A Celebration of Guillaume Côté Adieu

• Grand Mirage includes a film element by Ben Shirinian, whose many collaborations with Côté include the viral dance shorts Lost in Motion and Lost in Motion II.
   
• Côté feels content as he approaches his farewell, saying “I carry with me the most beautiful memories of people, places and moments that have shaped who I am.”
   
• Grand Mirage is also an expression of Côté’s gratitude. He says: “Not everyone can say they were able to live their dreams to their fullest, but I can. I have no words to describe my gratitude toward the National Ballet and its devoted audiences for enabling me to live out my lifelong passion.”

Ben Shirinian stands out as an award-winning filmmaker, acclaimed for his visionary storytelling and impactful contributions to the cinematic arts. Celebrated for films such as Josef Et Aimee and the Lost In Motion series, he now makes his feature film debut with The Housewife. This psychological drama stars Naomi Watts, Tye Sheridan, Michael Imperioli and Norman Reedus, marking a significant leap from his acclaimed short film work. Collaborating with Robbie Brenner of Barbie and Dallas Buyers Club, Ben's transition to feature filmmaking promises a deep, compelling narrative that showcases his directorial prowess on a larger scale.

Co-Created by Guillaume Côté and Ben Shirinian

Choreography:
Guillaume Côté

Film Director:
Ben Shirinian

Costume Designer:
Michael Gianfrancesco

Lighting Designer:
Christopher Dennis

Film Director:
Ben Shirinian

Production Company:
Lookout 

Executive Producer:
Jared Cook

Produced and commissioned by The National Ballet of Canada.

World Premiere: The National Ballet of Canada, Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, Toronto, May 30, 2025

Lead philanthropic support for Grand Mirage is provided by The Hal Jackman Foundation and The Hal Jackman Foundation Fund. Additional support with thanks to Ann McCullagh Hogarth. 

• Ravel composed Boléro in 1928 for his friend, the Russian dancer Ida Rubinstein, who set the music to choreography by the famous Bronislava Nijinska.
   
• Côté introduces a new choreographic sequence with each of Ravel’s 18 variations on a theme, giving rise to an irresistible study of repetition.
   
• A water-filled pool in Nathan Phillips Square was the setting for an unforgettable outdoor performance of Bolero in 2015 for 10,000 people at the Pan American Games.

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.

Awards for his choreography include the Audience Choice Award for Best Choreography at The International Competition for The Erik Bruhn Prize for Enkeli and third prize at Ballet Society Hanover’s 25th International Competition for #24. In 2017, he created Dark Angels for the National Arts Centre.   

In 2012, Guillaume choreographed and starred in the film Lost in Motion, presented at Toronto’s International Film Festival. The sequel, Lost in Motion II, was released in 2013 and was featured at the Dance on Camera Festival in New York City in 2014. In 2020, Lulu, choreographed by Guillaume won Best International Short Film at the 2020 Milan International Film Festival.   

In 2021, Guillaume founded his own company Côté Danse that focuses on the multidisciplinary creation of innovative works. In 2021, Guillaume created Touch, an immersive experience that incorporated projections, technology and dance and in 2022, Guillaume embarked on a cross-Canada tour for Crypto. He is also Artistic Director of the Festival des Arts de Saint-Sauveur, one of the largest summer dance festivals in the country.

Boléro is Maurice Ravel’s most famous work. Composed in 1928, it starts quietly with a snare drum introducing the single theme of the piece until gradually every member of the large orchestra joins in turn. The momentum builds over 18 variations on the theme until finally the full orchestra lets loose in a cacophony of sound.

Choreography:
Guillaume Côté

Music:
Maurice Ravel, Boléro (1928)

Costume Design:
Yannik Larivée

Lighting Design:
Jeff Logue

World Premiere: The National Ballet of Canada, Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, Toronto, June 20, 2012

• Colangelo’s relationship with the National Ballet began onstage, when he performed the lead boy role of Misha in James Kudelka’s The Nutcracker as a child.
   
• Colangelo won the Audience Choice Award and the DAF Production Award at the Copenhagen International Choreography Competition in 2021, where he also caught the attention of Artistic Director Hope Muir.
   
