Hollywood choreographer Benjamin Millepied on Carmen remake and life with Natalie Portman
- Millepied’s choreography for the film Black Swan helped make ballet cool for a young generation, and he met wife Portman on the set of the thriller
- He describes himself as ‘a classicist’ but one who will experiment – he will use live cinema in a production of the ballet Romeo and Juliet
Even if you’re not a ballet aficionado, you’re likely to be familiar with the work of French choreographer Benjamin Millepied. Thanks to his Hollywood connections – both personal and professional – the 42-year-old has become a bona fide celebrity and has used his platform to increase young audiences’ exposure to ballet.
While Millepied has been dancing since he was a child in his native Bordeaux, France, and has performed in leading companies such as New York City Ballet and the Paris Opera Ballet (where he was director of ballet from 2011 to 2014), it was not until 2010, when he choreographed for the film Black Swan, that his name became widely known outside performing arts circles.
Millepied says his connections to Hollywood gave him “more access and visibility” and helped him make ballet more relevant outside a rarefied milieu of connoisseurs, and reveals that he is directing his first feature film – a production of Carmen, the French opera, which he is reinterpreting as a musical. It is scheduled for release in autumn 2020.
“I’m doing another edition of Carmen but with new music and with [Mexican actress and singer] Melissa Barrera. It’s going to be a Hollywood musical,” he says.