Top 20 Judith Jamison Quotes

People come to see beauty, and I dance to give it to them.

As a dancer, you really try to stay true to whatever the choreographer/artistic director is giving you. So, now the shoe is on the other foot and I have to trust everyone else – I have to trust the dancer. As I was trusted as a dancer, I trust my dancers.

We’re dancing from here, from inside, not from outside. You could look at anybody throwing their leg and kick their leg up and a million pirouettes and do all kinds of tricks and stuff like that. But that’s not what dance is really about.

My wonderful editor, Jackie Onassis, asked me to write a book that I wanted to write. I said, ‘Look, it’s not going to be scandalized. I’m not going to talk about anybody like a dog. I’m going to say the positiveness of my life, and talk about those who have contributed to the way I’ve been going, and that’s that.’

If people all over the world, year after year, request that you do ‘Revelations,’ you do ‘Revelations.’

I believe in being prepared. I’m going to say that. Pray, prepare, proceed.

The word ‘suffering‘ is not in my vocabulary.

You wake up white, and you think about certain things every day. You wake up black, and you think about certain things. You wake up Chinese, and you think certain things – but those things aren’t major. What’s major is that you are good at your craft.

I believe God has a path for me. He’s always had a path for me, and I’ve always been in the right place at the right time – not because of my efforts, but because of my preparation and because of the guides that I have, the mentors that I have, the spiritual walkers that I’ve had all my life.

We can go on talking about racism and who treated whom badly, but what are you going to do about it? Are you going to wallow in that or are you going to create your own agenda?

Strive for perfection. Nobody‘s going to be perfect on this earth. But strive for perfection.

I could say now at 66, yeah, I was a fabulous dancer. I was really terrific, you know. But I was always present. I was present. I was supposed to be where I was supposed to be at the time I was supposed to be.

I don’t think of myself as a leader. I am, but I don’t think of myself that way. I’m not trying to belittle what I do, but I think of myself as a dancer first. I’ll always be a dancer.

I was a protege; by the age of 10, I was studying with ballet choreographer Anthony Tudor in a class of adults.

I want to know who you are as a person, and then I want you to develop as a whole human being.

The world is full of ways for people to dance. Concert dance doesn’t get its due.

I went to an audition for a Harry Belafonte Roaring Twenties special for choreographer Donald McKayle, but I failed.

I’ve danced all over the world, and people are people. We cannot cut off from each other in life. In order to lead, you can’t do that.

Concert dance is the hardest kind of dance. We tour constantly, around the world, year in and year out. It just doesn’t work for everybody. It’s the lifestyle, it’s the stamina, it’s the love, it’s the dedication, it’s the commitment, it’s all those words.

I’ve had a really charmed life, you know. Things always come to me – they just do.