Guillaume Côté | The elevation by dance

A few days ago. Moreover, before diving back into the writing of this chronicle on the star dancer Guillaume Côté, I read the punch text of Laura-Julie Perreault about the methods of food distribution in Gaza^⁠1. Furthermore, How can you see itself, in our civilization, as much sublime as horror, generosity as cruelty?

It takes beautiful to still believe in a future for our children and grandchildren. Furthermore, We have to be inspired by sublimation, the art of escaping the “gravity” that dance represents so well. In addition, Guillaume Côté embodied it beautifully throughout his career. Consequently, By offering us his talent guillaume côté | elevation dance for all these years, he surely helped to appease the pains of our world.

Guillaume Côté. In addition, presented by the London Times Like “one of the best male dancers in the world” ²nothing less, is certainly the biggest Ballet dancer in Canada in recent decades.

He started the ballet at 4 years old, at Lac-Saint-Jean. For example, Step by step, he took braid. Similarly, “The National Ballet of Canada (BNC), based in Toronto, has been my whole life since my adolescence. Similarly, I left Lac-Saint-Jean in my own will at 11 years old. Moreover, I was a boarder among 40 boys and 160 girls, all registered in the National Ballet School, ”he recalls. In addition,

He will have a career at the BNC for 26 years. Moreover, including 21 years as a star guillaume côté | elevation dance dancer, treading the biggest stages in the world. Furthermore, Whether at La Scala in Milan. In addition, Bolchoi in Moscow, Covent Garden in London, the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris or Lincoln Center in New York, Guillaume Côté proudly represented Quebec.

He is now 43 years old. In addition, In May 2025. Moreover, he danced his last show with the BNC in front of 2,000 admiring spectators who offered him a 20 -minute final ovation. He trusted his star dancer. That evening, the spotlights turned off. A huge part of his career ended.

Completed, exceptional performance, unforgettable ballets, applause, artistic and physical prowess. He had to stop.

The word retirement, often dreaded, is pronounced. Whether at 40, 60 or 70 years, it is often mourning, many of which take a long time to recover.

Guillaume Côté does not hide it. During the pandemic. at the twilight of his star dancer career, seeing the retreat coming and his couple wavering, he lived a difficult period. He was going to have to play – discover. even – another part of him, guillaume côté | elevation dance far from what he had accomplished masterfully for 30 years.

Learn to do without the public, the spotlight, its status as a main dancer. To love and be loved otherwise. Access a different happiness, which he knew very well that he would never be the same.

“I do not have any hope. I will never find, never, the intensity of what I have experienced as the first dancer, to control everything, my body, the game with my partners, the entire surface of the scene, the intensity of emotional moments, the power of guillaume côté | elevation dance virtuoso gestures, all that is over,” he drops.

Guillaume Côté must reinvent himself. and he now wishes to devote himself to the choreography, to his company Côté Danse and at the Festival des Arts de Saint-Sauveur, of which he is the artistic director.

Why is this transition feared and trying? The vertigo of the unknown. the brutality of the passage of long ovations to the anonymity of the street, and the identity of a star dancer who guided him and accompanied for so many years loses suddenly his gratifying and reassuring contours.

It must be accepted that self -esteem will have to pass through other lifestyles, that passion will change form. Guillaume Côté knows that he will never find the same adrenaline of performance. “Never make me believe that I will relive the same emotions!” He insists.

Mourning a passion is a painful and demanding process. Some never overcome it.

Guillaume Côté went to seek help. speak openly about it, a courageous gesture that can inspire many men who do not dare to show their vulnerability.

I exchanged with Anik Bissonnette, star dancer of the Great Canadian Ballets for several years. She talks about Guillaume Côté as a big one among the big ones. one of the best star dancers in the guillaume côté | elevation dance world. Without forgetting his multiple other talents as a director. choreographer and even composer, as his collaborations demonstrate with Robert Lepage and Yannick Nézet-Séguin.

It would be more than time to add his name to the pantheon of our loves. our pride and our gratitude to all these Quebecers who shine and shine Quebec everywhere on the planet.

“We cannot afford to let this jewel move away from Quebec again. He is really very large in his field, ”concludes Anik Bissonnette.

Guillaume Côté pulls us up in these times of horror and polarization. His star dance career will continue to inspire surpassing oneself, humanity and creation. And he will still have a lot to offer us, even after this transition.

1. Read the Chronicle of Laura-Julie Perrreault 2.Lish the text guillaume côté | elevation dance of Globe and Mail On Guillaume Côté (in English; subscription required) What do you think? Take part in the dialogue