Media Release

Canadian Dance Icon Guillaume Côté Takes Final Bow with the National Ballet After 26 Years of Brilliance

Adieu is Onstage May 30 – June 5
Features Three World Premieres Including New Works by Jennifer Archibald and Ethan Colangelo 

May 6, 2025... Hope Muir, Joan and Jerry Lozinski Artistic Director of The National Ballet of Canada, shared today that the Summer Season will open with Adieu, a celebration of Guillaume Côté after 26 brilliant years of dance, May 30 – June 5. The landmark all-Canadian programme features Côté’s new work Grand Mirage, the  reprisal of his acclaimed Boléro and world premieres from Choreographic Associate Ethan Colangelo and in-demand dancemaker Jennifer Archibald. Tickets for Adieu are on sale now at national.ballet.ca.

"It’s overwhelming how much beauty and passion there is in my heart for what the National Ballet has given me – a family and a life that has shaped who I am and is something that I will carry forever,” said Côté. “For my final performances, I wanted to work with a very close collaborator, film director Ben Shirinian for Grand Mirage. Ben and I have worked on many films together including Lost in Motion and Lulu and I thought it would be very special to ask Ben to create a film element as I say farewell.” 

A powerful multimedia work created with Canadian filmmaker Ben Shirinian, Grand Mirage honours Côté’s passion for performance and choreography, capturing both the exhilaration of this last moment and the sadness of saying goodbye. The work reunites Côté with a long-time partner, former Principal Dancer Greta Hodgkinson, who will appear as a Principal Guest Artist.  

The National Ballet’s Choreographic Associate, Ethan Colangelo will premiere his highly anticipated first full company mainstage commission Reverence. Inspired by the Hieronymus Bosch painting The Garden of Earthly Delights, this work explores how contrasting emotions like anxiety and euphoria can coexist in the body. Colangelo balances moments of extreme virtuosity with quiet subtlety, both in movement and music with an original score from his frequent collaborator, Ben Waters.

Jennifer Archibald makes her long awaited choreographic debut with the company, introducing audiences to her genre-breaking style that blends hip hop, contemporary movement and ballet. Exploring themes of strategy and sacrifice found in the game of chess, Archibald invites dancers to push the boundaries of ballet technique and embrace the fearless language that established her as a standout voice in the contemporary dance scene.

Adieu will also include Côté’s Boléro, which he created for the National Ballet’s 60th Anniversary Diamond Gala in 2012. Set to Maurice Ravel’s famous score, the piece begins with a single theme and gradually builds in complexity, with a small ensemble of men and one woman whose movements grow in harmony with the music. 

About Adieu 

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2024/25 Season Sponsor: BMO Financial Group

Lead philanthropic support for Grand Mirage is provided by Emmanuelle Gattuso, The Hal Jackman Foundation and The Hal Jackman Foundation Fund. Additional funding provided by an anonymous Production Supporter, with special thanks to Ann McCullagh Hogarth.  

The new work by Jennifer Archibald is generously supported by Ilsa Blidner & The Blidner Family Foundation. 

The National Ballet of Canada gratefully acknowledges the ongoing support of the Canada Council for the Arts; the Ontario Arts Council; the City of Toronto through the Toronto Arts Council; the Government of Canada – Department of Canadian Heritage with the Honourable Pascale St-Onge, Minister of Canadian Heritage; and the Government of Ontario with the Honourable Stan Cho, Minister of Tourism, Culture and Gaming and Minister of Sport.

Guillaume Côté. Photo by Matt Barnes.

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The National Ballet of Canada
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Kate Dresser, Communications Manager
Media@national.ballet.ca