Benjamin Millepied (; born 10 June 1977) (English translation via Google) is a French dancer and choreographer who has lived and worked in the United States since joining the New York City Ballet in 1995, where he became a soloist in 1998 and a principal in 2002. He has also created choreography for the company, and choreographed pieces for other major company. He retired from the NYCB in 2011.
He initiated the LA Dance Project, leading it from 2011 to 2014. He was the Director of Dance at the Paris Opera Ballet from October 2014 to 2016. He choreographed and performed as a dancer in the 2010 movie Black Swan, and choreographed the "sandwalk" in Dune. He made his feature film directorial debut with Carmen (2022), starring Paul Mescal and Melissa Barrera.
Early life Millepied was born in Bordeaux, France. He is the youngest of three sons."BENJAMIN MILLEPIED: LORD OF THE DANCE" . Details. June 2010. Retrieved 24 June 2010. His ballet training started at the age of eight with his mother, Catherine Flory, a former ballet dancer. His father is Denys Millepied.BENJAMIN MILLEPIED - Biography Between the ages of 11 and 16, he studied with Michel Rahn at the Conservatoire National in Lyon, France.
Career In the summer of 1992 Millepied attended classes at the School of American Ballet (SAB) and returned to study full-time in 1993, with a scholarship from the French Ministry (Bourse Lavoisier or Lavoisier Scholarship). Early in his career, Millepied was mentored by choreographer Jerome Robbins, who took an interest in him. At SAB's 1994 Spring Workshop he originate a principal role in Jerome Robbins' premiere of 2 and 3 Part Inventions and also received the Prix de Lausanne.
New York City Ballet, 1995–2011 Millepied joined New York City Ballet's corps de ballet in 1995, was promoted to soloist in 1998 and became principal dancer in 2002.
Millepied also became a choreographer, creating dances for City Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, the School of American Ballet, the Metropolitan Opera, the Paris Opera Ballet, Ballet de Genève, and his own company, Danses Concertantes. From 2006 to 2007, he was choreographer-in-residence at the Baryshnikov Arts Center in New York.
On 26 October 2011, the media announced that Millepied would retire from New York City Ballet."Benjamin Millepied, 'Black Swan' choreographer, leaving City Ballet". LA Times Blogs. 26 October 2011."Millepied Retires From City Ballet". The New York Times. 26 October 2011.
L.A. Dance Project, 2011–present In 2011, L.A. Dance Project, founded and directed by Millepied, was launched with a commission, expected to last two years, from Glorya Kaufman Presents Dance at the Los Angeles Music Center. The company's operating budget is about $1 million a year.Brooks Barnes (18 October 2012), Giant Steps for Dance in Los Angeles The New York Times. Millepied partnered with composer Nico Muhly, producer Charles Fabius, composer Nicholas Britell, and Matthieu Humery to found the company.Laura Bleiberg (5 July 2012), Benjamin Millepied and Music Center announce L.A. Dance Project Los Angeles Times. In 2012, L.A. Dance Project established a full-time residence at Los Angeles Theatre CenterDavid Ng (5 July 2012), Benjamin Millepied finds home for L.A. Dance Project in downtown Los Angeles Times. with the objective of presenting new works throughout the city. L.A. Dance Project's inaugural performance, commissioned by The Music Center was held at Walt Disney Concert Hall on 22 September 2012.
Later that year, Millepied and L.A. Dance Project dancer Amanda Wells performed a 30-minute duet entitled "Framework" at the Museum of Contemporary Art. The dance collective's first program featured a Millepied premiere, Moving Parts, with a score by Muhly and visual design by painter Christopher Wool. The program also includes a revival of Merce Cunningham's 1964 Winterbranch, a movement exploration of falling bodies set to a mostly two-note score by La Monte Young, and William Forsythe's Quintett, a 1993 study in loss and hope to avant-garde composer Gavin Bryars' composition Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet. Millepied's collaborators include Rodarte, Barbara Kruger, and Alex Israel, a contemporary California painter and video artist.
