| Richard Graber, "a particularly fine dancer." - Anna Kisselgoff, The New York Times
 Richard Graber hails from Cleveland, Ohio, and is a son of Hungarian immigrants who came to America in 1956. Richard was always interested in the art of dance and began learning Hungarian ethnic dances at the age of 14 and later studied modern dance and classical ballet in Cleveland with Dana Snyder. He went on to study with Tom Evert and many others and is a graduate of the Ohio State University Department of Dance. While in Columbus, he performed as principal dancer with the Zivili Kolo Ensemble and was featured in Mark Morris? ?The Office,? which was critically acclaimed by the New York Times and Wall Street Journal.
In 1994, Richard founded Csárdás Dance Company and was awarded a dance research and study grant from the Ohio Arts Council to study ethnic dance in Budapest and Romania. Richard has also conducted modern and ethnic dance classes at The Ohio State University-Creative Activities Program, Ohio University, Theater West Virginia, University of Akron, Cleveland State University and Cuyahoga Community College, where he served as faculty. He has also worked as guest choreographer for the University of Akron Dance Company as well as for Lyric Opera Cleveland. Richard served as Vice-president of the Board of Directors for the Medina County Performing Arts Foundation (MCPAF) and chaired the talent committee for the presenting organization. In 2005, after relocating to Houston, Richard was hired as a Grants Specialist with AIDS Foundation Houston, Inc. and later as Communications and Third Party Events Coordinator for the foundation.
In January 2008, Richard joined the Grants & Services staff of the Houston Arts Alliance (HAA), the city's municipal arts agency that distributes nearly 11 million dollars annually to Houston's nonprofit arts sector. As Special Project Manager, Richard oversaw numerous programs and projects including Leveraging Investment in Creativity (LINC), the Arts Database Management Program (ADMP), the Business Volunteers for the Arts (BVA) feasibility study and served as the Houston liaison for the National Arts Marketing Project (NAMP) conference - a program of the Arts & Business Council of the Americans for the Arts. As of March 2009, Richard was promoted to Director of Programs & Services at the HAA.
Richard has consulted with the Pearland High School marching band program, the Pearland Arts League, and has also served on dance review panels for the HAA prior to his employment. He has taught Hungarian dance in the Houston and Galveston dance community.
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