High voltage electricity could be felt throughout the White House East Room Tuesday evening as dancers sashayed through a cosmos of movements, each more brilliant than the next, competing against each other in a competition of supremacy--ballet, contemporary, hip-hop--all a celebration of American dance.
First Lady Michelle Obama hosted her first series of dance performances as part of an event honoring Alvin Ailey's iconic artistic director Judith Jameson (pictured left), who will be stepping down after a solid 20-year run.
Not only did the legendary Alvin Ailey dancers perform but also on hand to shower Jamison with heartfelt emotion was the Paul Taylor Dance Company, The Washington Ballet, The New York City Ballet and Super Cr3w from MTV's "America's Best Dance Crew."
The First Lady was accompanied by her daughters (Sasha and Malia) and mother(Marian Robinson). Mrs. Obama was observed clapping after each performance but literally leaped to her feet after Broadway's Dayton Tavares (top right) strutted his stuff on stage as one of the high-flying Billy Elliots.
The tear-jerker portion of the evening was when the Alvin Ailey troupe gave a riveting modern dance interpretation of a signature piece called "Revelations," which was a tribute to their company's long-time 67-year-old leader, Jamison.
After all was said and done, Mrs. Obama called Jamison "an amazing, phenomenal, fly woman." According to the Associated Press, she went on to say..."Let me tell you, your picture in 'Cry' was the only piece of art in our house," the First Lady told Jamison, who was sitting in the front row. "Cry," is a grand and poignant 15-minute solo for which Jamison was most famous in her dancing years, and an excerpt of it was performed by company member Linda Celeste Sims (pictured in white dress).
Last weekend, Jamison spoke to the AP about her feelings with regards to her being honored at the White House by the Obamas:
"What a rare opportunity, to be invited by your country's First Lady to be honored like this," Jamison said. "This event is totally unique. It's so terribly important to recognize this art form and to understand how important it is to the fabric of this country. This will be another clarion call to people: Pay attention to your arts!" said the grand dame of dance.
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After all was said and done, Mrs. Obama called Jamison "an amazing, phenomenal, fly woman." According to the Associated Press, she went on to say..."Let me tell you, your picture in 'Cry' was the only piece of art in our house," the First Lady told Jamison, who was sitting in the front row. "Cry," is a grand and poignant 15-minute solo for which Jamison was most famous in her dancing years, and an excerpt of it was performed by company member Linda Celeste Sims (pictured in white dress).