In the summer of 1992 Millepied attended classes at the
School of American Ballet (SAB) and returned to study full-time in 1993, with a scholarship from the
French Ministry (
Bourse Lavoisier or Lavoisier Scholarship). Early in his career, Millepied was mentored by choreographer
Jerome Robbins, who took an interest in him. At SAB's 1994 Spring Workshop he originated a principal role in Jerome Robbins' premiere of
2 and 3 Part Inventions and also received the
Prix de Lausanne.
New York City Ballet, 1995–2011 Millepied joined New York City Ballet's
corps de ballet in 1995, was promoted to soloist in 1998 Millepied also became a choreographer, creating dances for City Ballet,
American Ballet Theatre, the
School of American Ballet, the
Metropolitan Opera, the
Paris Opera Ballet, Ballet de Genève, and his own company, Danses Concertantes. From 2006 to 2007, he was choreographer-in-residence at the
Baryshnikov Arts Center in New York. On 26 October 2011, the media announced that Millepied would retire from New York City Ballet.
L.A. Dance Project, 2011–present In 2011, L.A. Dance Project, founded and directed by Millepied, was launched with a commission, expected to last two years, from Glorya Kaufman Presents Dance at the
Los Angeles Music Center. The company's operating budget is about $1 million a year. Millepied partnered with composer
Nico Muhly, producer Charles Fabius, composer Nicholas Britell, and Matthieu Humery to found the company. In 2012, L.A. Dance Project established a full-time residence at Los Angeles Theatre Center with the objective of presenting new works throughout the city. L.A. Dance Project's inaugural performance, commissioned by The Music Center was held at Walt Disney Concert Hall on 22 September 2012. Later that year, Millepied and L.A. Dance Project dancer Amanda Wells performed a 30-minute duet entitled "Framework" at the
Museum of Contemporary Art. The dance collective's first program featured a Millepied premiere,
Moving Parts, with a score by Muhly and visual design by painter
Christopher Wool. The program also includes a revival of
Merce Cunningham's 1964
Winterbranch, a movement exploration of falling bodies set to a mostly two-note score by
La Monte Young, and
William Forsythe's
Quintett, a 1993 study in loss and hope to avant-garde composer Gavin Bryars' composition ''Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet''. By June 2016, L.A. Dance Project formed a three-year partnership with the
LUMA Foundation in
Arles, France, offering the nine-member company a continuing residency and performance space in the foundation's Parc des Ateliers. L.A. Dance Project will spend five non-consecutive weeks a year in Arles, where the company will be able to work, create and produce.
Paris Opera Ballet, 2014–2016 In January 2013, the
Paris Opera Ballet announced that Millepied had accepted the position of director of dance. He officially succeeded
Brigitte Lefèvre on 15 October 2014. During his time at the Paris Opera Ballet, Millepied brought in
William Forsythe as an associate choreographer and collaborator on the new Academy, an in-house training program for choreographers. Millepied's first season opened with a celebrity-filled gala that raised over a million euros. He also established a digital platform for new work and organized dancer exchanges with the Mariinsky and American Ballet Theatre.
Reset, a ballet documentary by
Thierry Demaizière and Alban Teurlai, featured Millepied as he mounted his first production as director of the Paris Opera ballet. It premiered in France on
Canal+ in December 2015. It later had its North American premiere at the
Tribeca Film Festival. Millepied resigned from the Paris Opera Ballet on 4 February 2016 and was succeeded by
Aurélie Dupont.
Other activities Millepied has commissioned and collaborated with contemporary composers including
David Lang,
Nico Muhly,
Thierry Escaich,
Daniel Ott, and
Philip Glass. The Jerome Robbins Trust and Foundation has underwritten Millepied's work and donors include philanthropists Anne Bass and Arlene Cooper. In 2001, Millepied's dancing was motion-captured for the animated children's film
Barbie in the Nutcracker, along with that of other New York City Ballet dancers. His dancing was again captured for the 2003
Barbie film
Barbie of Swan Lake. In 2009, he served as choreographer for
Black Swan, a
psychological thriller directed by
Darren Aronofsky which stars
Natalie Portman and
Mila Kunis as ballet dancers in New York City. He also danced and appeared in the film. In 2010, he was the leading man in a short film co-directed by
Asa Mader and starring
Léa Seydoux, called ''Time Doesn't Stand Still''. In 2014, Millepied became the Artistic Advisor of the new Dance Academy at the
Colburn School in Downtown Los Angeles, joining fellow former-principal dancers with the New York City Ballet,
Jenifer Ringer and
James Fayette. == Recognition ==