GUILLAUME CÔTÉ ON THE LITTLE PRINCE

This has been a monster of a project, but I’ve prepared very thoroughly. It’s been a fun process — not nearly as scary as it was three years ago. Every single day I’m seeing my vision come to life, so it’s pretty exciting stuff.

My parents were the first ones to introduce me to the story of The Little Prince. I went to a small ballet school where I grew up in Lac Saint-Jean, Que. My parents were involved with the school. My sister danced and they didn’t have a babysitter, so I just danced, too. Very early on, they did a production of The Little Prince and I ended up playing the prince.

I didn’t come back to the story until 25 years later when I went through an existential stage.

I studied French philosophy and through reading Saint-Exupéry’s novels, I was reminded of The Little Prince and wondered about it as a ballet.

Some days, rehearsals are scary as hell, and some days they’re beautiful and magical. It’s up and down, but we’re all so inspired and the company is behind me.

It’s a wonderful process that we all go through, but there’s also a huge element of risk. Artists need to risk, that’s our job. Entertainers are different; they need to give people what they want. Artists have to pursue a vision.

I hope audiences take away a bit of the magic behind the book. What’s so beautiful is the element of imagination, the element of being a child. Innocence frees up the mind to use imagination; it gives life meaning and purpose. I feel like dance does that for me.

It makes me dream, it makes me imagine, it makes me interpret.

As told to Bonny Reichert