Ashley Tuttle, a Tony Award nominee for her performance in the Twyla Tharp/Billy Joel Movin' Out, recently featured in Tharp's Come Fly Away, and who starred at American Ballet Theatre in classics such as Swan Lake and Giselle, will teach a week-long residency July 18-22 for Usdan's Summer Dance Intensive students. Usdan Center, now in its 44th season, has been hosting workshops this season taught by a variety of world-renowned artists: jazz legend Jimmy Heath worked with jazz students on July 12, Broadway playwright Michele Lowe (String of Pearls, Smell of the Kill) taught creative writing, and Metropolitan Opera Orchestra principal violist Vincent Lionti will teach a workshop for strings students. The Summer Dance Intensive is a selective program of advanced ballet students, many of whom have joined professional companies after completion. It is directed by Maurice Brandon Curry, Chair of Usdan's Dance Department, a Broadway choreographer and former Director of the Joffrey Ballet School. Most of Usdan's more than 40 programs are open to all, with no audition needed. Usdan Center for the Creative and Performing Arts, whose alumni include jazz singer Jane Monheit, Natalie Portman and Mariah Carey, has introduced the arts to more than 60,000 Tri-State Area children since its founding in 1968. The Center, on a magnificent 200-acre woodland setting at 185 Colonial Springs Road in Wheatley Heights (Huntington), Long Island, is open to all young people from age 6 to 18. Usdan's program features more than 40 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. In addition to its regular programs, Usdan offers special opportunities for advanced high school- age performing and visual artists. These include Music Staff Internships, a Summer Ballet Intensive, and a program of immersion in the visual arts and college preparation for selected high school art students, the Visual Arts Portfolio Preparation Track. Usdan Center is an agency of the UJA-Federation of New York. For more information on Usdan Center, write to info@usdan.com, Call (631) 643-7900, or visit www.usdan.com. ###