Home About Us Media Kit Subscriptions Links Forum
 
APPEARED IN


View All Articles

Download PDF

FAMOUS INTERVIEWS

Directories:

SCHOLARSHIPS & GRANTS

HELP WANTED

Tutors

Workshops

Events

Sections:

Books

Camps & Sports

Careers

Children’s Corner

Collected Features

Colleges

Cover Stories

Distance Learning

Editorials

Famous Interviews

Homeschooling

Medical Update

Metro Beat

Movies & Theater

Museums

Music, Art & Dance

Special Education

Spotlight On Schools

Teachers of the Month

Technology

Archives:

2013

2012

2011

2010

2009

2008

2007

2006

2005

2004

2003

2002

2001

1995-2000


JANUARY 2008

Director Dale Lewis Celebrates 25 Years
at Usdan & Usdan Celebrates 40

By Joan Baum, Ph.D.

Over the years, each summer, more than 50,000  youngsters, ages 6-18, approximately 1,600 a day, now—some from as far away as NJ, Riverhead  and Westchester County—know that when their  air-conditioned chartered buses hit Exit 49N, of  the L.I.E., they’re just minutes away from a wonderland in the woods that Time Magazine called  “one of America’s most unique camps.” With  200 acres and 70 buildings that house music and  art studios, galleries and theatres, Usdan Center  for the Creative and Performing Arts can easily  lay claim to being one of the most physically  impressive, professional and yet relaxed venues  for pursuing music (classical, pop, jazz, folk,  choral), painting, ceramics, computer graphics,  cartooning, dance (classical, modern, Broadway,  tap), drama, photography, film and creative writing,  under the loving guidance of well known artists.  Usdan also takes itself seriously as a camp,  however, and in addition to the courses students  elect (two hours a day for a major, one hour for  a minor, which can include recreational sports),  they also swim an hour in one of the camp’s two  Olympic-size pools.

The success of Usdan is easily inferred from  the unsolicited letters Dale Lewis receives daily,  all year long, some missives accompanied by  artwork. Alumnae, fondly recalling what Suzanne  Usdan calls their “life-changing summers” at  the camp, are eager to enroll their own children,  though word-of-mouth among neighbors  and friends is as much responsible for Usdan’s  extraordinary growth, some of it in areas that may  not at first seem related to the arts. But, on reflection,  Dale Lewis suggests, the more recent course  additions in chess and nature and ecology fit in  beautifully. Nature and ecology, for example,  encourages youngsters to replicate sounds found  in nature and to make sculptures out of found  objects. Indeed, he laughs, in a recent poll asking  campers what they’d like to see added, perhaps  in future years, culinary “arts” came in number  one! How a major in such an area might affect  appreciation of the long-standing tradition of free  ice cream at the end of the Usdan day remains to  be seen, though Lewis expects that this joyous  exit treat will continue.

Though Usdan has been described as a place  “where you can lose yourself for a summer and  find yourself for a lifetime,” the fact is, as Lewis  points out, that an overwhelming number of  youngsters do discover or refine their love of the  arts at Usdan, while not feeling pressured to pursue  these interests later on. Of course, many do,  profiting from the camp’s individual and group  lessons. Lewis himself, a graduate of the Oberlin  College Conservatory of Music, switched gears  when he gave up a successful career as a cellist,  having made a Carnegie Recital Hall debut when  he was 12, as the winner of the New York String  Teachers Guild competition, then soloing in  this country and abroad and playing cello in the  Alberg Trio, eventually moving on to assume various  faculty positions in music. For 18 years he  held the title of Music Director of the Westchester  Junior Orchestra.

The 25 years have been deeply rewarding,  Lewis says, particularly as he looks back on recent  accomplishments—adding technology-based arts  courses, a new Discovery Program for ages 6-8),  instituting an association between Usdan and  the Joffrey Ballet, co-creating the Heckscher-  Usdan Student Art Institute (with year-round  capabilities), superintending the construction of  the 1,000-seat McKinley Amphitheater for Music  and Dance, and introducing and sustaining Usdan  residences in ballet (San Jose, CA), chamber  music (Tokyo String Quartet) and brass—the  Canadian Brass, what else! Cheerful, confident,  he also looks ahead and is especially pleased with  a new direction that will kick in this summer: the  Usdan College Prep Center that will assist upper  division students in selecting and applying to colleges,  preparing for the SATs and, in September,  engaging students in an intensive weekend of  essay writing and coaching in auditions and stage  techniques. This unusual and inspired program  will bridge the gap between summer fun and the  usual college prep hysteria seniors face back in  the academic world. It will also give youngsters  information about little known but great colleges  “out there,” including well-regarded conservatories  that would love to hear from Usdan graduates.  Regardless, at Usdan all youngsters, regardless  of level of ability, have an opportunity not  only to embrace the creative and performing arts  in a professional setting, Lewis emphasizes, but  to form life-long friendships, meet mentors, have  their minds opened to new experiences.

 For more info: www.usdan.com or call 212-772-6060.#

COMMENT ON THIS ARTICLE

Name:

Email:
Show email
City:
State:

 


 

 

 

Education Update, Inc.
All material is copyrighted and may not be printed without express consent of the publisher. © 2008.