
Flowers, confetti, cheers as Guillaume Côté takes last bow with National Ballet
The celebrated principal dancer brought his palms to his heart and smiled as confetti and flowers rained onto the stage following a farewell show Thursday.
Côté was saluted with an eight-minute standing ovation after the career celebration, which included his multimedia piece 'Grand Mirage' and a restaging of 'Bolero.'
The Quebec-born dancer wraps a 26-year career with the Toronto company that saw him star in most of the biggest classical and contemporary roles including Romeo, Prince Charming and Prince Siegfried.
He became a principal dancer in 2004 and has performed as a guest artist for major ballet companies in cities including Milan, London, New York, St. Petersburg and Hamburg.
Also a choreographer, musician and composer, Côté now focuses on his dance company Côté Danse, which brings its show 'Burn Baby, Burn' to Toronto's Bluma Appel Theatre this weekend and Germany in July.
He founded the company in 2021 and is also artistic director of a summer dance festival in Quebec known as Festival des Arts de Saint-Sauveur.
– With files from Angelina Havaris
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 6, 2025.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Winnipeg Free Press
7 hours ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Winnipeg drummer paralyzed from chest down overcomes challenges, teams up with Def Leppard's Rick Allen
Jeff Elwood picked up his first drumsticks as a teenager and immediately joined a band. He liked emulating his favourite rock stars as much as he enjoyed the camaraderie of playing music with friends. Rockin' Thunder ● Wednesday, 5 p.m. ● Def Leppard, Joan Jett, Foreigner, Toque ● Tickets from $79.50 at Ticketmaster Country Thunder ● Thursday, 5 p.m. ● Riley Green, Tyler Hubbard, Nate Smith and Madeline Merlo ● Tickets from $125.50 at Ticketmaster Princess Auto Stadium, 315 Chancellor Matheson Rd. 'Making music, as opposed to listening to it, is the biggest thrill,' says the Winnipeg-born drummer over the phone from his home in Kelowna. When a motocross accident left Elwood paralyzed from the chest down at 21 years old, learning how to drum again became a singular goal — one that, once met, would lead to arena rock shows, a forthcoming documentary and a close personal friendship with Def Leppard drummer Rick Allen. It took nearly a decade, several minor electrocutions and a chipped tooth before Elwood, 56, perfected his wheelchair drumming technique. Figuring out the kick drum was a major hurdle. He and two high school bandmates rigged up a mouthguard with a switch connected to an electric pedal. Later versions featured a custom mouthpiece moulded by an orthodontist, but the aforementioned injuries and an insurmountable lag made the mouth switch a non-starter. Elwood had a light-bulb moment. He rearranged his kit and started using his floor tom as a bass drum, playing every pattern with his hands. Paired with a chest strap to stabilize his torso — which Elwood calls a 'rock 'n' roll girdle' — he was finally back in the groove. 'I never imagined that you could play drums with just two limbs. Even though I do it in a different way, it still has the exact same feeling. It doesn't feel like a wheelchair thing,' he says. Supplied Rick Allen (left) and Jeff Elwood both play on modified drum kits. Supplied Rick Allen (left) and Jeff Elwood both play on modified drum kits. Elwood has been drumming professionally since the early 2000s, playing in two cover bands and an original outfit, called Life, which has opened for Lynyrd Skynyrd and Foreigner. Shortly thereafter, he was introduced to Allen via a longtime friend who worked in the concert industry. The pair met backstage at a Def Leppard show in British Columbia and bonded over their parallel experiences — Allen, 61, also relearned how to drum after losing his left arm in a car crash in 1984. 'It's something that I really wanted to continue doing,' Allen says, speaking over the phone prior to a show in Connecticut. 'And it really elevated me to a different level, not only my drumming, but in my life. Jeff is the same, he saw an opportunity to reframe things and that's exactly when he did.' They exchanged numbers and have remained in contact for more than 20 years. 'People look up to me, but I really look up to him. He's part of my inspiration, part of my support team,' Allen says of Elwood. The friendship has spawned several personal and professional opportunities — including a fateful introduction to Steve Jordan of the Rolling Stones, which has led to Elwood mentoring another wheelchair drummer and helping design an adaptive drum kit program. SUPPLIED Allen and Elwood in an undated photo. Allen and Elwood in an undated photo. He's also been tasked with helping co-ordinate a fundraising campaign for the expansion of Allen's Raven Drum Foundation into Canada. The foundation offers music therapy workshops and counselling for first responders and veterans dealing with post-traumatic stress. 