Natalie Portman dropped a major bombshell on the pop landscape when she announced to People yesterday that she is not only pregnant but engaged to renowned ballet choreographer Benjamin Millepied. This of course got everyone outside of the dance community asking who in the world Benjamin Millepied is. Well here’s a brief portion of his bio via his official website:
Born in Bordeaux France, Benjamin Millepied began his dance training at the age of eight with his mother, Catherine (something) a former modern dancer. From age thirteen to sixteen he attended the Conservatoire National de Lyon, studying classical ballet under Michel Rahn. In the summer of 1992, Millepied made his first appearance in New York City, for a 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 of Culture. In the 1994 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 Principle Dancer. In 2004 and 2005, Millepied directed the Morriss Center Dance Workshop in Bridgehampton, New York. From 2006 to 2007, he was choreographer-in-residence at the Baryshnikov Arts Center in New York. In 2007, Millepied 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.
Quickly translated, this dude knows his ballet and even though I had very little inclination to before, I will NEVER doubt a man-dancer’s ability to land major babe-age!
^Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images
As I started dealing with the fact that someone other than me will be spending the rest of their days and more importantly nights with Natalie Portman my mind began to imagine what it must have felt like for our man Ben when she said yes. There are some things in life that require a higher communication, feelings and moments that can only be expressed via art. Scoring with and getting engaged to Natalie Portman would be one of these moments.
So as a shout out to the man who landed Natalie Portman here is Benjamin Millepied floating on air to express the joy and triumph of a lifetime! The video is called “Danse concertantes a la Maison de la danse de Lyon” but we non dancin’ types can just call it boo-yeah!
And just to get a little taste of the man-for-Portman here is Mr. Millepied discussing his art at the Nantucket Atheneum Dance Festival 2009:
And here is a clip of Millepied on the <em>Black Swan</em> premiere red carpet discussing the differences of working with professional dancers and, well, his future wife:
New Years resolutions can be hard to keep so at least “marrying Natalie Portman” can be scratched off my list. Based on the results for our man Ben I think I’m going to pencil in a replacement, “learn ballet.”
Congratulations to Natalie and Benjamin on their double-dose of exciting news.
