Perhaps no single person has done more to buoy up classical ballet in contemporary culture than Benjamin Millepied, the choreographer for Darren Aronofsky’s 2010 thriller Black Swan. He was already a star among balletomanes thanks to his decade as a principal dancer for the New York City Ballet. But the French-born dancer’s on-screen role in the film, and subsequent marriage to its star Natalie Portman, also turned him into a cooler, sexier poster boy for an artform with a reputation for being cloistered and fussy.
In the decade since, Millepied has worked seemingly tirelessly to break down the barriers between classical dance and a contemporary audience, chiefly through his own company, L.A. Dance Project, but also via a brief stint at the helm of the storied Paris Opera Ballet, during which he injected a more contemporary energy.
