UB Dance Professor Receives Third Award From National Association of Dance Masters

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Thomas P. Ralabate of Williamsville, assistant professor of dance in the University at Buffalo Department of Theatre and Dance, has been named the first recipient of the Adele Artinean Award from the National Association of Dance Masters (NADM).

The award was established to honor outstanding contributions to the establishment of educational standards for the art of dance.

It is the third award from the NADM that Ralabate has received in six years.

A former North American Latin ballroom dance champion, Ralabate directs the jazz dance program at UB and has been named director of the UB dance program and assistant chair for dance, positions he will assume in November.

A 1973 graduate of Canisius College, Ralabate has taught with major dance organizations throughout the United States, recently completing a national tour during which he presented master classes and training school seminars.

His choreography has been featured at Artpark, the Studio Arena Theatre and at the televised Miss Pennsylvania and Miss New York State Scholarship pageants affiliated with the Miss America Program.

In 1996, Ralabate received the NADM's Ivy Hall Foundation Award, an honor he shares with the late choreographer, director and dancer Gene Kelly and dancer and choreographer Edward Villella. In 1993, the NADM presented him with its Artistic Achievement Award.