A million gigs: Benjamin Millepied's busy schedule.

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Many in the dance world first took note of Benjamin MiUepied when he sailed with serene buoyancy and amiable aplomb through Jerome Robbins' 2 & 3 Part Inventions as a 16-year-old in the School of American Ballet Workshop. That occasion, which forged a friendly association between the choreographer and young dancer, is now nearly half a lifetime ago for the enterprising and multifaceted Millepied. A virtuoso principal

dancer with New York City Ballet, he is also one of the busiest ballet choreographers around, with a line-up of commissions that he carefully balances with NYCB's rehearsals and performances.

His schedule this autumn requires a scorecard to keep straight, as he shows no signs of easing up after an 18-month period that saw him create major works for American Ballet Theatre, Paris Opera Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, and NYCB. In May, when performances had just begun for NYCB's spring season, he guided his cast of 20 through a stage rehearsal of Quasi Una Fantasia, titled after its Henryk Gorecki score, 10 days before its premiere. Surging, intersecting contingents devoured space with athletic verve, as Millepied encouraged them with sound effects ("whum" seemed to be his favorite). "This has to be rhythmically impeccable," he warned the dancers.

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Though Double Aria (a duet he made on his own group) entered NYCB's repertory in 2005, the chance to create his first work on his fellow dancers was clearly significant for Millepied. "This is definitely the most meaningful opportunity I've ever had, because City Ballet is the place I chose to dance," he says. "It's the most Balanchinean thing I've ever done. The score is my guide; it drove me in all the directions that I've taken."

The French native spent his first five years in Senegal before his family returned to Bordeaux. African and modern dance (and making up his own dances at his mother's dance school) preceded his serious commitment to ballet. As a 13-year-old student at the Conservatoire Nationale in Lyon, he took daily Cunningham classes. "I had this really serious modern training that I loved. I think it's still an influence on my work"

His choreography is bracingly contemporary yet more relaxed and expansive, less hard-hitting and confrontational than much contemporary work. His legacy from Robbins includes a gift for nuanced drama; his ballets evoke subtle connections between dancers.

This month, Millepied is running a dance project on Martha's Vineyard. He will create a new ballet to Bach for a Cannes premiere during a November tour of his Danses Concertantes, the ensemble he formed in 2002 to present his own and others' works. The 2009 incarnation includes several ABT dancers and others he has discovered in European companies.

Before heading to France, he has another ABT premiere in October, to chamber scores by David Lang. Millepied is excited by contemporary composers, having worked with Philip Glass and Nico Muhly.

How does this emerging choreographer view his rich heritage from NYCB? "I've come to the point where I've assimilated what I've seen and what I've danced with the company," Millepied says. "Not long ago, I started really analyzing the Balanchine and Robbins works. I knew I loved dancing the rep at City Ballet--but as for how it influenced my work as a choreographer, it's only in the recent past that I began to look at it differently. So we'll see what happens."