Canadian Dance Icon Guillaume Côté Takes Final Bow With The National Ballet

Hope Muir's 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. 

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