From Dancer to Director: Benjamin Millepied’s Modern Adaptation of Carmen and More Projects

Dancer, choreographer and former director of dance at the Paris Opera, Benjamin Millepied returns this Wednesday with “Carmen”, his first film as a director. For CNEWS, this tireless jack-of-all-trades talks about this experience and his new projects.

After nearly thirty years in the United States, between New York and Los Angeles, Benjamin Millepied settled in France a few months ago, “very happy” to find his roots. A return also marked by the realization of many projects, starting with “Carmen”, his very free and modern adaptation of Georges Bizet’s opera, which is released this Wednesday, June 14 at the cinema.

After participating, among other things, in the design of the ballets for “Black Swan” (2011), a film by Darren Aronofsky on which he met his wife, actress Natalie Portman, the former dancer of the New York City Ballet and choreographer signs an ambitious and promising musical drama. We follow a Mexican woman, free and fiery, who flees her country for California, thanks to the help of a former marine. Forever bound by a tragic night, these fugitives will find refuge in a club in the City of Angels with only destiny, love or death.

For your first film as a director, you sign a modern adaptation of the myth of Carmen, inspired by the short story by Prosper Mérimée and the opera by Georges Bizet. Why did you choose this heroine?

I instinctively started making short dance films in 2001. I always choose scores that touch me, almost in a visceral way. I loved this character who is saved by dancing. A freedom-loving woman who retains an inner strength despite the violence of the environment in which she evolves.

This Carmen is more human. She can finally love and be loved.

I appropriated this myth that marked my childhood, choosing to get rid of all the clichés and stereotypes that surround this story. I wanted to make this Carmen more human. This woman can finally love and be loved. For me, cinema is an extension of dance. And being passionate about photography for many years, I like to work on the image and the frame. It’s also a way for me to take a look at the world around me.

In this contemporary version, you transpose the story to Mexico, then to California, and feature a migrant and an American soldier who suffers from post-traumatic stress. Is it a desire to politicize this story?

The political aspect animates me, and is omnipresent in my work. Like the heroine of my film, I was an immigrant in the United States for a long time (he lived for sixteen years in New York and ten years in Los Angeles, editor’s note). But I always felt extremely privileged. I was lucky to be very well received and to have great opportunities. When you evolve in an elitist environment like the New York City Ballet, you have access to success and cultural richness. Coming back to Paris, I understood that Carmen could not address only one part of society, and had to address current issues. Art multiplies the forms of expression, makes it possible to give visibility and voice to those who are sometimes in the shadows, and the opportunity to observe each other.

To embody the two heroes of this drama, you have chosen Melissa Barrera, star of the last parts of the “Scream” saga, and Paul Mescal, nominated this year for the Oscars for his role in “Aftersun”. Was it mandatory that they both know how to dance?

It was essential for Melissa. She could not interpret a mythical character like Carmen without having a mastery of dance. She has an innate grace and an undeniable screen presence. For Paul, it was different. I wanted someone who had a physical relationship to life, a raw relationship to gesture. I didn’t envision a marine dancing lyrically. It had to be realistic.

And do you dream of other feature films?

I’m writing another one that won’t be dance related. The expression of bodies will always be part of my films, but the idea is above all to tell stories.

I want to bring the energy of dance where it is needed.

As for reviews, I’m used to it. I have been in the media since my adolescence. I encountered ups and downs, learned to defend myself and to face the press.

After the LA Dance Project launched more than ten years ago in Los Angeles, last February you created an artistic, educational and social project, called Paris Dance Project. A new opportunity for you to defend social diversity and cultural diversity…

This project was born from my meeting with Solenne du Haÿs Mascré, four years ago during the presentation of “Romeo and Juliet” at the Musical Stage, in Boulogne-Billancourt. Thanks to this unique choreographic campus located in Meudon, in the Hauts-de-Seine, we want to bring the energy of dance where it is needed, especially in schools and so-called priority neighborhoods. It’s great therapy. I started working with apprentices from Auteuil at the Saint-Philippe establishment. In addition to the desire to introduce dance to the youngest, we wish to offer, in the long term, residences in Ile-de-France to artists who will be able to tell their experiences.

Accompanied by the pianist Alexandre Tharaud, you are about to go back on stage to dance solo as part of the Nuits de Fourvière, in Lyon, from June 13 to 15. The “Unstill Life” creation will also be presented at the Carcassonne Festival on July 2, and at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, in Paris, from July 6 to 8. At 46, how do you feel physically?

My body follows, despite the years. I am very happy to dance again. You just have to know how to be reasonable, sometimes adapt when you can no longer make a move. More than technique, I want to show this maturity, and expression does not necessarily involve virtuosity. We are more emotional, especially in my exchanges with Alexandre. As a child, I dreamed of being a pianist when he wanted to be a dancer. Life has decided otherwise.