All good things must come to an end, but for Judith Jamison, stepping down as Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater's artistic director doesn't mean she's completely severing ties. The 2009-2010 season, which kicked off Dec. 2 at New York's City Center, celebrates Jamison's 20th year at the helm of what is arguably the most renown dance company in the world.

Although Jamison was running two dance companies at the time of Ailey's death in 1989, she told BV Newswire there was no hesitation in taking over the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.

"I loved the man," Jamison reflected this week from the company's headquarters in New York City. "I worked with him for 15 years, and when you are asked by someone you love to take over their life's work, there is no time for questioning. There was no great dilemma, you just do."

Last year marked the Ailey organization's 50th anniversary celebration, and the dance troupe was recognized by Congress as America's Cultural Ambassador to the World.

Under Jamison's auspices, the company moved to a midtown Manhattan corner, which has since been renamed Alvin Ailey Place; established a summer day camp for young people called AileyCamp; created dance classes for the general public called The Ailey Extension and training for dance students via The Ailey School; and led the way for a bachelors of fine arts degree in dance through Fordham University.

Quietly, for the past three years, the company has conducted a private search for someone to take over her role. Only two people -- Ailey and Jamison -- have presided over the company, which is the most-traveled dance organization in the world.

"This company is about past, present and future, and I'm seriously reaching into the future," she shared. "I am not going be around here forever. I want 50 years more for this company, and while I am here, I really want to do this process."

"It's so important that the aesthetic that we have here continues in capable hands," Jamison shared. "[We need someone] with talent, integrity and who grasps the idea that dance came from the people and needs to be delivered back."

"In 2011, I will be artistic director emeritus, [but] once you belong to the Ailey family, you always belong to the Ailey," she added.

To honor Jamison's talent and vision, the company of 30 will perform the "Best of 20 Years," a program featuring works commissioned or revived during Jamison's leadership. And, for the first time since 2005's "Reminiscin,'" Jamison has choreographed a new piece, "Among Us: Private Spaces: Public Places," which is making its world premiere this season. The idea for the ballet came in the form of the 66-year-old's recent hobby: painting.

"The inspiration was the paintings," the Philadelphia native said. "I had an idea to use my paintings and also get [musician] Eric Lewis to be inspired by them. We would have rehearsals, and I would hold up the painting and he would play."

The end product finds the stage transformed into a museum, with Jamison's folk art paintings hung on the walls, and includes a series of vignettes, including a President Barack Obama character performed by Jamar Roberts, a trio of thugs, a pair of troubled lovers and the mischievous genie performed by Clifton Brown, to name a few.

"I have 30 of the most divine dancers in the world, and I am overjoyed," she gushed.

Jamison, who was recently chosen as a 2009 Time 100 Honoree on the magazine's list of the world's most influential people, is planning her leave one step at a time.

"I deal day to day, and I don't deal with what am I going to do in 2011," she noted. "I am very blessed to be in a place that I am because of a man named Alvin Ailey, and we cherish the moments we have dancing."

Undoubtedly, Jamison's role as the keeper of Ailey's legacy will be cherished for another 50 years.