Benjamin Millepied's Surprising Next Move

As you probably guessed immediately after hearing his amazing last name, Benjamin Millepied (seriously—could there be a better name for a dancer?) is a Frenchman, born in Bordeaux. But since he’s spent most of his career in the States, dancing at New York City Ballet and choreographing all over, it was a shock to the ballet world when he was named the next director of dance at Paris Opéra Ballet this morning.

Millepied, who most people know as the choreographer of Black Swan, will take over POB  in September 2014. That means he’ll be leaving his experimental L.A. Dance Project, founded just last year, and moving to Paris—with, yes, his wife Natalie Portman and their son Aleph.

Here’s the other interesting thing about this unexpected transition: While Millepied has focused on choreography in recent years, he’s apparently not planning to do so at POB. Instead, he told the New York Times, he wants to beef up the company’s contemporary repertoire, particularly works with commissioned scores. He also wants to promote in-house choreographers.

What will a traditional classical company run by a rule-breaking contemporary choreographer look like? And what will Natalie Portman look like in berets? We’ll find out next fall!