Edward Villella
Encyclopedia
Edward Villella is an American ballet
dancer and choreographer, frequently cited as America's most celebrated male dancer at the time.
Villella enrolled in the School of American Ballet
at age ten, but then interrupted his studies to complete his college education. He attended the New York Maritime Academy
, where he lettered in baseball
and was a championship boxer
. He graduated with a marine science degree in 1959, and rejoined the School of American Ballet.
Villella became a member of the New York City Ballet
in 1957, rising to Soloist in 1958 and Principal Dancer in 1960. Among his most noteworthy performances were Oberon in George Balanchine
's ballet A Midsummer Night's Dream
(with music by Felix Mendelssohn
), Tarantella
, Rubies in the Balanchine ballet Jewels
, and Prodigal Son.
Villella was the first American male dancer to appear with the Royal Danish Ballet
, and the only American ever asked to dance an encore at the Bolshoi Theatre
in Moscow
. He danced at the inaugural for President John F. Kennedy
, and performed for Presidents Johnson
, Nixon
, and Ford
. He won an Emmy Award
in 1975 for his CBS
television production of Harlequinade
. He danced in two television versions of The Nutcracker
(in different roles), in a ballet film version of A Midsummer Night's Dream, and in a 1966 TV production of Brigadoon
, in which he played the tragic suitor Harry Beaton. During the 1960s he and his dancing partner Patricia McBride
, who starred together in a 1965 television
version of The Nutcracker, appeared often on the Ed Sullivan Show. In 1973, Villella appeared as himself in an episode of The Odd Couple
titled "Last Tango in Newark" during which he said (much to Felix's dismay) that he always wanted to be a professional football player; his son, Roddy, also appeared. In 1983, Villella guest-starred on the soap opera
Guiding Light
.
After retirement as a performer, Villella was the artistic coordinator of the Eglevsky Ballet
from 1979—84 and the director of Ballet Oklahoma (now Oklahoma City Ballet) from 1983—85. He has also been artistic advisor to New Jersey Ballet
since 1972 and currently is a special artist at New Jersey School of Ballet. He founded the Miami City Ballet
in 1986 and still serves as its artistic director.
In 1997, Villella was named a Kennedy Center Honors
recipient, and was awarded the National Medal of Arts
by President Bill Clinton
. He was also named the Dorothy F. Schmidt artist-in-residence at Florida Atlantic University
in 2000. He was inducted into the National Museum of Dance C.V. Whitney Hall of Fame
in 2009.
, a former Olympic figure skater, have two daughters named Lauren and Crista. Villella also has a son, Roddy; his mother is Villella's first wife, former New York City Ballet
dancer Janet Greschler.
Ballet
Ballet is a type of performance dance, that originated in the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th century, and which was further developed in France and Russia as a concert dance form. The early portions preceded the invention of the proscenium stage and were presented in large chambers with...
dancer and choreographer, frequently cited as America's most celebrated male dancer at the time.
Villella enrolled in the School of American Ballet
School of American Ballet
The School of American Ballet is one of the most famous classical ballet schools in the world and is the associate school of the New York City Ballet, a leading international ballet company based at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City. The school trains students from the...
at age ten, but then interrupted his studies to complete his college education. He attended the New York Maritime Academy
State University of New York Maritime College
SUNY Maritime College is a maritime college located in the Bronx, New York City in historic Fort Schuyler on the Throggs Neck peninsula where the East River meets Long Island Sound...
, where he lettered in baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
and was a championship boxer
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
. He graduated with a marine science degree in 1959, and rejoined the School of American Ballet.
Villella became a member of the New York City Ballet
New York City Ballet
New York City Ballet is a ballet company founded in 1948 by choreographer George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein. Leon Barzin was the company's first music director. Balanchine and Jerome Robbins are considered the founding choreographers of the company...
in 1957, rising to Soloist in 1958 and Principal Dancer in 1960. Among his most noteworthy performances were Oberon in George Balanchine
George Balanchine
George Balanchine , born Giorgi Balanchivadze in Saint Petersburg, Russia, to a Georgian father and a Russian mother, was one of the 20th century's most famous choreographers, a developer of ballet in the United States, co-founder and balletmaster of New York City Ballet...
's ballet A Midsummer Night's Dream
A Midsummer Night's Dream (ballet)
A Midsummer Night's Dream is a two-act ballet choreographed by George Balanchine to Felix Mendelssohn's incidental music for Shakespeare's play of the same name. In addition to the incidental music, Balanchine incorporated other Mendelssohn works into the ballet including Overtures to Athalie, Son...
(with music by Felix Mendelssohn
Felix Mendelssohn
Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Barthóldy , use the form 'Mendelssohn' and not 'Mendelssohn Bartholdy'. The Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians gives ' Felix Mendelssohn' as the entry, with 'Mendelssohn' used in the body text...
), Tarantella
Tarantella (ballet)
Tarantella is a ballet made by New York City Ballet co-founder and balletmaster George Balanchine to Louis Moreau Gottschalk's Grand Tarantelle for Piano and Orchestra, Op. 67 , reconstructed and orchestrated by Hershy Kay...
, Rubies in the Balanchine ballet Jewels
Jewels (ballet)
Jewels is an award-winning ballet in three parts created for New York City Ballet by co-founder and founding choreographer George Balanchine. It premièred on Thursday,...
, and Prodigal Son.
Villella was the first American male dancer to appear with the Royal Danish Ballet
Royal Danish Ballet
The Royal Danish Ballet is one of the oldest ballet companies in the world. Based in Copenhagen, Denmark, it originates from 1748, when the Royal Danish Theatre was founded, and was finally organized in 1771 in response to the great popularity of French and Italian styles of dance...