The premiere of "Reflections" by Millepied took place at Theatre du Chatelet in Paris on 23 April 2013. In 2013, L.A. Dance Project continued to tour at the Holland Festival in Amsterdam, Istanbul, Spoleto Festival in Italy, Edinburgh International Festival, La Maison de la Danse in Lyon, France and Sadler's Wells Theatre in London. In September 2013, at Maison de la Danse in Lyon, the company premiered two new pieces. The first premiere was Murder Ballads, choreographed by Justin Peck with music by Bryce Dessner. Next on the program was the premiere of Morgan's Last Chug choreographed and with light and sound design by Emanuel Gat.
In January 2014, L.A. Dance Project announced that its new home venue would be the Theatre at Ace Hotel.Mike Boehm (14 January 2014), Millepied's L.A. Dance Project finds home: 1927 downtown theater Los Angeles Times. By June 2016, L.A. Dance Project formed a three-year partnership with the LUMA Foundation in Arles, France, offering the nine-member company a continuing residency and performance space in the foundation's Parc des Ateliers.Roslyn Sulcas (10 June 2016), L.A. Dance Project Forms Partnership With Luma Foundation The New York Times. L.A. Dance Project will spend five non-consecutive weeks a year in Arles, where the company will be able to work, create and produce.David Ng (14 June 2016), L.A. Dance Project lands three-year residency in Arles, France Los Angeles Times.
Paris Opera Ballet, 2014–2016 In January 2013, the Paris Opera Ballet announced that Millepied had accepted the position of director of dance. He officially succeeded Brigitte Lefèvre on 15 October 2014.
During his time at the Paris Opera Ballet, Millepied brought in William Forsythe as an associate choreographer and collaborator on the new Academy, an in-house training program for choreographers. Millepied's first season opened with a celebrity-filled gala that raised over a million euros. He also established a digital platform for new work and organized dancer exchanges with the Mariinsky and American Ballet Theatre.Roslyn Sulcas (4 February 2016), Who Is Benjamin Millepied and Why Is He Leaving the Paris Ballet? The New York Times.
Reset, a ballet documentary by Thierry Demaizière and Alban Teurlai, featured Millepied as he mounted his first production as director of the Paris Opera ballet. It premiered in France on Canal+ in December 2015. It later had its North American premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival.Patrick Hipes (22 April 2016), Benjamin Millepied Ballet Docu ‘Reset’ Lands At FilmRise – Tribeca Deadline Hollywood.
Millepied resigned from the Paris Opera Ballet on 4 February 2016 and was succeeded by Aurélie Dupont.
Other activities Millepied has commissioned and collaborated with contemporary composers including David Lang, Nico Muhly, Thierry Escaich, Daniel Ott, and Philip Glass. The Jerome Robbins Trust and Foundation has underwritten Millepied's work and donors include philanthropists Anne Bass and Arlene Cooper.Joshua David Stein (2 February 2011), Benjamin Millepied Leaps Into the Spotlight The New York Times.
In 2001, Millepied's dancing was motion-captured for the animated children's film Barbie in the Nutcracker, along with that of other New York City Ballet dancers. His dancing was again captured for the 2003 Barbie film Barbie of Swan Lake.
In 2009, he served as choreographer for Black Swan, a psychological thriller directed by Darren Aronofsky which stars Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis as ballet dancers in New York City. He also danced and appeared in the film. In 2010, he was the leading man in a short film co-directed by Asa Mader and starring Léa Seydoux, called Time Doesn't Stand Still.
In 2012, Millepied founded The Amoveo Company, a multimedia production company and art collective. He has directed a number of short films in collaboration with various artists, including Mark Bradford, Philip Glass, Io Echo, Zeds Dead, and Lil Buck.
