Millepied of Black Swan named director of Paris Opera Ballet
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French dancer and choreographer Benjamin Millepied, best known for a role alongside his future wife Natalie Portman in the film Black Swan, poses on Jan 24, 2013 at the Garnier Opera in Paris. Millepied was appointed dance director at the Paris Opera on Jan 24, 2013. -- PHOTO: AFP
PARIS (AP) - Benjamin Millepied, the Black Swan choreographer who helped transform Natalie Portman into an obsessed, paranoid ballerina for the film and later married the actress, was named director of the Paris Opera Ballet on Thursday.
Millepied, 35, is a former principal dancer with the New York City Ballet who left in 2011 to create his own dance company in Los Angeles, Los Angeles Dance Project. He'll start at the Paris company in Oct 2014, when the current dance director, Brigitte Lefevre, retires.
Millepied and Portman, who have a son, met during the making of Black Swan, Darren Aronofsky's psychological thriller that stars Portman as a ballet dancer.
Portman won the best actress Academy Award or her performance in the movie.
