Works

Expanding on their shared love for Shakespeare and the triumph of their previous collaboration (Frame by Frame), choreographer Guillaume Côté and stage director Robert Lepage have joined forces once again to tackle a formidable task: conveying the intricate tale of Hamlet without the use of words. Instead, they employed movement and music, smoke and mirrors, light and shadows, symbolic props and imaginative set design to immerse the audience in a world of deceit, where ghosts and humans coexist. Performed by nine dancers, this production of Hamlet skillfully portrays pivotal moments from the renowned play, preserving its inherent power while making it accessible to a wide range of viewers. Through this intense metaphoric reimagination of Shakespeare’s drama, the performance draws a fine line connecting movements of the body with what may or may not be lurking within the corners of the mind.

A first draft of The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark premiered at Festival des Arts de Saint-Sauveur on July 26, 2023.

The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark premiered April 3-6, 2024 at Toronto’s Elgin Theatre, presented by Show One Productions.

The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark is supported by the Toronto Arts Council with funding from the City of Toronto.

The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark is a co-production of the Festival des Arts de Saint-Sauveur.

The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark is a co-production of Marin Sorescu, National Theatre and Shakespeare Foundation, Craiova

The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark was developed with the support of TO Live.

The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark was developed in collaboration with the National Creation Fund at Canada’s National Arts Centre

“Their new Hamlet, though billed as a first draft, already in its present form made a dramatic impact that often captured the emotional tenor of Shakespeare’s famously complicated play.”
– Victor Swoboda, Dance International

“Côté’s choreography leaned heavily on balletic athleticism — turns, jumps, lifts, extensions — used purposefully, it must be said, not simply to impress.”
– Victor Swoboda, Dance International

“Two hours of pure enchantment, set in a time space where emotion, ritual and metaphor take over, offering a whole new dimension to Hamlet without ever distorting its meaning.”
– Sylvie St-Jacques, Jeu, revue de théâtre

“The movement is clean and precise, the lines pure, in this setting where evocation is the main language shared by characters who embrace Shakespearean codes with brio and integrity. The virtuosity of the performers and their talent for acting make for a show that is both innovative and authentic.”
– Sylvie St-Jacques, Jeu, theatre magazine

“We are witnessing something that will go down in history. A two-hour show of non-stop extraordinary intensity. The cast is fabulous. The staging is brilliant, the choreography magnificent.”
– Carole Trempe, Journal des citoyens

In the intricate dance of life, our collective actions add fuel to the fire that is global warming. The beauty and chaos of the flames is tragically compelling; yet, there is power within us to spark change. Can we succeed in lighting an intentional backfire before we spiral out of control?

Burn Baby, Burn is made possible by the generous support of La Fondation Emmanuelle Gattuso.

Burn Baby, Burn was created in association with The Creative School Chrysalis and Toronto Metropolitan University.

Burn Baby, Burn is co-produced by the Festival des Arts de Saint-Sauveur.

Burn Baby, Burn was developed with support from TO Live.

Thank you to the Ontario Arts Council for their support.

Crypto tells the story of the capture of a mesmerizing beast-like creature by a Man whose married life is just as arid as the desert where he found it. With the arrival of this enigmatic being, the relationship between Man and Woman is changed forever, trapped in monologues with no hopes of dialogue. Their solos become pas de deux, and soon a pas de trois, prompted by the mysterious stranger who stimulated more than their scientific curiosity. Fearing that the physical deformities of the creature will terrify the rest of the world, the Man calls in a plastic surgeon to modify its appearance in order to hide it in plain sight in the modern world. But that transformation has unexpected consequences.

This dark and complex tale, while remaining open to interpretation, addresses contemporary issues and themes such as cultural identity, curiosity, desire, respect, and the Man’s need to control nature in wholly unnatural ways.

An Anymotion Production in association with the National Arts Center National Creation Fund. Crypto is a co-production of the CanDance Network Creation Fund, Danse Danse, National Arts Centre, Canadian Stage, Banff Center for the Arts and Festival des Arts de Saint-Sauveur, supported by the Canada Council for the Arts. Crypto has also received support from the Maison de la culture Notre-Dame-de-Grâce and the National Ballet of Canada.

Crypto is made possible by the generous support of La Fondation Emmanuelle Gattuso.

Crypto received additional support from The Joan and Jerry Lozinski Foundation.

X (Dix) connects to the myth of Odysseus, about journeying far but always desiring to return home. The piece explores the notion of the “inner compass” and the idea that “home” may be a state of mind.

Symbol of completeness, finality and perfection, the number ten (dix) is associated with the beginning of the cycle of life and the inevitable transformations that this entails. X (Dix) was conceived during the pandemic – a transformative time when travellers were summoned home, and when the very concept of what we call home gained new importance.

Five performers share a minimalist stage setting amplified by the surging and sculptural sounds of American experimental band Son Lux.

Informed by his classical ballet vocabulary, Côté’s choreography contours space with resonant geometries and fervent human connections. Contemporary lines and forms with a sleek edge and refined athleticism give his work a bracing quality.

X (Dix) premiered at Festival des Arts de Saint-Sauveur on August 4, 2021.

