Friends of the Center for the Arts to Hold Annual Masquerade Ball on Nov. 1

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The Friends of the Center for the Arts at the University at Buffalo will present the fifth annual Masquerade Ball on Nov. 1 in the atrium of the center, located on the UB North (Amherst) Campus. It will be sponsored by Gibraltar, Commercial Print & Imaging, and Ivoclar Vivadent Inc.

UB Professor and Mrs. William R. Greiner are honorary chairs. Dr. and Mrs. Sebastian Ciancio are event chairs. Proceeds from the event will benefit the center's Dance Outreach Residency program, which each year connects a professional dance company in residence at the center with community organizations and audiences, and its School Time Transportation Stipend program, which provides free transportation to bring school children to programs at the center.

WGRZ-TV personalities Jodi Johnston and Pete Gallivan will host the event. The theme of the night will be an evening of "wizardry, magic and fantasy." The center's atrium will be transformed into a mystical setting with theatrical lights and sets. Guests are encouraged to come in a magnificent costume, mystical mask, magical hat or creative black tie. Costumes will be judged for prizes.

A special performance presented by the UB Department of Theatre and Dance's Zodiaque Dance Company and talented performers from the department's theater program will be a highlight of the evening's festivities. Patrons will dance to the music of The Sid Winkler Band, and enjoy the musical stylings of Paul S. Goodman and Michael P. Burke. The event will include a silent and no-bid auction featuring a Kittinger chair, airline tickets, theatre tickets, original art, Scanlon's jewelry, a Persian rug, elegant dinners for two, spa days and weekend get-a-way packages.

Tickets for the event are $65 per person. The castle doors for the event will open at 7:30 p.m. and the drawbridge closes at midnight. The gala event will feature a cash bar, hors d'oeuvres, roast beef and turkey carving stations, a pasta station and dessert stations chaired and catered by Daffodils. Café in the Square, Dessert Deli, Taste of India and UB's Campus Catering will make additional food donations.

The mission of the Friends of the Center for the Arts is to create an environment for the visual and performing arts to flourish through education, exploration, collaboration and presentation. Each year the center programs a professional dance residency, which benefits not only the UB students but the Western New York community as well. The residency program is designed to bring together dance students, students of related performing and fine art disciplines, dance companies and schools from throughout the community. Residency activities and master classes are provided at no cost to area schools that are interested in participating. Previous center dance residencies have reached more than 1,000 Western New York schoolchildren.

The Friends of the Center for the Arts provide financial support to the center's School Time Transportation Stipend program. A few of the schools that have benefited from this program include Southside Elementary, Buffalo Public/Native American School No. 19, Frank A. Sedita Academy No. 38 and Niagara Street Elementary School. This program has benefited hundreds of underserved area school children.

For ticket information, call Amy Gambino at 645-6774 or go to http://www.ubcfa.org.