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
talking racism african-american
We can go on talking about racism and who treated whom badly, but what are you going to do about it? Are you going to wallow in that or are you going to create your own agenda?
dance giving people
People come to see beauty, and I dance to give it to them.
dancing people giving
Dancing is being trusted with other people's guts; choreographing is trusting other people with yours. When I choreograph I'm giving a dancer something to do and trusting the dancer to do it and build on it.
moving dark light
The first time I started choreographing was in the dark, in my living room, with the lights completely out, to some popular music on the radio. I put the radio on full blast and I started moving. I didn't know what it looked like. I didn't want to see it... I had to start in the dark.
vocabulary suffering
The word 'suffering' is not in my vocabulary.
dance thinking white
I can't really hear the audience applause when I'm on stage. I'm totally immersed in the piece. But sometimes I get a lot of it and wonder, "Now, why did they applaud here?" If it's a white crowd, they usually applaud because they think it's a pretty movement. If it's a black crowd, it's usually because they identify with the message.
dancer black world
Maybe its a generational thing, but I never wanted to be the best black dancer in the world. I just wanted to be the best.
cutting order people
I've danced all over the world, and people are people. We cannot cut off from each other in life. In order to lead, you can't do that.
want humans persons
I want to know who you are as a person, and then I want you to develop as a whole human being.
light people negativity
So many people dwell on negativity and I've survived by ignoring it: it dims your light and it's harder each time to turn the power up again.
dance dancer threshold
Every dancer lives on the threshold of chucking it.
competition trying being-the-best
I've been in a competitive situation almost all my life. I've been having a competition with myself and trying to be the best I could be.
class ballet age
I was a protege; by the age of 10, I was studying with ballet choreographer Anthony Tudor in a class of adults.
commitment dedication years
Concert dance is the hardest kind of dance. We tour constantly, around the world, year in and year out. It just doesn't work for everybody. It's the lifestyle, it's the stamina, it's the love, it's the dedication, it's the commitment, it's all those words.