• Athletic twists and speed are hallmarks of Colangelo’s style and reflect his background as a competitive freestyle snowboarder.

Ethan Colangelo was born and raised in Toronto where he began his initial 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. As a choreographer, he has presented work at The Baryshnikov Arts Center, Festival des Arts de Saint-Sauveur, Queen Elizabeth Theatre, APAP, Alice Tully Hall in Lincoln Center and the Brooklyn Academy of Music. Ethan was also one of nine choreographers selected internationally for the Copenhagen International Choreography Competition in 2018 and 2021. At the competition in 2021, his piece recurrence won the Audience Choice Award along with the DAF Production Prize, which led to a residency with Hessisches Staatsballett. Most recently, he has created new works for Ballet BC, BODYTRAFFIC, Whim W’Him Contemporary Dance and The National Ballet of Canada. Ethan has also taught and made new creations for educational institutions including The Juilliard School, The Ailey School, Arts Umbrella Dance Company, Springboard Danse Montréal, DAF in Rome and MOVE NYC. Ethan joined The National Ballet of Canada as Choreographic Associate in July 2023.

Choreography:
Ethan Colangelo

Original Music:
Ben Waters

Costume Designer:
Elena Velez

Lighting Designer:
Jeff Logue

World Premiere: The National Ballet of Canada, Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, Toronto, May 30, 2025

• “Acting is behaving truthfully under imaginary circumstances.” Sanford Meisner’s famous motto is the foundation for the Meisner Technique, which favours impulse over intellect.
   
• Archibald’s impressive resume includes work as a movement specialist for actors such as Audrey Tautou, star of Amélie and The Da Vinci Code.
   
• In 2023, Archibald created her acclaimed Sounds of the Sun for Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, exploring the life of Jewish dancer Florence Waren during World War II.

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 the Ailey II, Atlanta Ballet, Ballet West, Grand Rapids Ballet, Kansas City Ballet, Oregon Ballet Theatre, Pittsburgh Ballet, Sacramento Ballet, Tulsa Ballet and BalletX among others. She has worked commercially for Nike, MAC Cosmetics, Tommy Hilfiger as well as chart-listed artists and returns to the Crypto Arena to choreograph the opening for KCON's annual conference.

Jennifer was appointed as the first female Resident Choreographer in Cincinnati Ballet’s 40-year history. She has been commissioned by BalletMet, Grand Rapids Ballet, BalletX, Washington Ballet, Smuin Contemporary Ballet and the Kennedy Centre’s Pathways to Performance program to deliver new works in 2025. She was the acting Movement Director for 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 history bringing communities together, theatrical engagements that evolve beyond the stage and rely on historical education. Her projects in this space include Breakin’Bricks which honors the community of Black Wall Street produced by Tulsa Ballet, Sounds of the Sun which honors the life of dancer Florence Waren, exploring her experience during the holocaust and is produced by the Pittsburgh Ballet, and Seven, a biographical work about Olympian Jackie Joyner-Kersee commissioned by Modern American Dance Company (MADCO).

Jennifer’s works have been performed at venues including Aaron Davis Hall, Central Park’s Summerstage Mainstage, Jacob’s Pillow Inside|Out Stage, Lincoln Center, New York’s City Center and The Kennedy Center. She was awarded a Choreographic Fellow for Ailey’s New Directions Choreography Lab under the direction of Robert Battle and is a Joffrey Ballet Winning Works Choreographic Competition recipient. Her commissioned work DIRT was presented at TED Talks by St. Louis-based MADCO. Arch Dance Company’s Chasing Shadows was remounted for Dallas Black Dance Theater’s 2018/19 season. Jennifer was also the 2018/19 recipient of City University of New York Dance Initiative.

She is currently an Acting Lecturer at the Yale School of Drama and was appointed as a Guest Faculty Lecturer to develop the hip hop dance curriculum at Barnard College. Jennifer is also a guest artist at several universities including Boston Conservatory, Columbia College Chicago, Fordham/Ailey, Goucher College, Miami New World School of the Arts, Purchase College, Point Park and Princeton. She is a returning guest choreographer for the School at Jacob's Pillow.

Choreography:
Jennifer Archibald

World Premiere: The National Ballet of Canada, Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, Toronto, May 29, 2025

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