Natalie Portman and Benjamin Millepied Hosted the Sixth Annual L.A. Dance Project Gala

The sixth annual L.A. Dance Project Gala took place this Saturday at Hauser Wirth’s sprawling space in Los Angeles’s burgeoning Arts District. Co-hosts Benjamin Millepied, dancer, choreographer, and L.A.D.P. artistic director, and Natalie Portman, dressed in a sheer Dior gown from the Spring 2020 collection, joined a glittering crowd to celebrate the contemporary dance company and honor art collector Maja Hoffmann for her work supporting independent artists (the L.A. Dance Project has a three-year residency at Hoffmann’s LUMA Foundation in Arles, France).

The evening kicked off with Dom Pérignon and oysters, served by a waitstaff outfitted by L.A. designer Greg Lauren. Guests including Frank Gehry, Laura and Kate Mulleavy, Barry Jenkins, Andie MacDowell, Elisabeth Shue, Bettina Korek, and Lauren Taschen were then treated to a program of dance performances from choreographers Kyle Abraham, Millepied, and Janie Taylor, followed by music from award-winning composer (and longtime collaborator of both Millepied and Portman) Nicholas Britell and violinist Tim Fain, who performed pieces from the film Moonlight and HBO’s Succession. The show wrapped up with a performance by the young dance students from the L.A. Dance Project’s first summer intensive program in association with the Gabriella Foundation, an organization that seeks to transform the lives of underserved youth in Los Angeles through high-quality dance instruction.

“Los Angeles has never had its own major dance company,” said Millepied, as guests sat down for a seasonal dinner by Chef Kris Tominaga of the gallery’s Manuela restaurant. “It has to be an incremental slow process. You have to be resilient. I live in L.A., I’m in love with the city. I’ve been here eight years and we have a performance space now, but it could take 20 to 30 years, and that’s fine.” Millepied is currently in the midst of overseeing L.A. Dances, a festival of 13 dance works that will feature six world premieres, including commissions from Charm La’Donna, a choreographer from Compton who works with rapper Kendrick Lamar, and Madeline Hollander, who worked on Jordan Peele’s movie Us.

“It’s been so inspiring to see Benjamin create this community that is committed to giving expression to many different voices in dance,” said Portman, as the hammer came down on the evening’s live auction, which raised more than $1 million in support of the company and its commissioning fund for new choreography. “Whether they are just starting out or are really established, from different parts of the community and different traditions of dance, they all need to have a platform. [L.A.D.P.] is really about opening up dance to all audiences, and that is so meaningful to us.”