On the invitation of Los Angeles Music Center board member and TV host Nigel Lythgoe, Millepied was a guest judge on the dance competition show So You Think You Can Dance on 22 August 2012.Justin Ravitz (23 August 2012), Natalie Portman's Husband Benjamin Millepied Guest Judges on So You Think You Can Dance! Us Weekly.
In 2014, Millepied became the Artistic Advisor of the new Dance Academy at the Colburn School in Downtown Los Angeles, joining fellow former-principal dancers with the New York City Ballet, Jenifer Ringer and James Fayette.
Recognition In 1994, he received the Prix de Lausanne and the next year, he was the recipient of the Mae L. Wien Award for Outstanding Promise.
In 2010, he was made Chevalier in the Order of Arts and Letters by the French Ministry of Culture.
Personal life
Millepied met actress Natalie Portman on the set of Black Swan in early 2009 and left his partner at the time, Isabella Boylston, a principal dancer at the American Ballet Theatre, to begin a relationship with Portman. Millepied and Portman wed in a Jewish ceremony held in Big Sur, California on 4 August 2012."Natalie Portman Wedding: 'Black Swan' Actress Marries Benjamin Millepied" . HuffPost. 5 August 2012."Natalie Portman Marries Benjamin Millepied" , People, 5 August 2012. The family lived in Paris for a time, after Millepied accepted the position of director of dance with the Paris Opera Ballet. They have two children: a son Aleph (b. 2011) and a daughter Amalia (b. 2017). In January 2014, Millepied said he was in the process of converting to Judaism (his wife's faith). In 2016, the family moved from Paris to Los Angeles."Natalie Portman wants French citizenship for Paris move" , San Francisco Chronicle, 10 September 2013. Portman and Millepied separated in 2023 after it was widely documented that Millepied was having an extramarital affair. Their divorce was finalized in March 2024.
Choreography Year Title Venue Notes2001PassagesConservatoire National2002Clapping MusicMusic by Steve ReichTriple DuetSadler's Wells TheatreMusic by J. S. Bach2003Double AriaBay Street Theater2004On The Other SideSadler's Wells Theatre 200524 Variations of a Theme by PaganiniSchool of American BalletCircular MotionFlorence Gould Hall 2006CloserJoyce TheaterMusic and live accompaniment by Philip GlassAmoveoParis Opera BalletSet designs by Paul Cox, costumes by Marc Jacobs2009Everything Doesn't Happen At OnceAvery Fisher HallMusic by David LangQuasi Una Fantasia New York City BalletSarabande 2010PlainspokenMusic by David LangWhy am I not where you areLincoln Center for the Performing ArtsMusic by Thierry Escaich, scenery by Santiago CalatravaOne Thing Leads to AnotherHet National BalletMusic by Nico Muhly, costumes by Rodarte2011TroikaAmerican Ballet TheatreThe Bartered BrideMetropolitan Opera2012Khovanshchina
Originated roles Year Title Choreographer Notes 1997Slavonic DancesChristopher WheeldonPart of the Diamond ProjectBrandenburgJerome RobbinsLa StravaganzaAngelin Preljocaj 1998Les NocesJerome RobbinsConcerti ArmoniciPeter Martins1999Swan Lake2000PrismHelgi TómassonPart of the Diamond Project 2002If By ChanceMelissa BarakTwilight CouranteStephen BaynesHallelujah JunctionPeter Martins2003Guide to Strange Places 2004Circle of FifthsChristopher d'AmboiseMusagèteBoris EifmanOctetPeter Martins
Featured roles
George Balanchine Agon Ballo della Regina Chaconne Coppélia Frantz Divertimento from Le Baiser de la fée Donizetti Variations The Nutcracker Harlequinade Harlequin Jewels Rubies A Midsummer Night's Dream Raymonda Variations La Sonnambula La Source Stars and Stripes Symphony in C Symphony in Three Movements Tarantella Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux Tschaikovsky Suite No. 3 Theme and Variations Union Jack Valse-Fantaisie Western Symphony