Job Description

Organization: The arts kindle a summer of fun at Usdan Summer Camp for the Arts where each day is a new opportunity for students to explore their creativity and make friends on an inspiring

140-acre woodland campus. Usdan’s mission is to develop artistic talent and foster a lifetime of imagination, industry, and creative endeavor. Since opening in 1968, 40,000 children and young adults have enjoyed the benefits of Usdan’s programs.

The camp offers arts study in Music, Visual Art, Theater, Dance, and Writing, as well as related study in Nature, Chess and Recreational Arts. More than 70 classes are taught in these departments with students creating their own unique summer program comprised of one major course (two hours), one minor course (one hour), and one recreational activity (one hour). The camp’s programs are designed for students of varying levels of experience and ability, from beginner to advanced. Auditions are not required for most programs and admission is based on a declaration of interest in a specific area.

Usdan’s student body, of approximately 1,500 students, is diverse in ability, ethnicity, religion, sexuality, gender identity, age (ranging from ages 4-18, grades pre-K - 12) and geography (with students coming from New York City, Nassau, Suffolk and Westchester Counties). They are bound together by their love of the arts and by their interest in creating and expressing themselves  through art. A faculty of dedicated, talented, and thoughtful teachers guide students through unforgettable summers of fun and artistic exploration.

Position Summary: Reporting to the Associate Executive Director, and working in partnership with the Executive Director and the Director of Admissions, the Chair of Usdan’s Dance Department will be responsible for the overall vision, direction and administration partnerships of the 7-week summer Dance program for students ages 4-18. The Chair will work with the Administrative staff in the months leading up to camp opening, on a limited basis, and then on campus in Huntington, Long Island, NY for the 35 full days of the summer season.

Job requirements

Traits and Characteristics: The Chair of the Dance Department will be a passionate artist and an enthusiastic educator, who works well with children and is energetic, patient, curious and insightful. As the lead representative of the camp’s Dance programs, the Chair will be a role model for many students and faculty members and will help guide the vision of the department.

The chair will also be:

-a collaborator, and an innovator, open to working with emerging trends and styles in dance.
-a leader who is flexible and adaptive.
-organized, self-motivated and able to prioritize multiple tasks during busy times.

Qualifications: The successful candidate should have:

-a bachelors degree in dance, dance education, kinesiology, or physical education or equivalent knowledge, skills, and abilities.
-minimum of five years experience teaching classical and contemporary dance forms, as well as experience creating choreography for children.
-proven experience working on the administrative end of dance.
-experience choreographing and costuming dance works for children and young adults.
-worked and collaborated with dance companies in New York area.

Roles and Responsibilities: The Dance chair will:

-build relationships with current dance teachers and support staff, as well as other department chairs.
-work with partner organizations to select faculty and hire additional faculty members who are engaging and thoughtful  teachers and dancers to work with children of varying ages and abilities, in multiple dance styles.
-generate outlets for both creative and interpretive expression through dance.
-organize student performances and class demonstrations.
-talk with parents, students and faculty to solve classroom issues and resolve problems.
-be open to collaborating across the many art forms taught at Usdan.
-comfortably work with people of a variety of personalities.
-give Dance Department staff members feedback, both critical and encouraging.
-create partnerships with external cultural organizations and dance companies.
-create organizational and departmental structures that foster growth, student’s abilities, and organizational sustainability.
-In future seasons, work with the Administrative staff to shape the department’s structure and subsequent course offerings, with an eye towards maximizing enrollment in the department.

Salary, Dates, and Times:
2016 Pre-season work: Monthly until June 2016
Salary: $700 per month
(Location: Work from Home)

2016 Summer Season
1 weekday: Orientation Day, Wednesday, June 22, 2:30 PM – 8:30 PM
34 Weekdays: Monday - Friday, June 27 - August 12, 2016, 9:15 AM – 3:15 PM
Salary: $10,600
Transportation is available from NYC. Faculty may ride the LIRR to the Center (subsidized $350), ride a complementary student bus, or monitor a student bus, earning a stipend for their work.

(Location: Usdan Summer Camp for the Arts, Huntington, LI)

To Apply: Please email  a cover letter communicating qualifications and interest, and your resume with three references, to Lauren Brandt Schloss, Executive Director to Employment@usdan.org.

PDF files are preferred attachments. No phone calls.