Born in France, Benjamin Millepied began his dance training at the age of eight with his mother, Catherine Flori a former modern dancer, while learning track and field from his father Denys Millepied, a former Decathlete. From the age of thirteen to the age of sixteen he attended the Conservatoire National de Lyon, studying with Marie France Dieulevin and Michel Rahn. In the summer of 1992, Mr. Millepied came to New York City to attend the summer program at the School of American Ballet, the official school of New York City Ballet. The following year, he became a full-time student at the school, having received the “Bourse Lavoisier,” a scholarship award from the French Ministry. At SAB he studied with Stanley Williams and Adam Luders. In the 1994 SAB Spring Workshop, Mr. Millepied originated a principal role in Jerome Robbins’ « 2 & 3 Part Inventions », set to music by J.S Bach. He was awarded the “Prix de Lausanne” the same year. In his last year at SAB, Mr. Millepied received the Mae L. Wien Award for Outstanding Promise and was invited to become a member of New York City Ballet. In the spring of 2001, he was promoted to the rank of Principal Dancer at NYCB, where he remained until his retirement as a dancer in 2011. Millepied started choreographing in 2001, and in 2002 he founded « Danses Concertantes ».
From 2006 to 2007, Mr. Millepied was choreographer-in-residence at the Baryshnikov Arts Center and created the solo “Years Later” for Mikhail Baryshnikov. In 2007, he received the United States Artists Wynn Fellowship. In 2010, he was made Chevalier in the Order of Arts and Letters by the French Ministry of Culture.
In 2010, Mr. Millepied choreographed and starred in Darren Aronofsky’s « Black Swan ». In 2012, Mr. Millepied moved to Los Angeles, where he conceived of and founded the new dance company L.A. Dance Project. During L.A. Dance Project’s September, 2012 inaugural performances at the Los Angeles Music Center’s Walt Disney Concert Hall. The company performed « Moving Parts », a collaboration between Mr. Millepied, with composer Nico Muhly, and visual artist Christopher Wool. In May 2013, L.A. Dance Project presented « Reflections », a new work which was the result of a collaboration between Mr. Millepied, with composer David Lang, artist Barbara Kruger, and which was created with the support of the historic jewelry house Van Cleef and Arpels. In 2013, Millepied founded the Amoveo Company, an artist collective, active in digital media, television and film, and in 2014, he co-founded Artform, a tech start-up company aimed to support and promote the Arts and artists in this current time. Millepied is also a film director, he has directed numerous dance short films over the last 6 years, and is currently in development on a feature film. In January 2013 the Paris Opera Ballet announced Mr. Millepied’s appointment as its new Director, in February 2016, Benjamin resigned from his position. In July 2016, Benjamin came back full time at the helm of L.A Dance Project.