Transcendent dancer Judith Jamison, Alvin Ailey artistic director, dies at 81

NEW YORK -- Judith Jamison, an internationally acclaimed dancer who later served as artistic director of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater for two decades, has died. She was 81.

Jamison died Saturday after a brief illness in New York, surrounded by close friends, Ailey company spokesperson Christopher Zunner confirmed to The Associated Press.

“We remember and are grateful for her artistry, humanity and incredible light, which inspired us all,” Zunner said.

Jamison grew up in Philadelphia and trained there in ballet from a young age. At a time when Black dancers were rare in ballet, she began with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in 1965.

Tall, graceful and expressive, she became one of the company's most famous performers and a muse for Ailey. Jamison had star turns in two of Ailey's signature dances, “Revelations” and “Cry.” She danced with the Ailey company for 15 years before leaving to perform on Broadway and as a guest artist with other ballet companies.

Jamison later returned to the Ailey company as its artistic director for 20 years. She is widely credited with helping to make it one of the most successful dance companies in the U.S.

As a dancer, choreographer, director and speaker, her distinguished career leaped over barriers of race and gender.

“She was a unique, spectacular dancer who was majestic and queenly. She danced with eloquence and integrity,” Sylvia Waters, Ailey II Artistic Director Emerita, said Saturday following the new of Jamison's death.

“To dance with her and to be in her sphere of energy was mesmerizing,” Waters said. “I was fortunate to perform with her and she set the bar very, very high.”

Jamison's directorship of the Ailey theater “sustained the company and helped it to grow. She was an eloquent speaker, strong leader and ran a tight ship," Waters said.

Striking images of Jamison including photos, video and a sculpture are currently displayed at an exhibition about the work of the Ailey company at New York's Whitney Museum of American Art in New York.

Jamison was awarded the Kennedy Center Honors in 1999. Other honors included the National Medal of Arts and the Handel Medallion, the highest cultural award from New York City.

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AP journalist Amy Taxin in Santa Ana, California, contributed to this story.