Months after becoming a new father with fiancée Natalie Portman, 34-year-old Benjamin Millepied has given notice at the New York City Ballet, where he has served as a principal dancer since 2002. Millepied joined the company when he was a teenager and will continue to work with them as a choreographer, now his primary vocation (he met Portman while choreographing her ballet sequences for Black Swan). In fact, Millepied has been crafting a world premiere ballet with Nico Muhly that will debut during the company’s spring 2012 season, where he is expected to throw a glass of Champagne in the face of the ambitious male dancer who has replaced him. (We hope!) [ArtsBeat/NYT]
