later as the artistic leader of Ailey. Ms. Jamison was a principal dancer in the tour across Africa in the 1960s and in 1970 in the first modern dance company tour to the then Soviet Union in 40 years. In 1985, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater became the first modern dance company to tour the People's Republic of China after normalization of Sino-American relations. In 1997, Ms. Jamison brought Ailey to South Africa following the lifting of the international cultural boycott; and in 2005 she led the Company in its return to Russia to perform in the Stars of the White Nights Festival.
In recent years, Ms. Jamison has brought Ailey's extraordinary artists to Denmark, France, China, Hong Kong, Turkey, Romania, Russia, Israel, Greece, Italy and the United Kingdom, among other countries, extending the reach of Ailey's performances to an estimated 23 million people in 71 countries on 6 continents.
In addition to her dancing and choreography, Ms. Jamison is also artistic director of the Ailey School. The School's multicultural curriculum implemented by Ms. Jamison offers courses in the dances of West Africa and South India, among others. Providing 300 diverse classes weekly, the School's fellowship program provides more than 300 fellowships a year with over 70 percent of financial assistance going to minority students.