Jamar Roberts

Jamar Roberts, from Miami, FL, was the Resident Choreographer of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater from 2019-2022. Roberts has made seven works on the Company: Members Don’t Get Weary (2016), Ode (2019), A Jam Session for Troubling Times (2020), Holding Space (2021), In a Sentimental Mood (2022), Al-Andalus Blues (2024), and this season’s Song of the Anchorite. He also set Gemeos on Ailey II. Roberts is a graduate of the New World School of the Arts and The Ailey School and has danced for Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Ailey II, and Complexions. Roberts won the 2016 Bessie Award for Outstanding Performer and has performed as a guest artist with the Royal Ballet in London. Commissions include DanceAspen, Miami City Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, ABT Studio Company, Martha Graham Dance Company, LA Dance Project, Vail Dance Festival, Fall for Dance, The Juilliard School, BalletX, MoveNYC, New York City Ballet, and Works and Process at the Guggenheim where he created the films Cooped and A Chronicle of a Pivot at a Point in Time. The March on Washington Film Festival invited Roberts to create a tribute to John Lewis, and he has also made a film for the LA Opera entitled The First Bluebird in the Morning. Roberts was a Director’s Fellow at NYU’s Center for Ballet and currently serves as an Arnhold Creative Associate at large and distinguished visiting faculty at The Juilliard School.