Adieu

Principal Dancer and Choreographic Associate of The National Ballet of Canada, Guillaume Côté is a choreographer of unique vision and talent. His work for the National Ballet includes Frame by Frame, Le Petit Prince, Being and Nothingness, Venom and the short film Lulu, which won Best International Short Film at the 2020 Milan International Film Festival. Other work includes Fractals: a pattern of chaos for ProArteDanza (2011) and PHI for Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet (2021). He choreographed the short films Lost in Motion and Lost in Motion II, that have garnered over 8.3 million views online. Guillaume founded his own company Côté Danse in 2021. For Côté Danse, in collaboration Robert Lepage, he created The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark which will tour across Canada and US throughout 2024 and 2025. He is Artistic Director of Festival des Arts de Saint-Sauveur, one of the largest summer dance festivals in the country. In 2021, Guillaume was appointed a Chevalier de l’Ordre national du Québec for his significant contribution to the arts in Québec.

Yannik Larivée has been designing for theatre, opera and dance across Canada and abroad for the last 30 years. His work has been seen on the many stages including National Arts Centre, Stratford Festival, The Royal Alexandra Theatre, Canadian Opera Company, The National Ballet of Canada, Soulpepper Theatre Company, Tarragon Theatre, Segal Centre for the Performing Arts (Montréal), The Royal Swedish Ballet, Teatro Nacional de Cuba, The Royal Opera House (UK), Lincoln Centre (New York), Opéra national du Rhin (France), Opéra national de Lorraine (France), Opera Zuid (Netherlands) and Staatstheater Nürnberg (Germany). After completing his Master’s Degree in Scenography at Central Saint Martins in London, under the direction of Pamela Howard OBE, he started his career in New York as an assistant designer to Michael Levine and Paul Steinberg. Five-time nominee, Yannik has received a Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding Set Design in 2017. He was invited to be a guest teacher at the National Theatre School of Canada for the fall semester of that same year.

Toronto native, Jeff Logue joined The National Ballet of Canada in 2009 as Lighting Coordinator. For the National Ballet, he has created designs for various ballets, including The Sea Above, The Sky Below, Self and Soul, The Wild Space Between Two Hearts, …black night's bright day…, Unearth, Watershed, Crepuscular, On Solid Ground and Skyward. Before joining the company, Jeff worked at the Shaw Festival for over 14 seasons, including six productions as Lighting Designer and more than 30 productions as Associate Lighting Designer. In addition, he worked on I, Claudia, for which he was nominated for both Dora Mavor Moore and Betty Mitchell Awards. Jeff was the Associate Lighting Designer for Urinetown (Canadian Stage) and Assistant Lighting Designer for The Producers (Mirvish Productions) and has worked at most of Canada’s larger regional theatres. He studied theatre production at York University.

Ethan Colangelo (he/him) was born and raised in Toronto where he began his training at Canada’s National Ballet School and Elite Danceworx. He is an alumni of The Juilliard School where he received the Hector Zaraspe Prize for Choreographic Promise. He was appointed Choreographic Associate of The National Ballet of Canada in 2023. Most recently, Ethan has created new works for Ballet BC, BODYTRAFFIC, Whim W’Him Contemporary Dance, Ballet Edmonton and the National Ballet. He was also one of nine choreographers selected worldwide for the Copenhagen International Choreography Competition in 2018 and 2021. At the competition in 2021, his piece recurrence won the Audience Choice Award as well as the DAF Production Prize. Ethan has also taught and made new creations for educational institutions such as The Juilliard School, The Ailey School, Arts Umbrella Dance Company, Springboard Danse Montréal, Nuova X, DAF in Rome and MOVE NYC. He has presented his own work at Orsolina28, The Baryshnikov Arts Center, Festival des Arts de Saint-Sauveur, The Queen Elizabeth Theatre, APAP, Alice Tully Hall in Lincoln Center, The Toronto Museum of Contemporary Art and the Brooklyn Academy of Music. Following this premiere, Ethan is deeply humbled and excited to be creating a new work for Nederlands Dans Theater 2 this fall.

