Edward Villella

Founder and Artistic Director of The Miami City Ballet [January 2006]

He was awarded the American National Medal of the Arts in 1997 by the National Endowment of the Arts in Washington D.C.

The recipient of numerous awards, including the 38th annual Capezio Dance Award; the Frances Holleman Breathitt Award for Excellence, for his outstanding contribution to the arts and to the education of young people; the National Society of Arts & Letters Award for Lifetime Achievement (becoming only the fourth dance personality to receive the Gold Medal); the Dance Magazine Award (1964); the Cultural Service Award from the Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts (1998), and the George C. Abbott Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Arts, presented by the South Florida Critics Association (1997). He has been awarded honorary degrees by the State University of New York, University of South Carolina, St. Thomas University, Siena College, Fordham University, Skidmore College, Nazareth College, Florida Atlantic University where he actually serves as Artist in Residence and Union College, which established the Edward Villella Fellowship in 1991, with the first Fellowship awarded in May, 1996.

Edward Villella was born on October 1, 1936 in Bayside, Long Island, New York, USA.