One foot in Philadelphia

Dance legend Judith Jamison is still John and Tessie's girl when she comes home to her beloved Mother Bethel A.M.E. Church.

By Melissa Dribben
Inquirer Staff Writer
The Philadelphia Inquirer

Judith Jamison walks through the streets of Philadelphia in comfortable anonymity.

This icon of American dance, the artistic director of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, dancer and choreographer, a living legend who has been honored by presidents, worshiped by aspiring young performers and named a queen mother in Ghana, roams freely about the city without paparazzi stalking or fans asking for autographs or strangers gawking.

The woman turns heads, of course.

Majestic at 5-foot-10, Jamison wears a tightly woven crown of silver braids that rises above a crowd. She moves along sidewalks as if gracing a stage.

You tend to notice someone like that.

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