Ben Waters is a professional dancer and composer from Vancouver, British Columbia. He trained at Arts Umbrella and apprenticed with Ballet BC before joining Ballet Edmonton in 2003 as a company dancer. Ben has composed original scores for choreographers, filmmakers and dance companies worldwide. Ethan Colangelo was the first choreographer to include Ben on a major commission when they created a vanishing thread for Whim W'Him in 2022. This project lead to collaborations with Robbie Fairchild for Ballet de Monterrey, Fernando Magadan for Ballet BC, Kirsten Wicklund for Ballet Edmonton, Martha Nichols for The Joffrey School, as well as many more creations with Ethan, including Night Breath for Ballet Edmonton in 2023. Ben is beyond grateful to be a part of this special programme and even more honoured to be doing so alongside Ethan, a wonderful friend and collaborator.

Elena Velez is an American fashion designer and entrepreneur from Milwaukee, Wisconsin whose work is known for its non-traditional synthesis of metalwork and high fashion. She graduated from Parsons School of Design and completed her studies at Central Saint Martins in London, England. Elena is of Puerto Rican heritage and raised in the Rust Belt and she attributes the industrial nature of her nontraditional upbringing as the only child to a single mother, who is a ship's captain on the Great Lakes, as a great influence to her current artistic identity, one which she says draws heavily on the relationship between femininity and force. Her designs were featured in Forbes for her work with Midwestern makers and its mission to “democratize resources and recognition” for artists outside of traditional creative capitals. Elena is the Council of Fashion Designers of America’s 2022 Emerging Designer of the Year, Elle Magazine’s 2023 Women of Impact Honouree, a 2022 Vogue Fashion Fund winner, recipient of the Fashion Trust US Sustainability Award, was part of the 2023 Dazed 100 list, attended the 2023 Met Gala and was a semifinalist for the 2024 LVMH Prize. Additionally, her work has been presented in institutions such as the Victoria and Albert Museum and Barbican Centre.

Toronto native, Jeff Logue joined The National Ballet of Canada in 2009 as Lighting Coordinator. For the National Ballet, he has created designs for various ballets, including The Sea Above, The Sky Below, Self and Soul, The Wild Space Between Two Hearts, …black night's bright day…, Unearth, Watershed, Crepuscular, On Solid Ground and Skyward. Before joining the company, Jeff worked at the Shaw Festival for over 14 seasons, including six productions as Lighting Designer and more than 30 productions as Associate Lighting Designer. In addition, he worked on I, Claudia, for which he was nominated for both Dora Mavor Moore and Betty Mitchell Awards. Jeff was the Associate Lighting Designer for Urinetown (Canadian Stage) and Assistant Lighting Designer for The Producers (Mirvish Productions) and has worked at most of Canada’s larger regional theatres. He studied theatre production at York University.

Toronto-born Jennifer Archibald is the founder and Artistic Director of the Arch Dance Company and Program Director of ArchCore40 Dance Intensives. Jennifer has choreographed for Ailey II, Atlanta Ballet, Ballet West, Charlotte Ballet, Oregon Ballet Theatre, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, Sacramento Ballet and Tulsa Ballet, among others. Commercially, she has worked for NIKE, MAC Cosmetics and Tommy Hilfiger. Jennifer will return to Crypto Arena to choreograph the opening for KCON's Annual Conference. She was appointed as the first female Resident Choreographer in Cincinnati Ballet’s 40-year history. Jennifer has been commissioned by BalletMet, Grand Rapids Ballet, BalletX, The Washington Ballet, Smuin Contemporary Ballet and The Kennedy Center’s Pathways to Performance Choreographic Program to deliver new works in 2025. Jennifer was the acting Movement Director for Michael Kahn’s The Oresteia at Shakespeare Theatre Company and her directorial debut WeAight was named the Official Selection of the 2022 Dance on Camera Festival. She creates a “documentary ballet” format, in which she creates works rooted in historical history, bringing communities together. Her documentary ballets are theatrical engagements that evolve beyond the stage and rely on historical education as an integral part of the creative process. Currently, Jennifer is an Acting Lecturer at Yale School of Drama.

