Susan Lerner

The Center for Traditional Music & Dance, Inc. is a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping immigrant communities sustain and preserve their unique performing arts traditions while fostering cross-cultural understanding. The organization also produces digital projects showcasing immigrant artists across New York City’s boroughs. The private company is based in New York, NY. The organization achieves this through programs that collaborate with diverse ethnic groups to document, present, and promote traditional artists; arts education initiatives that engage youth from various immigrant backgrounds; and a touring artists program featuring authentic traditional performers nationwide. It maintains the largest archive documenting immigrant performing arts, containing extensive audio, video, and photographic materials spanning over five decades, accessible for research and licensing. The company was founded in 1968 by Ethel Raim.