Guillaume Côté. Photo by KArolina Kuras.

Biography

Best known to audiences of The National Ballet of Canada as one of the company’s most gifted and dynamic performers, Guillaume Côté is also a choreographer of unique vision and talent. In 2013, in addition to his position as a Principal Dancer, Guillaume assumed the role of Choreographic Associate with the company.

As a dancer, Guillaume’s versatility, accomplished technique and strong sense of the theatrical moment have made for a large number of powerfully etched performances in his time onstage. He brings those same virtues to bear on his choreography, which is characterized by a rich physicality and a complex and often suddenly shifting emotional tenor. As a composer, Guillaume understands both the technical and dramatic centrality of music in the condition of the dance work and as a consequence, his ballets are forged with a careful attention to the symbiosis of musical and physical effect.

For the National Ballet, Guillaume created Frame by Frame, a collaboration with Robert Lepage, Le Petit Prince, Being and Nothingness, Dance Me To The End Of Love, Tonight Will Be Fine, Body of Work, Boléro, No. 24 and Enkeli.

Guillaume’s awards include third prize at Ballet Society Hanover’s 25th International Competition for No. 24 and Enkeli won the Audience Choice Award for Best Choreography at The International Competition for The Erik Bruhn Prize.

In 2012, Guillaume choreographed and starred in the short film Lost in Motion, which was presented at the Toronto International Film Festival. The film’s sequel, Lost in Motion II which was released in late 2013, was also choreographed by Mr. Côté and made its film festival debut at the Dance on Camera Festival in New York City in February 2014. Both films received rave reviews and have been viewed more than 6.7 million times online.