, and the only American ever asked to dance an encore at the Bolshoi Theatre
Bolshoi Theatre
The Bolshoi Theatre is a historic theatre in Moscow, Russia, designed by architect Joseph Bové, which holds performances of ballet and opera. The Bolshoi Ballet and Bolshoi Opera are amongst the oldest and most renowned ballet and opera companies in the world...
in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
. He danced at the inaugural for President John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
, and performed for Presidents Johnson
Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon Baines Johnson , often referred to as LBJ, was the 36th President of the United States after his service as the 37th Vice President of the United States...
, Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
, and Ford
Gerald Ford
Gerald Rudolph "Jerry" Ford, Jr. was the 38th President of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977, and the 40th Vice President of the United States serving from 1973 to 1974...
. He won an Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
in 1975 for his CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
television production of Harlequinade
Harlequinade
Harlequinade is a comic theatrical genre, defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as "that part of a pantomime in which the harlequin and clown play the principal parts". It developed in England between the 17th and mid-19th centuries...
. He danced in two television versions of The Nutcracker
The Nutcracker
The Nutcracker is a two-act ballet, originally choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov with a score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The libretto is adapted from E.T.A. Hoffmann's story "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King". It was given its première at the Mariinsky Theatre in St...
(in different roles), in a ballet film version of A Midsummer Night's Dream, and in a 1966 TV production of Brigadoon
Brigadoon
Brigadoon is a musical with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. Songs from the musical, such as "Almost Like Being in Love" have become standards....
, in which he played the tragic suitor Harry Beaton. During the 1960s he and his dancing partner Patricia McBride
Patricia McBride
Patricia McBride is a ballerina who spent nearly 30 years dancing with the New York City Ballet....
, who starred together in a 1965 television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
version of The Nutcracker, appeared often on the Ed Sullivan Show. In 1973, Villella appeared as himself in an episode of The Odd Couple
The Odd Couple (TV series)
The Odd Couple is a television situation comedy broadcast from September 24, 1970 to July 4, 1975 on ABC. It starred Tony Randall as Felix Unger and Jack Klugman as Oscar Madison. It was based upon the play of the same name, which was written by Neil Simon.Felix and Oscar are two divorced men....
titled "Last Tango in Newark" during which he said (much to Felix's dismay) that he always wanted to be a professional football player; his son, Roddy, also appeared. In 1983, Villella guest-starred on the soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
Guiding Light
Guiding Light
Guiding Light is an American daytime television drama that is credited by the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest running drama in television and radio history, running from 1937 until 2009...
.
After retirement as a performer, Villella was the artistic coordinator of the Eglevsky Ballet
André Eglevsky
André Eglevsky was a Russian-born American ballet dancer and teacher.Eglevsky was born in Moscow, but was taken to live in France when he was eight, his mother having decided that his talent as a dancer demanded that he be properly trained...
from 1979—84 and the director of Ballet Oklahoma (now Oklahoma City Ballet) from 1983—85. He has also been artistic advisor to New Jersey Ballet
New Jersey Ballet
The New Jersey Ballet is a ballet company based in Livingston, New Jersey in the United States, founded in 1958 by native New Jerseyan Carolyn Clark and her fellow dancer, George Tomal.- History :...
since 1972 and currently is a special artist at New Jersey School of Ballet. He founded the Miami City Ballet
Miami City Ballet
Miami City Ballet is an American ballet company based in Miami Beach, Florida. It was created in 1986 by former New York City Ballet principal dancer Edward Villella and flourishes today as one of America's most respected ballet companies...
in 1986 and still serves as its artistic director.
In 1997, Villella was named a Kennedy Center Honors
Kennedy Center Honors
The Kennedy Center Honors is an annual honor given to those in the performing arts for their lifetime of contributions to American culture. The Honors have been presented annually since 1978 in Washington, D.C., during gala weekend-long events which culminate in a performance for—and...
recipient, and was awarded the National Medal of Arts
National Medal of Arts
The National Medal of Arts is an award and title created by the United States Congress in 1984, for the purpose of honoring artists and patrons of the arts. It is the highest honor conferred to an individual artist on behalf of the people. Honorees are selected by the National Endowment for the...
by President Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
. He was also named the Dorothy F. Schmidt artist-in-residence at Florida Atlantic University
Florida Atlantic University
Florida Atlantic University, also referred to as FAU or Florida Atlantic, is a public, coeducational, research university located in , United States. The university has six satellite campuses located in the Florida cities of Dania Beach, Davie, Fort Lauderdale, Jupiter, Port St. Lucie, and in Fort...
in 2000. He was inducted into the National Museum of Dance C.V. Whitney Hall of Fame
National Museum of Dance and Hall of Fame
The National Museum of Dance and Hall of Fame, in the Saratoga Spa State Park, Saratoga, New York, was established in 1986 and is the only museum in the nation dedicated entirely to dance. It contains photographs, videos, artifacts, costumes and biographies. The museum is located in the former and...
in 2009.
Personal life
Villella and his wife Linda CarbonettoLinda Carbonetto
Linda Carbonetto is a Canadian figure skater. She is the 1969 Canadian Champion and a 1968 Winter Olympian. Although born in New York City, she was raised in Ontario....
, a former Olympic figure skater, have two daughters named Lauren and Crista. Villella also has a son, Roddy; his mother is Villella's first wife, former New York City Ballet
New York City Ballet
New York City Ballet is a ballet company founded in 1948 by choreographer George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein. Leon Barzin was the company's first music director. Balanchine and Jerome Robbins are considered the founding choreographers of the company...
dancer Janet Greschler.