Choreography

Guillaume Côté

Music

Leonard Cohen

Costume Design

Krista Dowson

Original cast

Kathryn Hosier, Félix Paquet, Dylan Tedaldi, Andreea Olteanu, Patrick Lavoie, Nan Wang

Leonard Cohen’s work has a depth that cannot be measured. Beyond the words, the humor and the craft, there is a soothing voice filled with passion and maturity. Love is a recurrent theme in Leonard Cohen’s work and he speaks of it as an “untameable creature”. He explores the extremes of this complicated emotion and gives us glimpses of his own experiences. Guillaume Côté was inspired by some of Cohen’s love songs to create this work for the Festival des Arts de Saint-Sauveur in 2014.

The relationship between a dancer and his body is a constant negotiation. It is a lifetime of trying to find the right balance between control and instinct. The body has its own mind and although one works hard to tame it, there is nothing more beautiful than a dancer who can listen to the body’s subtleties in a way that is organic and pure.

Anik Bissonnette has always been a dancer with perfect body control and yet she was able to listen to her instincts in a way that made her mesmerizing. This spectacular solo was created in homage to her artistry. It was first performed by Guillaume Côté at the Governor’s General Awards in May of 2014.

A fractal is a geometric pattern that splits to produce identical copies of itself on a smaller scale. Fractals occur in nature in the development of snowflakes, flowers or clouds to name a few examples. Both strict order and unpredictable influence are integral to the formation of fractals.

Attempting to structure space while remaining open to unpredictable influences is a metaphor for choreographic language. Physically expressing themes of order and chaos, form and pattern, the work reflects the complexity and variation of artistic creation.

“An ambitious piece, both dizzying and dazzling.”
– Paula Citron, The Globe and Mail

“Dances are as densely imagistic as they are muscularly kinetic. But they are also fascinating for what they are not: dramatic while eschewing narrative, viscerally emotional without caving to sentimentality.”
-Deirdre Kelly, Critics at Large

“A hard-edged, lightning fast and very contemporary dance.”
– Michael Crabb, Toronto Star

Premiered in 2011 at the Fleck Theatre, Toronto.

Dora Award nomination for Best Choreography in 2011.

“Touch is the dance experience we need right now”

– NOW Magazine

In 2021, struggling with the distancing imposed by the pandemic, Guillaume Côté felt a compelling desire to create a new approach to dance, centered on two dancers exploring notions of connection and separation through movement. The result is Touch, an unprecedented immersive experience conceived for the unique performance space Lighthouse Immersive Gallery 2, in collaboration with the artists of Côté Danse and Thomas Payette of mirari.

Fusing powerful movement-generated images with superb live dance, Touch is a highly interactive performance forging a dialogue between audience, performers, and multimedia within a 360-projection space. The dancers engage in a 45-minute marathon and the intensity of their physical experience is enhanced by imagery projected on every surface of the space. Immersed in what they are experiencing, the audience is free to focus on what is challenging them, while their eyes dance with the performers.

Touch explores the relationship between two people and their various states of interaction. We discover the lost meaning of touch by experiencing the visceral intimacy of physical contact through their longing, loving, confusion, frustration, pent-up rage, and the catharsis of expressing innermost feelings.

If you like dance and cutting-edge technology, or are at least curious about their combination, and if you want an experience that differs from everything you’ve ever seen at the ballet, Touch is for you.

Guillaume Côté brings a fascinating interpretation of Maurice Ravel’s beloved Bolero, one of music’s most famous and identifiable melodies.

“A riveting tour de force”
– Dance Magazine

Bolero explores repetition and the expectations it raises, from an initial simple proposal that becomes more complex and shows choreographic virtuosity. Each theme has a specific architecture and takes us into a new sequence, a new way of exploring the melody. It reveals the vulnerability then intensifying strength of the female protagonist as it moves from solos to breathtaking multiple lifts.

Created for The National Ballet of Canada’s 60th anniversary Diamond Gala in 2012, Bolero (initially titled Venom) was later performed outdoors in front of 10,000 people as part of the 2015 Pan American Games, incorporating a water-filled pool in Nathan Phillips Square. Bolero was featured at the 2016 Festival des arts de Saint-Sauveur. It was acquired by Ballet Kelowna in 2019.

A young man loses himself in his environment so that his movements reveal the world that exists in his imagination, transcending reality through the muse of dance.

Lost in Motion II explores the spectrum of emotions experienced by artists as they bare their souls for all to see.

After portraying Nijinsky in John Neumeier’s ballet of the same name, Guillaume Côté pays tribute to the famous dancer by revisiting his iconic and groundbreaking creation, Afternoon of a Faun, in tandem with Maestro Yannick Nézet-Seguin and the musicians of the Orchestre Métropolitain.

Emblematic of the wild nature of art, the Faun is a declaration of independence and an ode to freedom that combines the power of dance with that of music.

Being and Nothingness is a film directed by Alejandro Alvarez Cadilla, aimed at perpetuating a solo created for prima ballerina Greta Hodgkinson and choreographed by Guillaume Côté. Presented on various stages, including galas, the solo developed into a full-length ballet performed by the National Ballet of Canada in 2013.

Referred to as “achingly beautiful” by the National Post, Being and Nothingness is a reflection in dance of a key theme in Jean-Paul Sartre’s existential philosophy. Using the mesmeric repetitions of Philip Glass (Metamorphosis four), and a variety of subtly deployed choreographic strategies, Guillaume Côté explores the shifting moments of consciousness that shape the nature of human identity constructed against the horizon of non-being.

Funded by a Kickstarter campaign and filmed on location at Oka Abbey, Quebec, Being and Nothingness was specifically produced to transcend the limitation of theatres and make the best of dance available to everyone in everyday settings. It is an ideal piece to be viewed on video, with its delicate movement and subtle nuances.