Emily Morgan is a designer whose work spans multiple genres. She is Costume Director at Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington, D.C. with recent design commissions at The Washington Ballet, BalletMet, The National Ballet of Canada and Richmond Ballet. Selected design work for dance includes projects with Jennifer Archibald, Levi Marsman, Tom Mattingly, Norbert De La Cruz III, Yury Yanowski and David Parsons, among others. Other costume direction and design work includes digital media, opera, regional theatre and off-Broadway, most notably for Daryl Roth Productions, The Working Theater and New Georges. Her international design work includes The Physicists for The State Hungarian Theatre of Cluj, Romania. Emily was nominated for a NY Innovative Theatre Award for Best Costume Design of a Play for Angel Eaters. Emily holds an MFA in Costume Design from the University of California, San Diego.

Toronto native, Jeff Logue joined The National Ballet of Canada in 2009 as Lighting Coordinator. For the National Ballet, he has created designs for various ballets, including The Sea Above, The Sky Below, Self and Soul, The Wild Space Between Two Hearts, …black night's bright day…, Unearth, Watershed, Crepuscular, On Solid Ground and Skyward. Before joining the company, Jeff worked at the Shaw Festival for over 14 seasons, including six productions as Lighting Designer and more than 30 productions as Associate Lighting Designer. In addition, he worked on I, Claudia, for which he was nominated for both Dora Mavor Moore and Betty Mitchell Awards. Jeff was the Associate Lighting Designer for Urinetown (Canadian Stage) and Assistant Lighting Designer for The Producers (Mirvish Productions) and has worked at most of Canada’s larger regional theatres. He studied theatre production at York University.

Principal Dancer and Choreographic Associate of The National Ballet of Canada, Guillaume Côté is a choreographer of unique vision and talent. His work for the National Ballet includes Frame by Frame, Le Petit Prince, Being and Nothingness, Venom and the short film Lulu, which won Best International Short Film at the 2020 Milan International Film Festival. Other work includes Fractals: a pattern of chaos for ProArteDanza (2011) and PHI for Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet (2021). He choreographed the short films Lost in Motion and Lost in Motion II, that have garnered over 8.3 million views online. Guillaume founded his own company Côté Danse in 2021. For Côté Danse, in collaboration Robert Lepage, he created The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark which will tour across Canada and US throughout 2024 and 2025. He is Artistic Director of Festival des Arts de Saint-Sauveur, one of the largest summer dance festivals in the country. In 2021, Guillaume was appointed a Chevalier de l’Ordre national du Québec for his significant contribution to the arts in Québec.

Ben Shirinian is an award-winning filmmaker known for his visually poetic storytelling and emotionally resonant narratives. He is currently directing The Housewife, a psychological thriller feature film starring Naomi Watts. His long-standing creative partnership with Guillaume Côté includes the globally recognized Lost in Motion series, which premiered at TIFF, and Lulu, which won Best Film at the Milan International Film Festival and was celebrated at festivals worldwide. Ben’s work explores the intersection of movement, memory and the unspoken – bringing a cinematic lens to the world of dance. He is the co-owner of Toronto-based content studio Lookout and is represented by CAA for feature films and television.

Michael Gianfrancesco’s set and costume designs for theatre, musical theatre, opera and dance have been seen across Canada, in Europe and the US. His multifaceted designs include period, contemporary, conceptual and site-specific work. He has designed in repertory with Stratford Festival and Shaw Festival and has created sets and costumes for productions at Canadian Opera Company, The Rossini Festival Italy, Ex Machina, Signature Theatre NYC, National Arts Centre, Mirvish Productions, Opera Atelier, Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, Canadian Stage Company, Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre, The Citadel Theatre, Centaur Theatre, Théâtre du Nouveau Monde, Theatre Calgary, The Grand Theatre, Tarragon Theatre, Buddies in Bad Times, The Segal Centre for Performing Arts, Studio 180 Theatre, Against the Grain Theatre, Young People’s Theatre and Queen of Puddings Music Theatre. Michael is the recipient of a Dora Mavor Moore Award, has been recognized with the Virginia and Myrtle Cooper Award in Costume Design from the Ontario Arts Foundation and has been featured at Praque Quadrennial for Performance Design and Space.

