ICB Artist Bio
Guillaume Coté
Guest Artist in Residence, National Ballet of Canada
Guillaume Côté is a native of Lac-Saint-Jean, Québec. He studied at Canada’s National Ballet School and joined The National Ballet of Canada in 1999. He quickly rose through the ranks and was promoted to Principal Dancer in 2004. In 2010, Coté became “Guest Artist in Residence” with the National Ballet of Canada and is dedicating more time to dancing on many of the world's most prestigious stages.
As a guest artist, Mr Coté has danced with the The Royal Ballet, American Ballet Theater, Teatro alla Scala, English National Ballet, the Mikhailosky Theater of St-Petersburg, Teatro Colón de Buenos Aires, Berlin’s Staatsoper, the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, the Alberta Ballet, Verona Opera and the South African Ballet Theater.
Mr Coté has also performed in numerous international galas including Kings of the Dance, Gala des Étoiles, Stars of the 21st Century, The vision of Manuel Legris and Roberto Bolle and Friends.
As a member of the National Ballet, Mr. Côté’s repertoire includes the lead role in Swan Lake, The Taming of the Shrew, The Merry Widow, The Sleeping Beauty, Romeo and Juliet, Giselle, The Nutcracker, Onegin, Grand pas Classique, Riff in West Side Story Suite, Opus 19; the dreamer, Apollo, Violin Concerto, Diamonds and Rubies from Jewels and Theme and Variations among many others.
He has also created a number of lead roles in ballets by James Kudelka including Ferdinand in An Italian Straw Hat, Prince Charming in Cinderella and Will in The Contract (The Pied Piper). Mr. Côté also created the role of Gene Kelly in Derek Deane's production of Strictly Gershwin, which premiered at the Royal Albert Hall with the English National Ballet.
Mr. Côté is also an accomplished musician and composer and has composed music for a number of dance and theatre productions internationally. Mr. Coté was awarded a Gemini Award as well as the Galileo 2000 “A life for music” Prize for his dance and musical collaboration in the documentary; Moving to His Music: The Two Muses of Guillaume Coté.
In 2010, he co-choreographed, danced and composed a full length evening performance entitled Impermanence for the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino. The piece was premiered in Florence on May 16th 2010 and was later performed at the National Arts Center in Ottawa as the opener for the Canada Dance Festival. Most recently, Mr. Côté has won a third prize at the prestigious Hannover Choreographic competition in Germany for his work: No. 24.