Usdan Center Announces Last Open Houses of 2012

Usdan Center for the Creative and Performing Arts (www.usdan.com) today announced its final two free Open Houses for its 45^th season.

They will be on Sundays, April 22 and May 20, both from 11 AM to 2 PM. Usdan also offers individual weekend guided tours available by appointment. In addition, weekday self-guided walks are available on the Center’s magnificent 200-acre woodland campus at 185 Colonial Springs Road, Wheatley Heights (Huntington), New York 11798. For more information on these, call Gail London at (631) 643-7900. Information on the Center is also available by calling the NYC office at (212) 772-6060, emailingopenhouse@usdan.com, or visiting www.usdan.com.

Two new programs for 2012, both 7 weeks, are:

1) Illustration and Book Design – An expansion of Usdan’s Cartooning program, this course is for students in grades 7 to 12, and will introduce the art of creating illustrated stories from concept to completion. Students will earn skills in design, layout, and illustration in order to create an original book.

2) Summerstock – an expansion of Usdan’s Theater Arts Department, Summerstock will be a selective, pre-professional course for accomplished actors in grades 11 and 12, those who intend to major in theater in college. The program will include all areas of production under the guidance of leading Broadway directors, designers, and teaching artists, with multiple productions performed in Usdan’s theater, and off campus in Long Island and New York City venues as well. 

In addition to the new programs, the Video Arts department program has expanded to include the new Video As A Film Art. For grades 7 to 12, this will be focused on classic and contemporary cinematic technique, with students creating short pieces inspired by film and television, and also shooting Usdan performances to create music videos.  

Many of Usdan’s programs and special events, including excerpts from its August 3^rd 2011 Gala Concert, may now be viewed on the Center’s recently re-launched website, www.usdan.com. It has been designed to maximize the immediacy of visual and electronic aids, and it is fully coordinated with Usdan’s YouTube and Facebook sites.

Usdan Center for the Creative and Performing Arts, whose alumni include Academy Award-winning actor Natalie Portman, Olivia Thirlby (now playing in the film “Dredd”) and singers Jane Monheit and Mariah Carey, has introduced the arts to more than 50,000 Tri-State Area children since its founding in 1968. The Center is open to all young people from age 6 to 18. Usdan’s program features more than 40 four and seven-week programs in music, dance, theater, visual arts, writing, nature & ecology, and chess. No audition is needed for most programs – rather, admission is based on an expression of interest in the arts. Each summer, 1,600 students are transported to the Center in air-conditioned buses each day. One-third of Usdan’s students attend on scholarship. Although the mission of the Center is for every child to establish a relationship with the arts, the unique stimulation of the Center has caused many to go on to arts careers. Alumni include members of Broadway shows and major music, theater, and dance ensembles such as the Boston Pops and the New York City Ballet. Usdan Center is an agency of the UJA-Federation of New York. Usdan’s 45^th season begins June 25, 2012. For more information, write to info@usdan.com, Call (212) 772-6060 or (631) 643-7900, or visit www.usdan.com