Ballet chief quits Paris Opéra
mainThe glam choreographer Benjamin Millepied resigned his morning as director of Paris Opéra Ballet after just over a year, citing ‘personal reasons’. Off the record, he’s letting is be known he found the job a bore.
Millepied is married to the film star Nathalie Portman.
His successor will be Aurélie Dupont. Millepied will hold the fort until she takes over in September. He tolf a press conference: ‘I salute the choice of Aurelie Dupont. I was much honoured (being ballet director) but what’s important to me is to create, to be inspired by the dancers, and today this job, as it exists, is not made for me.’
The husband of Nathalie Portman is more american than french now. He will return home now to lead his little company in Los Angeles. Good luck to him !
Probably ensorcelled by all the glitter of his Hollywood experience and whatever more comes to him from his glamorous marriage. No longer fit for a day job. (Few red carpets in ballet).
Perhaps he wants to see his wife more.
She moved to and resides in Paris with him. As the first two posters, I also think it comes down to a choice of spotlights and occupational autonomy in glitzy L.A. vs regimented day-job as part of a larger organization.
*regimented day-job as part of a larger organization in Paris.
Part of the reasons he left is that he made a couple of derogatory comments in the press about the company, and that did not go down well with the dancers and the staff. So, even if he was not coerced into resigning, and that he wanted to go anyway, nobody really insisted to keep him back.
That is actually too bad, because, as hard to believe as it may sound, he was a very good director, with a lot of new ideas, and he really revitalized the company.