Benjamin Milpieu is a rather famous person in the world of ballet and choreography. In addition, this Franco-American dancer is the husband of the famous actress Natalie Portman. In this article, we will consider his biography and personal life.
Biographical data
Benjamin Milpieu was born on 06/10/1977 in the province of Bordeaux. His parents: Denis Milpieu and Catherine Flory (ballet dancer). Benjamin is the youngest in the family, he has two older brothers. His childhood passed in Dakarta - the largest city of Senegal.
From the age of eight he began to practice ballet. Benjamin Milpieu was taught by his mother. At the age of thirteen, he was admitted to the Conservatory of Music and Dance in Lyon. Michelle Ran became his teacher.
In 1992, he attended the summer courses of the School of American Ballet, which is located in New York. A year later, he enters there on a full-fledged basis and receives a scholarship from the French Foreign Ministry.
In 1994, he took part in the Lausanne Prize ballet competition and became one of the winners.
Dancer career
In 1995, Benjamin Milpieu was admitted to the ballet company New York City Ballet. After three years of work, he becomes a soloist, and in 2002 - the prime minister of the troupe. The dancer takes part in the productions of famous choreographers Peter Martins, Jerome Robbins and George Balanchine.
Together with the artists of the New York City Ballet troupe, he took part in the animation films Barbie in the Nutcracker (2001) and Barbie in Swan Lake (2003). All the dancing movements of fairy-tale characters were borrowed from real ballet dancers.
Benjamin's stage career ended in October 2011.
The work of the choreographer
Benjamin Milpieu successfully combined his career as a dancer with the activities of a choreographer. The ballet Passages for the Lyon Conservatory (where the artist studied) became his debut work as a director. The talent of the choreographer did not go unnoticed. Benjamin was engaged in productions for various dance groups and theaters, including:
- American Ballet Theater.
- Paris Opera.
- School of American Ballet.
- Metropolitan Opera.
- Dutch national ballet.
- Ballet of Geneva.
There were also many productions for the New York City Ballet troupe and the Danses Concertantes dance group, which was created by Benjamin Milpieu.
In the period from 2006 to 2007, he served as a choreographer at the Baryshnikov Arts Center. In 2009, he was invited as the main choreographer to shoot the full-length film Black Swan. In this film, he also played the role of one of the characters. On the set of this film, he meets his soulmate.
In 2011, he became the founder of the LA Dance Project dance troupe, whose annual budget is $ 1 million.
The performances of the French choreographer
From 2001 to 2014, Benjamin worked on several dozen productions. Here are just a few of them:
- Performances for the Conservatory of Music and Dance in Lyon: Passages (2001); Clapping Music (2002).
- To the music of the great composer S. V. Rachmaninov, the ballet “Rhapsody on the Theme of Paganini” (2005) was created. The production was carried out for the School of American Ballet.
- For the Paris Opera in 2006, Benjamin staged Amoveo.
- In 2010, the production of One Thing Leads to Another for the Dutch National Ballet was created to the music of Nico Muli.
- In 2011, work was underway on Troika for the American Ballet Theater and Sold by the Bride for the Metropolitan Opera.
Love story
Natalie Portman and Benjamin Milpieu met during the filming of the feature film "Black Swan". Their romance developed rapidly. In this film, Natalie played the role of a ballerina, and Benjamin was engaged in staging dances. It took up to eight hours a day to rehearse and study various stages. Such close communication brought the actress and the French choreographer closer. It was then that their tender feelings arose.
For the image of the ballerina, Natalie Portman received an Oscar in the nomination for Best Actress. At the film award ceremony, the actress was accompanied by Benjamin. Already at that moment the couple was expecting the appearance of the firstborn.
