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.
