Renowned dancer and choreographer Judith Jamison died Saturday after a brief illness, the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater announced. She was 81.

"She created representation, she made a path wide enough for other people to walk through too and be able to see themselves," Alvin Ailey Dance Theater Rehearsal Director Ronni Favors said.

Judith Jamison, an internationally acclaimed dancer who later served as artistic director of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater for two decades, has died.