In Hindsight
Celebrated dance artist and choreographer Guillaume Côté and ProArteDanza’s Artistic Director Roberto Campanella held an online event on April 21. To view the recorded event, contact us.
For this facilitated discussion, Roberto welcomed Guillaume to talk about the all-time favourite “Fractals: a Pattern of Chaos,” a piece originally created by Guillaume for ProArteDanza in 2011. We watched a performance with the original cast and explored the creative process, the story behind it, its relevance and context over the years and discussed what could have been done differently. Fractals has been a staple of ProArteDanza’s repertoire, re-mounted and toured all over Canada over the years.
At a time of change and reflection, In Hindsight was born out of a conversation between Artistic Director Roberto Campanella and Associate Director Robert Glumbek. “During the remount of the full evening of “The 9th!” Robert and I were watching archive videos of one of the movements we had created 10 years ago… well… let’s just say it was a real shock,” said Roberto, “we both realized how much we had changed as artists. The advantage we had this time around was the opportunity to remount it according to where we were both currently at in our lives as creators.”

Guillaume Côté
Photo by Karolina Kuras
As a guest artist, Mr. Côté has danced with a number of the world’s most important companies including The Royal Ballet, Bolshoi Theatre, American Ballet Theater, New York City Ballet, Teatro alla Scala, English National Ballet, the Mikhailosky Theater of St-Petersburg, Teatro Colón de Buenos Aires and the Berlin’s Staatsoper.
In 2013, in addition to his position as a Principal Dancer, Mr. Côté assumed the role of Choreographic Associate with The National Ballet of Canada. Since then, eight of his pieces entered the company’s repertoire including most recently Being and Nothingness performed on an international tour to Russia. In 2013, Mr. Côté’s work No. 24, won third prize at Ballet Society Hanover’s 25th International Competition and was first to enter the NBOC repertoire. His work for ProArteDanza, Fractals: a pattern of chaos, was nominated for a Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding Choreography. In 2016, his first full-length ballet Le Petit Prince was presented by the National Ballet of Canada to sold-out houses. In 2018, Mr. Côté created in collaboration with the famed Director Robert Lepage, Frame by Frame presented at the Four Seasons Centre in Toronto and schedule to tour in London and Paris.
In 2011, Mr. Côté was awarded “La médaille de l’Assemblée Nationale du Québec” for his work in the arts. In September 2014, Mr. Côté was named the Artistic Director of the Festival des Arts de Saint-Sauveur, the largest summer dance festival in Canada.
As a guest artist, Mr. Côté has danced with a number of the world’s most important companies including The Royal Ballet, Bolshoi Theatre, American Ballet Theater, New York City Ballet, Teatro alla Scala, English National Ballet, the Mikhailosky Theater of St-Petersburg, Teatro Colón de Buenos Aires and the Berlin’s Staatsoper.
In 2013, in addition to his position as a Principal Dancer, Mr. Côté assumed the role of Choreographic Associate with The National Ballet of Canada. Since then, eight of his pieces entered the company’s repertoire including most recently Being and Nothingness performed on an international tour to Russia. In 2013, Mr. Côté’s work No. 24, won third prize at Ballet Society Hanover’s 25th International Competition and was first to enter the NBOC repertoire. His work for ProArteDanza, Fractals: a pattern of chaos, was nominated for a Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding Choreography. In 2016, his first full-length ballet Le Petit Prince was presented by the National Ballet of Canada to sold-out houses. In 2018, Mr. Côté created in collaboration with the famed Director Robert Lepage, Frame by Frame presented at the Four Seasons Centre in Toronto and schedule to tour in London and Paris.
In 2011, Mr. Côté was awarded “La médaille de l’Assemblée Nationale du Québec” for his work in the arts. In September 2014, Mr. Côté was named the Artistic Director of the Festival des Arts de Saint-Sauveur, the largest summer dance festival in Canada.

Roberto Campanella
Photo by Bruce Zinger
Born and raised in Rome, Roberto Campanella trained at the Scuola Italiana di Danza Contemporanea. In 1985, Roberto joined the Compagnia Italiana di Danza Contemporanea and later the prestigious Aterballetto. In 1993, he joined the National Ballet of Canada where he was soon promoted to soloist. Roberto made his choreographic debut at the National Ballet of Canada’s Choreographic Workshop. In 2001, he was nominated for the Bonnie Bird Award in London and in 2007, he received the Fellowship Initiative. Roberto received the Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding Choreography with co-choreographer, Robert Glumbek, for “…in between….” Roberto has also been choreographing for TV and Film for shows such as “Silent Hill”, “Save the Last Dance 2”, “Pompeii”, “The Expanse”, “The Strain”, “A Nutcracker Christmas”, and most recently “The Shape of Water” which won Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Music Score and Best Production Design at the Academy Awards.
Born and raised in Rome, Roberto Campanella trained at the Scuola Italiana di Danza Contemporanea. In 1985, Roberto joined the Compagnia Italiana di Danza Contemporanea and later the prestigious Aterballetto. In 1993, he joined the National Ballet of Canada where he was soon promoted to soloist. Roberto made his choreographic debut at the National Ballet of Canada’s Choreographic Workshop. In 2001, he was nominated for the Bonnie Bird Award in London and in 2007, he received the Fellowship Initiative. Roberto received the Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding Choreography with co-choreographer, Robert Glumbek, for “…in between….” Roberto has also been choreographing for TV and Film for shows such as “Silent Hill”, “Save the Last Dance 2”, “Pompeii”, “The Expanse”, “The Strain”, “A Nutcracker Christmas”, and most recently “The Shape of Water” which won Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Music Score and Best Production Design at the Academy Awards.