Joyce Theater Presents 'Dance Talks With Mr. Millepied' 12/1

In advance of the highly anticipated return of Benjamin Millepied Danses Concertantes at The Joyce Theater (December 9-14), there will be a special Dance Talks with Mr. Millepied on Monday, December 1 from 6:00 - 8:00pm at Joyce SoHo (155 Mercer Street, between Houston and Prince). Moderated by Linda Szmyd Monich, this event is free and open to the public, however reservations are required and can be made by calling (646) 792-8377.

Under the title Danses Concertantes, Benjamin Millepied has presented performances since 2002. The December Joyce program features twelve American Ballet Theatre (ABT) dancers in a repertoire that includes two works, both choreographed by Mr. Millepied and both accompanied by live music; one is a world premiere. 28 Variations on a Theme by Paganini (music by Johannes Brahms) will be accompanied by pianist Natasha Paremski and the world premiere of Without (music by Frédéric Chopin) will feature the pianist Pedja Muzijevic. Dancers are Gemma Bond, Isabella Boylston, Céline Cassone, Thomas Forster, Nicole Graniero, Alexandre Hammoudi, Blaine Hoven, Sarah Lane, Luis Ribagorda, Maria Riccetto, Eric Tamm, Cory Stearns and Melissa Thomas. Amanda McKerrow and John Gardner, former dancers from ABT and noted teachers and coaches, will be the ballet staff for Danses Concertantes. Brad Fields, Lighting Director for ABT, will light all works. Mr. Millepied's work was last seen at The Joyce in March 2006 with four world premieres, featuring choreography by Mr. Millepied, Luca Veggetti, Aszure Barton and Andonis Foniadakis. Please note, George Balanchine's Sonatine, originally slated to be performed during this season, has been removed from the program due to scheduling / time constraints.

Benjamin Millepied is a principal dancer at New York City Ballet. He was born in Bordeaux, France, and began his training at the age of eight with his mother, a former dancer. Mr. Millepied entered the Conservatoire National in Lyon, France, at age 13, where he studied until he was 16 years old. He took summer classes at the School of American Ballet (SAB), the official school of New York City Ballet, in the summer of 1992 and returned with a scholarship from the French Ministry (Bourse Lavoisier) to study full-time in the fall of 1993. Mr. Millepied originated a principal role in Jerome Robbins' world premiere of 2 & 3 Part Inventions set to music by Bach at SAB's 1994 Spring Workshop. He was invited to become a member of New York City Ballet's corps de ballet in 1995, was promoted to the rank of soloist in 1998 and to principal dancer in the spring of 2002.

Mr. Millepied has been choreographing since 2001. His most recent work, 3 Movements to a score by Steve Reich, is a Joyce Theater 25th Anniversary Commission and had its world premiere with Pacific Northwest Ballet in November 2008. The Paris Opera Ballet premiered, Triade, in September 2008 to a commissioned score by Nico Muhly as part of the Company's homage to Jerome Robbins. The work was filmed for television and will be shown early in 2009. American Ballet Theatre presented his world premiere, From Here on Out, in 2007, also to an original score by Mr. Muhly. He has made two works for the Grand Théâtre de Genève, Petrouchka (2007) and the full-length Casse-Noisette (2005). Other commissions include Capriccio (2006) for ABT II, Years Later (2006), a solo for Mikhail Baryshnikov, Amoveo (2006) for the Paris Opera Ballet with set design by Paul Cox and costumes by Marc Jacobs.

Linda Szmyd Monich received her B.A. in Dance from the University of California at Irvine where she studied ballet with Eugene Loring and Antony Tudor. She received her M.A. in Performance Studies from NYU where she wrote her thesis about Antony Tudor. Her first job was as Assistant the Director of Ballet Repertory Company (now ABT II). She became Administrator of The Ballet Theatre Workshop for emerging choreographers under the direction of Richard Englund and Oliver Smith. She went on to work at the Metropolitan Opera and the Joffrey Ballet. Ms. Szmyd was a Teaching Artist in Dance for Lincoln Center Institute for more than 10 years, and worked as a Consultant & Teaching Artist for New York City Ballet's Education Department from 1985-89. She has written articles about dance, and did the preliminary research for the Antony Tudor Archive Project at the Dance Notation Bureau. Ms. Szmyd has taught dance history at Connecticut College, the Juilliard School and Manhattanville College. She is currently a guest lecturer at Manhattanville College and the Walnut Hill School's Ballet Program. She has been giving Dance Talks for the Joyce Theater Education Department since 1998.

Dance Talks with Benjamin Millepied, moderated by Linda Szmyd Monich, will take place on Monday, December 1 from 6:00 - 8:00 PM at Joyce SoHo (155 Mercer Street, between Houston and Prince). Admission is free, however reservations are required, and can be made by calling (646) 792-8377. For more information, visit www.Joyce.org.

Dance Talks is part of The Joyce's Dance Education Program which is made possible, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs. Lead corporate support provided by Bloomberg L.P.