L.A. Dance Project Founded by Benjamin Millepied

L.A. DANCE PROJECT Founded by Benjamin Millepied

Premiere Performances September 22 and 23, 2012 at Walt Disney Concert Hall to start 2012-2013 10th Anniversary season of Glorya Kaufman Presents Dance at the Music Center

Los Angeles Glorya Kaufman Presents Dance at the Music Center announces its commission of the inaugural full-length program by L.A. Dance Project (LADP), founded by acclaimed choreographer Benjamin Millepied. The LADP commission will have its premiere performances September 22 and 23, 2012 at Walt Disney Concert Hall at the Music Center, which will kick-off the Glorya Kaufman Presents Dance at the Music Center’s 2012-2013 10th Anniversary season.

Different than a dance company, Millepied is founding L.A. Dance Project as an Art Collective with composer Nico Muhly, art consultant Matthieu Humery, producer Charles Fabius and film producer Dimitri Chamblas. The company will be auditioning for dancers in Los Angeles to work on this project.

It is the Collective’s goal to create new work and to revive seminal collaborations from the past. Programs will include full-length evenings in traditional theater venues as well as various modular performances in non-traditional environments. LADP hopes to establish a new working model and to reach out to new audiences.

In addition, two recent works by Millepied, «Les Sylphides» and «Spectre de la Rose» will receive their North American premieres this April with Ballet du Grand Théâtre de Genève as part of the current Glorya Kaufman Presents Dance at the Music Center season.

© DANCE PROJECT Founded by Benjamin Millepied

Renae Williams Niles, Director of Programming for the Music Center, says, «We are extremely honored to be able to further our commitment to supporting new exploration with esteemed artists by working with Benjamin on his first Los Angeles based project. He has established himself as one of the world’s most commissioned choreographers and for him to make a commitment of creating new work right here bringing together local and internationally renowned artists was worthy of support. For the Music Center to play this significant national and international role allows us to achieve our goals of leadership in a phenomenally influential way.»

Born in Bordeaux France, Benjamin Millepied began his dance training at the age of eight with his mother Catherine, a former modern dancer. From age thirteen to sixteen, he attended the Conservatoire National de Lyon. In the summer of 1992, Millepied made his first appearance in New York City, for a summer program at the School of American Ballet (SAB), 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 of Culture.

In the 1994 at the School of American Ballet Spring Workshop, Millepied originated a principal role in Jerome Robbins’ «2 & 3 Part Inventions» set to music by J.S Bach. That same year, he was awarded the «Prix de Lausanne.» In his last year at SAB, 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.

In addition to dancing, Millepied has also choreographed ballets for numerous companies around the world, including three works for NYCB – «Quasi Una Fantasia» (2009), «Why am I not where you are?» (2010), and «Plainspoken» (2010). For NYCB’s 2012 Spring Season, Millepied will create a world premiere ballet to a commissioned score by Nico Muhly, a frequent collaborator, which will premiere at the Company’s Spring Gala performance on May 10, 2012.

During his career at NYCB, Millepied has originated roles in ballets choreographed by Jerome Robbins, Peter Martins, Christopher Wheeldon, Alexei Ratmansky, Helgi Tomasson, Mauro Bigonzetti, Boris Eifman, and Angelin Preljocaj, among others. He has also danced featured roles in numerous ballets including Balanchine’s «Agon,» «A Midsummer Night’s Dream»(Oberon), «Rubies» from «Jewels,» and «Symphony in C,» Robbins’ «Dances at a Gathering,» «Dybbuk,» «Fancy Free,» and «West Side Story Suite» and Martins’ «Fearful Symmetries,» «Jeu de Cartes,» and «Swan Lake.»

In addition to the three ballets created for NYCB, Millepied has also choreographed works for American Ballet Theatre, the Metropolitan Opera, Paris Opera Ballet, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Pennsylvania Ballet, Danses Concertantes, The Mariinsky, Het Nationale Ballet, Grande Theatre de Geneve, and Ballet de Genève, among others. He has also collaborated with a range of composers including Philip Glass, Nico Muhly, David Lang, Daniel Ott, and Thierry Escaich, as well as designers such as Rodarte, Paul Cox, Marc Jacobs and Santiago Calatrava. In addition, in 2010, Millepied choreographed and appeared in Darren Aronofsky’s feature film «Black Swan.»

Millepied also directed the Morriss Center Dance Workshop in Bridgehampton, New York in 2004 and 2005. From 2006 to 2007, he was choreographer-in-residence at the Baryshnikov Arts Center, and 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.

Millepied recently retired from New York City Ballet to concentrate on his choreography.

In 2010 Millepied directed his first short film with actress Lea Seydoux and score by Angelo Badalamenti. Recently, he directed 5 short films set to Philip Glass new violin partitas. He is currently working on a new film in collaboration with Lil Buck for the online network DanceOn.

Millepied is currently the face of Yves Saint Laurent’s new fragrance «l’homme libre

About The Music Center As one of the top performing arts centers in the world, the Music Center is committed to strengthening community through the arts. Set in the heart of Los Angeles’ downtown cultural district and home to four internationally renowned resident companies — LA Phil, Center Theatre Group, LA Opera and Los Angeles Master Chorale — and the celebrated Glorya Kaufman Presents Dance at the Music Center, the Music Center offers the most compelling, highest quality engagements. In its effort to extend the reach and accessibility of the performing arts, the Music Center is a national model for experiences in which people participate directly through its Active Arts® at the Music Center. As well, the Music Center presents special productions, events and festivals for children and families, including World City at the Music Center, and plays a leadership role in advocating for and directly providing arts education in schools throughout the County. The Music Center boasts four venues — the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Ahmanson Theatre, Mark Taper Forum and Walt Disney Concert Hall — as well as a vibrant collection of outdoor theatres, plazas and gardens. For more information, please visit musiccenter.org.

© DANCE PROJECT Founded by Benjamin Millepied
 

©2012 Danza Ballet

 

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