My Benjamin

UNITED STATES PREMIERE  |  My Benjamin follows Benjamin Pech during his final year as an Étoile at the Paris Opera Ballet, tracing the arc of his artistic life inside the storied Palais Garnier, from his entry into the Opera’s ballet school at age ten to the severe hip injury that now threatens to end his career.

Along the way, director Victoria Clay Mendoza and Pech develop an unexpected friendship in which each sees themselves reflected in the other: as Pech confronts a body that can no longer sustain him, Clay Mendoza faces her own return to Mexico to care for her mother, who has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.

A visual essay on endings, on the loving acceptance of deterioration, and on the need to be seen through these processes, My Benjamin renders the private world of ballet intimate and immediate, following Benjamin’s daily routine with rare access and tenderness.

Followed by a live Q&A with director Victoria Clay Mendoza.