2026: Diane Lewis, Ballet Faculty at the Hochstein School of Music and Dance, celebrates her 50th year of teaching. The following piece is my tribute to her. Ms. Lewis was my teacher and later my mentor in my early years of teaching movement and working on the administrative team at Hochstein. She provided unwavering support to all students, always.
Ms. Lewis is known for putting the student before the art form. Some teachers command quiet respect, and Diane is one of them - not because of strictness or seriousness, but because of the calm wisdom she carries. Diane teaches with tenderness and firmness, vigor and calm, all at once. When we looked at ourselves in the studio mirrors, she wanted us to see our individual gifts rather than a body to animate correctly. “Correctness” could only come through an acknowledgement of the self and of others.
Diane’s warm presence brings people together. Feeling down? She would encourage students to sit together, share advice. Some of my friends today are friends from Hochstein who sat with me when I was lonely, and she orchestrated that.
She wanted us to be strong-willed and joyful through movement. While I didn't realize it as a student, as an adult I understand that she truly embodied the spirit of community arts by allowing everyone in the room to love an art form and be equally loved by it. Dance has a lot of hierarchy, but under her teacherly care, you were more than your accomplishments as a dancer. You expressed your story through movement free from judgement.
She also understood that what happens at home for the developing adolescent can be just as stressful as the pressures placed upon a dancer in the studio. I recall dancers from higher-pressure programs coming to visit Diane with injuries. She brought light to the practice: dance is a vehicle to tell stories, to be yourself - that comes first. The movement itself is part of the healing. There was never any demand to do something “right” for right’s-sake or push the body’s limits. There was you, your movement, and your willingness to work with yourself and heal yourself or take time for yourself to live your potential.
Looking at Diane's long career, I recognize her caliber of teaching and see that she made a very purposeful choice to be at Hochstein. Few community spaces allow diverse art forms to coexist as they do at beacons like Hochstein, and the school's mission lives in her teaching. We are all people, and therefore we are all dancers.
Diane repeatedly gifted me the wise advice she gained only from her experience. As I reflect, I see she always loved me for who I was and nurtured my potential to teach with the sensitivity and thoughtfulness she knew I possessed. What a gift it is, to be seen as oneself, as confidence and identity evolve.
Ms. Lewis has, in a way, shaped my entire career path. I wonder how many of us are doing this immensely value-driven caring work, because she not only modeled it but also ignited our drive to pursue what we love. Her spirit of teaching lives on in my work. I will never stop trying to celebrate the humans in the room with me and help them relate to each other and to the world through this thing we're all born with: the ability to move, and to say, "Here I am" without a word.
Community Arts education is an invaluable resource that draws people together. Please consider supporting institutions like The Hochstein School, where programs unite individuals through a mutual love for the arts. Visit Hochstein.org to learn more.