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Benjamin Millepied

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Benjamin Millepied is a famous dancer and choreographer. A choreographer is someone who creates new dances. He was born in Bordeaux, France, on June 10, 1977. His mother, Catherine Flory, was a ballet dancer too. She began teaching him when he was only eight years old. He later studied with Michel Rahn in Lyon, France. This early training helped him prepare for a big career.

Natalie Portman - Golden Globes 2012 (cropped 2)
Natalie Portman - Golden Globes 2012 (cropped 2)

Benjamin moved to the United States to study even more. In 1993, he received a scholarship to study at the School of American Ballet. He joined the New York City Ballet in 1995. He worked very hard to move up in the company. He became a soloist in 1998. By 2002, he reached the top role of principal dancer. He stayed with that group until he retired in 2011.

He has worked on many exciting projects outside of live dance. In 2009, he worked on the movie Black Swan. He was a dancer and a choreographer for that film. He also helped with the "sandwalk" in the movie Dune. His dancing was even used for digital animation. This happened for the Barbie in the Nutcracker movie in 2001. He also worked on Barbie of Swan Lake in 2003.

Benjamin also leads his own groups and works in big cities. In 2011, he started the L.A. Dance Project in Los Angeles. This group has a yearly budget of about $1 million. He also served as the Director of Dance at the Paris Opera Ballet. He held this important job from 2014 to 2016. He even helped start a new training program there. He wanted to help other dancers learn to create.

Making dance involves many different kinds of art. Benjamin loves to work with composers who write music. He has worked with people like Nico Muhly and Philip Glass. He also collaborates with painters and visual artists. These artists help make the stage look beautiful. He even served as a judge on So You Think You Can Dance. This shows how much he cares about all kinds of movement.

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