Judith Jamison in "Cry"

Object Details

Exhibition Label: This 1976 portrait shows thirty-two-year-old dancer Judith Jamison performing her signature role in Cry. The ballet-described as "a hymn to the sufferings and triumphant endurance of generations of black matriarchs"-made Jamison an international celebrity in the world of dance. It also marked a crowning moment in her partnership with Alvin Ailey, who had first recruited her to his dance company in 1965. About their collaboration, the New York Times dance critic raved, "rarely have a choreographer and a dancer been in such accord." Jamison served as the principal dancer in the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater until 1980, when she left to perform with Gregory Hines in the Broadway musical Sophisticated Ladies. In 1989, just prior to Ailey's untimely death, Jamison was appointed the artistic director of his company, a position she holds to this day.

Credit Line: National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of Carol Greunke, Max Waldman Archives

1976

Medium: Gelatin silver print
Dimensions: Image: 30 x 22.4 cm (11 13/16 x 8 13/16"); Sheet: 35.4 x 27.8 cm (13 15/16 x 10 15/16"); Mat: 55.9 x 40.6cm (22 x 16")

National Portrait Gallery

Topic: Judith Jamison: Female; Judith Jamison: Performing Arts\Choreographer; Judith Jamison: Performing Arts\Performer\Dancer\Ballet; Judith Jamison: Performing Arts\Director\Dance; Judith Jamison: Performing Arts\Performer\Dancer\Modern; Portrait

GUID (Link to Original Record): http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/sm4621d56a4-8b84-4d45-9538-4f3066a23fd6