One of my Passions...

This year Judith Jamison, my Soror and long time role model, received the 2009 BET Honors Award for Education. This is monumental in so many ways. First off Soror Jamison is an amazing dancer and choreographer and she is currently the Artistic Director of the Alvin Ailey Dance Company.

I have included below a link to when Soror Jamison accepts this award. On the stage there are two dancers of the company performing an excerpt from Love Stories which was choreographed by Soror Jamison, Robert Battle, and Rennie Harris. In addition, Anthony Hamilton is serenading her...his voice is amazing. The first song is a rendition If It's Magic by Stevie Wonder and the second song is A Song for You, which has been performed by many artists, but the one I am most aware of is by Donny Hathaway. I am so glad that they chose Anthony Hamilton, he is soo amazing and his voice is a joy to listen to. I listened to his album "Coming From Where I'm From" for like two years straight.


The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater is currently celebrating its 50th anniversary. This is paramount and pivotal in so many ways, (it even gives me a chill). 50 years ago, Ailey had the idea to create a dance company, during a time when African Americans were not necessarily even welcome in the US, let alone in the dance community. Wow! And so many years later its presence is still felt within the dance community and African American community.

If you have not had the opportunity to see an Ailey show you are definitely missing out. Of course their most noted piece is Revelations which is sooo moving and beautiful (I think most of the pieces are). One of the reasons that people may see that in Revelations is because of the spirituality of the piece and just the sheer gracefulness. This is an excerpt from many of the scenes in Revelations.



I am an avid believer in the creation and support of arts, both performing and visual. Although I danced before college (in high school), taking modern technique classes at Emory really gave me a different view of the much treasured art form and how it gives an individual the ability to express themselves through their body. I can go on and on about dance ,how it helped mold me into the person I am, but another day. Until Next Time...