County teen arts fest runs the gamut BY BRYAN SABELLA Staff Writer JERRY WOLKOWITZ staff Corey Pugliese, 13, warms up before joining his Applegarth Middle School band mates on stage at the Middlesex County Teen Arts Festival May 14. EDISON — Local artists still in their teens got a chance to experience virtually every facet of the arts, from painting, singing and dancing to acting, writing poetry and radio announcing. On Thursday and Friday, roughly 2,000 students from around the region attended the Middlesex County Teen Arts Festival at the county college. The festival provides teenagers a unique opportunity to display their talents, participate in workshops, connect with their peers and have their work professionally evaluated. Darlene Yoseloff, of the college’s Office of School Relations, said the festival, in its sixth year, allows teens to "learn from professional artists and share their talents with others." Yoseloff said that Friday was the calmer day of the two, but activity still abounded. In the performing arts center, school orchestras performed, while downstairs in the bunker lounge students received one-on-one instrumental instruction. In Edison Hall, visual artists displayed their wares and received critiques, while in the hallways of the college center, students lined up for demonstrations in the ancient Indian tradition of temporary henna tattooing. In cafeteria E, teens got a crash course in belly dancing. Kim Leary, who is the Friends of Teen Arts coordinator for Union County, gave the belly dancing lessons, which she said were a very popular feature at the festival. Leary said she even had several boys show up — not to watch — but to actually partic­ipate. One of them, Mina Ibrahim of South River, reasoned, "It was just some­thing new [to try]," while Yutsav Aiya, also of South River, said he could feel the ache. "It works your muscles ev­erywhere." "They don’t realize how much work it is," Leary said. Kristina Reyes of South River, who also took part, said the would-be belly dancers were a sight to be­hold: "It was funny; they were all do­ing it wrong." Middle and high school students from 23 area schools took part this year. Yoseloff said that many years ago there was another art festival for county teens that eventually ended. Six years ago, she revived it at the college to fill the void. Yoseloff said the college is an ideal spot for the festival, noting, "We have beautiful grounds and great venues." Some of the students at the county festival will be selected to have their work critiqued in the state festival sponsored by Friends of Teen Arts at The College of New Jersey in Ewing May 26 and 27. However, the state festival, like the county one, is open to all who wish to participate. "This is a showcase, not a competi­tion," Yoseloff said.