Judith Jamison by Jack Mitchell
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GME remembers celebrated dancer and choreographer Judith Jamison with photographs taken by Jack Mitchell that chronicle her role in the 1980 Broadway musical SOPHISTICATED LADIES. Jamison passed away on November 9th at the age of 81.
Jamison was discovered by choreographer Agnes de Mille in 1964, who cast her in a short-lived dance at the American Ballet Theatre. Following a failed audition for Donald McKayle, she was sought out by Alvin Ailey, who offered her a place in his company. Jamison's breakthrough came in 1971 with an acclaimed solo performance in Ailey's CRY, described as an “homage to Black women and the ways in which they have both toiled and soared throughout history.” She soon became Ailey's muse and performed in some of his most famous dances, including his magnum opus REVELATIONS.
In 1980, Jamison left the Alvin Ailey Dance Theatre to make her Broadway debut in the musical revue SOPHISTICATED LADIES, which was based on the music of Duke Ellington with a book written by Donald McKayle. The show was nominated for eight Tony Awards, winning two, and was acclaimed by the New York Times as “stunning” and “the only Broadway revue of recent vintage that operates on a truly grand scale.” SOPHISTICATED LADIES introduced Jamison to a broader audience and expanded her wheelhouse beyond dance, thereby marking a turning point in her career. Jack Mitchell photographed Jamison during this pivotal period, and their collaborations proved particularly memorable for her. She once remarked: “When you would go to Jack’s studio, there were photographs on the walls of everyone famous that you ever knew. Everyone on Broadway, movie stars, dancers, whatever, and each shot looked like Jack had known them from the day they were born. He pulled the uniqueness out of you regardless of whether you wanted it pulled out of you or not.”
The success of SOPHISTICATED LADIES elevated Jamison’s profile, and in the decade that followed, she began to choreograph her own dances, such as 1984's DIVINING and 1989’s FORGOTTEN TIME. Following Ailey’s death in 1989, she was appointed the Artistic Director of his company and choreographed a tribute to her mentor in 1993, titled HYMN. By this time, Jamison had retired from dancing to focus solely on choreographing. Yet, in the words of The Washington Post's Robin Givhan, she “retained the capacity to evoke a thousand different emotions in the elegant undulations of a simple gesture. As she’d coach a dancer through a role, her long arms would extend toward the ends of the earth and they would become as liquid as waves in the ocean. They would rise and fall at her command. And they could tell a story of fortitude, strength and beauty that felt universal but also deeply intimate.”
Over the course of his half century professional career, photographer Jack Mitchell chronicled a unique history of creators in the fields of dance, theatre, music, the fine arts, film, and television. The Estate of Jack Mitchell is exclusively represented by Gartenberg Media Enterprises, Inc. for placement of the archive and exhibition of his work. Please contact GME's Fine Arts Curator, David Deitch, at david@gartenbergmedia.com for inquiries related to the Mitchell photography collection.