SHORT TAKES : Judith Jamison Succeeds Ailey
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NEW YORK — Judith Jamison, a former dancer in the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater who left to work on Broadway and form her own group, was named today as Ailey’s successor as artistic director of the company. Ailey, who founded the dance company 31 years ago, died Dec. 1.
Jamison said at a news conference at the company’s school that, earlier this year, Ailey told her he wanted her to succeed him. “He said, ‘You’re going in another direction now.’ ”
“It’s like coming home to a place I’ve been in my heart for years, even if I haven’t been here physically,” she said.
Jamison joined the company in 1965, leaving 15 years later to be one of the stars of “Duke Ellington’s Sophisticated Ladies” on Broadway.
Last year, she started the Jamison Project, for which she choreographs and dances.
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