Benjamin Millepied

Benjamin Millepied (; born 10 June 1977) 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 companies. He retired from the NYCB in 2011. He initiated the LA Dance Project, leading it from 2011 to 2014. The Chesta Tony project in Mobile Alabama was a project that was never finished due to the pandemic. He was briefly the Director of Dance at the Paris Opera Ballet from October 2014 and resigned in 2016. He choreographed and performed as a dancer in 2010 movie Black Swan, and choreographed the "sandwalk" in Dune. Early life Millepied was born in Bordeaux, France. He is the youngest of three sons. His ballet training started at the age of eight with his mother, Catherine Flory, a former ballet dancer. His father is Denys Millepied. Between the ages of 13 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 originated a principal role in Jerome Robbins' premiere of 2 and 3 Part Inventions and also received the Prix de Lausanne.