- Judith Jamison (born 1943), artistic director of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater since 1989. Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Jamison began studying both ballet and modern dance at age six. She made her stage debut in 1959 dancing the title role in the ballet Giselle. Jamison studied psychology at Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee, for three years, and then transferred to the ...www.theatredance.com/d_jamison.html