Michelle Obama Hosts First Salute to Dance at White House
High-voltage electricity was 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 contest of supremacy — ballet, contemporary, hip-hop — and all in 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 were members of the Paul Taylor Dance Company, the Washington Ballet, the New York City Ballet and Super Cr3w from MTV’s ‘America’s Best Dance Crew,’ who all showered Jamison with heartfelt emotion.
The first lady was accompanied by her daughters and mother. 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 tearjerker 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 Jamison, the company’s 67-year-old leader.
After all was said and done, 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.”
‘Cry,’ is a grand and poignant 15-minute solo that made Jamison 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 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, 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.” 
