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Judith Jamison —
American
Dancer
born on May 10, 1943,
Judith Ann Jamison is an American dancer and choreographer, best known as the Artistic Director of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater... (wikipedia)
Dancing is bigger than the physical body. Think bigger than that. When you extend your arm, it doesn't stop at the end of your fingers, because you're dancing bigger than that. You're dancing spirit.
People don't remember me for how high my legs went, even though they went up very high, and how many pirouettes I did. They don't remember me for that. They remember me and any other dancer because something touched them inside. It's an indelible memory on the heart and in the mind.
I want to know who you are as a person, and then I want you to develop as a whole human being.
It's called the Ailey American Dance Theatre, not the Alvin Ailey African-American Dance Theatre. One thing also that Alvin wanted people to recognize, he had to wake up black every day. That's not an issue. His culture is an issue, not his color, his culture. So he really negated the fact that there was such a thing as a black choreographer.
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.