Los Angeles Gets the Ballet It’s Been Waiting For

It boggles the mind, defies logic, and perplexes dance aficionados throughout the West: for years, America’s second-largest city has lacked a world-class dance company.

Sure, luminaries like Ruth St. Denis, Ted Shawn, Lester Horton, Eugene Loring, George Balanchine, and Alvin Ailey have been coming to Los Angeles and finding inspiration and work since the early 20th century. Yet despite their presence, and the determined efforts of others, no dance group of national or international significance called L.A. home for more than a quarter of a century. John Clifford’s Los Angeles Ballet closed in 1985 after a troubled decade of existence. Even the Joffrey Ballet’s part-time residency didn’t last.

But in 2012, hope came to Southern California in the form of a dazzling and talented Frenchman: Benjamin Millepied. Seven years later, the small company he formed—L.A. Dance Project—has wowed critics and audiences in America and Europe (a 2016 review called LADP “a future force in dance”). Millepied has raised enough money to create a