He conquered the New York stage, married a Hollywood star and directed a daring new movie model of “Carmen”. However Benjamin Millepied says he had to surrender the American Dream to return to France.
Millepied is best-known to tabloid gossip followers because the husband of actress Natalie Portman, whom he met whereas working as choreographer on the Oscar-winning movie “Black Swan”.
However he was already a star in his personal proper — a former principal dancer with the New York Metropolis Ballet who shaped the extremely revered L.A. Dance Mission.
Now 45, he has grown bored with the California life-style and moved his household again to France.
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“I wished to return to Paris to rediscover its cultural richness — and I wished to depart Los Angeles the place I felt remoted,” Millepied informed AFP.
Earlier than leaving, he directed his first film, “Carmen”, with Oscar-nominated rising star Paul Mescal, recognized from TV present “Regular Folks” and shortly to seem in “Gladiator 2”.
The movie, impressed by the well-known Bizet opera a couple of naive soldier bewitched by a fiery gypsy, is stuffed with dance and music — “one thing which isn’t so frequent as of late,” stated Millepied.
However it is usually a totally fashionable take, transferring the motion to the US-Mexico border, the place an American soldier affected by post-traumatic stress meets an immigrant performed by Melissa Barrera.
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It’s a extremely political take: “These women and men… go to participate in wars that by no means ought to have occurred, and are available again completely broken after which are deserted,” stated Millepied.
Falling in love, the couple flee to LA — “a metropolis the place we’re confronted by immigration,” he added.
‘A whole lot of myths’
Regardless of his success in the US — and a short, troubled spell as director of dance with the Paris Opera in 2014-16 — Millepied says it’s simpler to work in France.
“Creating a cultural challenge in the US may be very troublesome,” he stated. “Right here in France, I can chase sure goals and entry extra funding.”
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However as he found on the Paris Opera — the place he overtly criticised the dearth of variety — French society can really feel much less inclusive.
It’s one thing which his newly shaped Paris Dance Mission, an incubator of younger expertise within the capital’s suburbs, is aimed toward combatting.
“There are nonetheless quite a lot of myths concerning the suburbs,” he stated, referring to the way in which that many Parisians look down on the outskirts of the town.
“Even when Paris may be very open, it may be very cliquey, and the audiences (for dance) are at all times the identical,” he stated.
“We see the price range of cultural establishments falling — that’s additionally the purpose of making new organisations that may extra simply supply alternatives,” he added.
His personal expertise as a guardian — he has two youngsters with Portman — is a motivating issue.
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“Residing artwork has a key position to play at a time after we are informed that expertise will save every little thing,” he stated.
“It’s a combat. I see it, I’ve two youngsters — what expertise of the world do I need to supply them? We live at a turning level.”
By Rana Moussaoui © Agence France-Presse