Christopher Dennis is currently the Director of Production for The National Ballet of Canada, after spending 14 seasons as the Director of Production with the San Francisco Ballet. He also served as the National Ballet’s Resident Lighting Designer and Lighting Coordinator from 1995 to 2009. He has created memorable and evocative lighting designs for many of the company’s productions, including Aszure Barton’s Watch Her, James Kudelka’s Cinderella, Matjash Mrozewski’s A Delicate Battle and Jean-Pierre Perreault’s The Comforts of Solitude. Christopher’s lighting designs are in the repertoires of ballet companies across the globe, including San Francisco Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Boston Ballet, The Joffrey Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet and West Australian Ballet. In addition to his work in dance, Christopher has designed lighting for Stratford and Shaw Festivals as well as other regional opera, theatre and film productions throughout Canada. Christopher served as Lighting Director for Mikhail Baryshnikov's White Oak Dance Project and was Assistant Resident Lighting Designer for Metropolitan Opera. He holds a B.F.A. from Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson University) and an Executive Leadership Certificate from eCornell, Ithaca New York.

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Jeff Morris joined The National Ballet of Canada in 1995. Born in Toronto, he studied technical theatre production and administration at Ryerson’s Theatre School (now Toronto Metropolitan University). From 1990 to 1995, he was Production Stage Manager for Toronto Dance Theatre, including the company’s debuts in Berlin, Warsaw, Tokyo and at the Joyce Theater. He was Production Stage Manager for Dancers for Life (1991 – 1997), Stage Manager for Theatre Passe-Muraille (Never Swim Alone) and for the Fringe Festival of Independent Dance Artists. Since joining the National Ballet, Jeff has stage-managed a wide range of the company’s unique classical and contemporary repertoire, including the world premieres of James Kudelka’s The Four Seasons, Cinderella and An Italian Straw Hat, Crystal Pite’s Emergence and Angels’ Atlas and Guillaume Côté’s Le Petit Prince and Frame by Frame (with Robert Lepage). Company premieres include John Neumeier’s The Seagull, A Streetcar Named Desire, Nijinsky and Anna Karenina and Christopher Wheeldon’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and The Winter’s Tale. He is a board member and instructor for SMArts and Festival CoDirector for dance:made in Canada/fait au Canada.

Alex Wommack (she/her) was born and raised in Waco, Texas and holds a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre from Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama. Her passion for ballet led her to work with Alabama Ballet while completing her undergraduate degree. At Alabama Ballet, she stage-managed works by Jiří Kylián, Agnes de Mille and Sir Frederick Ashton. Following graduation, she moved to Seattle and joined the Stage Management team at Seattle Opera, where highlights included Porgy and Bess, The Barber of Seville and Flight. In 2017, she worked with Pacific Northwest Ballet as an Assistant Stage Manager for George Balanchine's The Nutcracker and then joined the company as Stage Manager in 2020. She is a member of AGMA and served two terms as the staging staff representative for the Northwest area on the National Board of Governors. Outside of her professional work, Alex is actively involved with Books to Prisoners, an organization that fosters a love of reading and help break the cycle of recidivism in American prisons.

Anna Spencer is a Toronto-based stage manager originally from Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. Previous credits include Emma Bovary (The National Ballet of Canada), Wozzeck, Faust, La Boheme (Canadian Opera Company), Ladies of the Canyon, The Big Easy, Detroit, A Christmas Carol (Soulpepper), The Bidding War (Crow’s Theatre), Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are Dead (Neptune Theatre/ Mirvish Productions), Women of the Fur Trade, The Crucible (Stratford Festival), The Rocky Horror Show (Neptune Theatre), Cabaret and Prom Queen (The Grand Theatre). Anna is an instructor and graduate of Toronto Metropolitan University’s Performance Production Program.