'He's just been a really great guy to me, and it meant a lot that he trusted me enough to spearhead this,' Elwood says of Allen. The duo are also in the midst of filming a documentary with Winnipeg filmmaker Leona Krahn, who heard about Elwood's story from a mutual friend. Rhythm of Resilience, the film's working title, is Krahn's 10th documentary and a departure from previous work about prostate cancer, organ donation, refugees and public housing. SUPPLIED Documentarian Leona Krahn and Rick Allen Documentarian Leona Krahn and Rick Allen 'It's quite exciting to be able to interact with artists on this level. This story is really about the power of dreaming, no matter what card you are dealt in life,' she says. Filming has been underway since last year and she expects the doc to be released by next summer, pending talks with broadcasters. Allen was quick to agree to participate in the film, despite a busy touring schedule. 'There's always time to inspire people. Whatever someone's been through, in terms of physical or mental injuries, sometimes all they need is a spark of inspiration,' he says. Elwood, Krahn and Allen will reunite in Winnipeg this week while Def Leppard is in town to headline the first night of the Thunder concert series at Princess Auto Stadium. Every Second Friday The latest on food and drink in Winnipeg and beyond from arts writers Ben Sigurdson and Eva Wasney. Eva WasneyReporter Eva Wasney has been a reporter with the Free Press Arts & Life department since 2019. Read more about Eva. Every piece of reporting Eva produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.


CTV News
7 hours ago
- CTV News
Just for Laughs founder Gilbert Rozon asked to explain comments on 1998 sex assault
Just for Laughs founder Gilbert Rozon is seen in the corridors of the Montreal courthouse during a break in his civil trial on Monday, June 30, 2025. (Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press) MONTRÉAL — Just for Laughs founder Gilbert Rozon was asked to explain his public comments from 2011 about a sexual assault as he pursued his testimony in a high-profile civil trial in Montreal. The comments were raised by lawyer Bruce Johnston, who represents nine women suing the disgraced former comedy mogul for nearly $14 million in Superior Court. Rozon had made the comments in an interview he gave to TV personality Josélito Michaud in 2011 about an assault of a woman at a party east of Montreal in the 1990s. Rozon told Michaud in the interview he was paying for that one, but could have paid for many others before that. Rozon testified he was referring to paying for past episodes of drunk driving. He says he did not sexually assault the woman but pleaded guilty under pressure from his family to save the international comedy festival. This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 7, 2025.


CBC
13 hours ago
- CBC
Free tickets for ceremony honouring late Quebec singer, Serge Fiori, available Monday
Fans and admirers of the late Quebec singer and Harmonium frontman Serge Fiori will be able to pay their final respects at a national tribute ceremony taking place at Montreal's Place des Arts on July 15. Tickets for members of the general public will be available on the Place des Arts website at 3 p.m. on Monday. Fiori died June 24 at his home in Saint-Henri-de-Taillon, Que., following a long illness. He was 73. His death prompted an outpouring of grief in the province, with Quebec Premier François Legault announcing a national funeral. The premier's office said the ceremony will allow the public "the opportunity to pay a final tribute to an artist and creator who profoundly marked Quebec culture and contributed to shaping our musical landscape." While tickets are free, reservations are required. Organizers warned that people acquiring tickets elsewhere than directly through the link to the Place des Arts ticket office would be identified and refused access to the ceremony. In November 2023, tickets for a memorial honouring Karl Tremblay of Les Cowboys Fringants, sold out within minutes, with some resale sites listing tickets for several hundred dollars. The premier's office said organizers had deployed all the technological means possible "to prevent the free tickets from being sold and becoming a source of profit." Born in 1952 in Montreal, Fiori founded the group Harmonium in the early 1970s with Michel Normandeau on guitar and vocals and Louis Valois on bass. The legendary group revolutionized Quebec music with three folk rock albums Harmonium, Si on avait besoin d'une cinquième saison and L'heptade. They were one of the few Quebec bands of the 1970s to achieve some success in the United States, despite their French lyrics. An online book of condolences is also available for people wishing to send a message to Fiori's family.