SHORT TAKES : Jamison Eager for Ailey Merger

The director of the Jamison Project dance company says she’s looking forward to sharing the “celebration of life through movement” when the company merges with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.

The Jamison Project, a repertory company directed by acclaimed dancer and choreographer Judith Jamison, had one of its final performances Thursday in the auditorium of the Afro-American Historical and Cultural Museum.

The Jamison Project will spend its last 10 days as an independent company in Philadelphia before joining the Ailey group in New York.

Jamison will serve as artistic director. Two dancers in the Jamison Project will join Ailey’s 26-member company; the 10 others will pursue careers elsewhere.

Jamison assumed the duties of artistic director in January, one month after Ailey’s death. For the past six months, she has directed both companies.

“Alvin Ailey allowed us to enjoy his God-given talents on stage and off,” Jamison said. “The Jamison Project became part of that growing tree of individuality and uniqueness--to share in that celebration of life through movement.”

The Jamison Project was founded by Jamison in 1988 to showcase choreography.