House Bill 9509

    Florida House of Representatives - 1998                HR 9509

        By Representative Bloom






  1                         House Resolution

  2         A resolution honoring Edward Villella.

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  4         WHEREAS, Edward Villella, one of America's most

  5  celebrated dancers, has helped popularize dance both onstage

  6  and off through his supreme artistry and professional

  7  achievements, and

  8         WHEREAS, born in 1936 in Bayside, New York, Edward

  9  Villella entered the School of American Ballet at the age of

10  ten, and

11         WHEREAS, he established his leadership position in

12  dance when the New York City Ballet promoted him to first

13  soloist in 1958 and to principal dancer in 1960, and

14         WHEREAS, during the Ballet's golden age, Villella

15  worked with three of the 20th century's artistic geniuses,

16  George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, and Igor Stravinsky, and

17         WHEREAS, Edward Villella had the distinction of being

18  the first American male dancer to perform with the Royal

19  Danish Ballet, and the only American ever asked to perform an

20  encore at the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow, and

21         WHEREAS, Villella danced for President Kennedy's

22  inauguration and also performed for Presidents Johnson, Nixon,

23  and Ford, and

24         WHEREAS, among Edward Villella's many honors are the

25  38th annual Capezio Dance Award, an Emmy Award for his

26  television production of "Harlequin," and the National Society

27  of Arts & Letters Award for Lifetime Achievement, and

28         WHEREAS, since 1985, he has been the Artistic Director

29  of the Miami City Ballet, helping the company reach worldwide

30  acclaim in little more than a decade, and

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CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.






    Florida House of Representatives - 1998                HR 9509

    252-364-98






  1         WHEREAS, in 1997, this success was marked by his

  2  induction into the Florida Artists Hall of Fame, the state's

  3  most prestigious cultural honor, and

  4         WHEREAS, Edward Villella is recognized nationally and

  5  internationally for his contributions to the field of

  6  classical dance and arts-in-education, and

  7         WHEREAS, he serves on the Board of the School of

  8  American Ballet and is Heritage Chairman of Arts and Cultural

  9  Criticism at George Mason University in Virginia, and

10         WHEREAS, previously he was chairman of the New York

11  City's Commission for Cultural Affairs, served on the National

12  Endowment of the Arts dance panels, the National Council on

13  the Arts, and the Wolf Trap Foundation Board, and

14         WHEREAS, on September 29, 1997, President Clinton

15  presented Edward Villella with a 1997 Medal of Arts, and

16         WHEREAS, established in 1984, the Medal of Arts honors

17  individuals and organizations "who in the President's judgment

18  are deserving of special recognition by reason of their

19  outstanding contributions to the excellence, growth, support,

20  and availability of the arts in the United States," and

21         WHEREAS, Villella returned to the White House on

22  December 7, 1997, as a recipient of a 1997 Kennedy Center

23  Honor, being recognized for his lifetime contribution to

24  American culture through the performing arts, and

25         WHEREAS, in receiving these awards, Edward Villella

26  became only the sixth artist to receive both the Kennedy

27  Center and the Medal of Arts honors in the same year, and

28         WHEREAS, an athlete and a poet, as well as an

29  extraordinarily persuasive performer and teacher, Edward

30  Villella is, after having the most spectacular career of any

31  American male dancer, exerting perhaps his strongest influence

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    Florida House of Representatives - 1998                HR 9509

    252-364-98






  1  by shaping the future of American dance as Artistic Director

  2  of the Miami City Ballet, and

  3         WHEREAS, the State of Florida, as the adopted state of

  4  Edward Villella, feels a great sense of pride and gratitude

  5  for the contributions Edward Villella has made to the world of

  6  dance and the arts, NOW, THEREFORE,

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  8  Be It Resolved by the House of Representatives of the State of

  9  Florida:

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11         That the House of Representatives of the State of

12  Florida hereby honors Edward Villella, American artist.

13         BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this resolution

14  be presented to Edward Villella as a tangible token of the

15  sentiments expressed herein.

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