Louis Laberge-Côté
Louis Laberge-Côté is an Assistant Professor at Toronto Metropolitan University, School of Performance since July 2018. He teaches modern and contemporary dance techniques and movement improvisation.
Laberge-Côté is an active Toronto-based dancer, choreographer, teacher, and rehearsal director. An acclaimed performer, he has danced nationally and internationally with over thirty companies and has been a full-time member of Toronto Dance Theatre (1999-2007) and the Kevin O’Day Ballett Nationaltheater Mannheim (2009-2011).
He has created over eighty choreographic works, which have been presented and commissioned in Canada and abroad. His work has garnered him a Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding Choreography and ten other individual and ensemble nominations for Performance or Choreography. He is a triple KM Hunter Award nominee and has received several grants from all three levels of government, the Chalmers Foundation, the Metcalf Foundation, the Laidlaw Foundation, and the Dancer Transition Resource Centre.
He acted as Chair of the Canadian Alliance of Dance Artists - Ontario Chapter (2005-2007), Vice-President of the Canadian Dance Assembly (2013-2017), and Chair of the Dance Committee at the Toronto Arts Council (2013-2018). He is currently Vice-President on the Board of Healthy Dancer Canada.
He holds an MFA in Creative Practice from the University of Plymouth (UK) and the Transart Institute (USA). His research is centred on contemporary dance and somatic training. His writings have been published by the Journal of Dance and Somatic Practices, The International Journal of Arts Education, Choreographic Practices, The Dance Current, the International Dance Council Online Library, and the Calgary Beacon.. He continues to be a sought-after interpreter and investigator of new dance creations.
- Choreography;
- Live Performance Practices;
- Dance Pedagogy;
- Creative Practices;
- Interdisciplinary Artistic Creation;
- Dance and Well-Being;
- Cognition and Perception;
- Motor Control and Learning;
- Intermediality and Technology
CORE PROJECTS
Enhancing Kinesthetic Empathy in Dance Audiences through XR Technology
This practice-as-research project explores how XR (Extended Reality) technology can enhance and deepen an audience’s connection to the physicality of live dance performances, thereby increasing their engagement and experience. The project involves collaborations between Toronto Metropolitan University, York University, London South Bank University (UK), and the University of the Arts London (UK). Each institution will host residencies from 2024 to 2027. The project is supported by SSHRC (Insight Development) and Toronto Metropolitan University (The Creative School General Seed Grant and The Creative School x UAL Special Projects Fund).
Akshongay
This choreographic work, co-created and performed by Nova Bhattacharya and me, is a full-length duet blending Bharatanatyam and Western concert dance to explore themes of love, friendship, heartbreak, and togetherness. Since its debut in 2013, it has resonated with audiences through its fusion of tradition and innovation. The piece was performed multiple times between 2013 and 2016 and was recently adapted and presented at the Citadel: Ross Centre for Dance by the Citadel + Compagnie as part of their 2024/25 season. It received nominations for two 2025 Dora Mavor Moore Awards in the Dance Division: Outstanding Production and Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble. Besides performances, aspects of the work — its creative process, themes, collaborators, etc. — were shared through various short articles, radio and social media interviews, an online screening, post-show discussions, and a presentation for TMU Performance Dance students. Bhattacharya and I recently submitted an article to the South Asian Dance Explorations journal, which is currently under review.
The Art of Degeneration
This choreographic solo, created and performed by me, is a 90-minute interdisciplinary live performance that combines dance, acting, operatic singing, scriptwriting, costume, sound, lighting and video projections designs, including live camera work. A “meditation on self-identity, truth, illusion, delusion, fame, and aging" (Michael Crabb, Dance International), this work explores the politics of sexuality, endurance, and survival while challenging theatrical and gender norms through the tensions between fantasy and reality, decline and renewal, mastery and failure, the intimate and the public, “order and chaos, pretentiousness and self-awareness, absurdity and tradition” (Mary-Margaret Scrimger, My Entertainment World). Presented by DanceWorks, it premiered in the fall of 2018 at The Citadel (Toronto) and was described as “a tour de force by any standard” (Michael Crabb, Dance International). The work was nominated for three Dora Mavor Moore Awards in the Dance Division — Performance by an Individual, Choreography, and Production. Current plans include an adaptation and performance at the Citadel: Ross Centre for Dance by the Citadel + Compagnie in September 2025, as well as a residency at Toronto Metropolitan University’s Chrysalis in August 2025. This new phase is currently supported by the Ontario Arts Council (Dance Projects), the Toronto Arts Council (Project - Dance), and Toronto Metropolitan University (The Creative School Chrysalis Seed Grant).
OTHER SRC ACTIVITY
Dance pedagogy and creative process papers
Publications by Dance Collection Danse Press (2023), The International Journal of Dance Education (2022), l’Association des Chercheurs en Danse (2022), Academia Letters (2021), the International Dance Council’s Dance Writings (2021), Choreographic Practices (2020), the Dance Current (2020), and the Journal of Dance and Somatic Practices (2018). Conference presentations at PAMAthon (2023), Conseil International de la Danse World Congress Of Dance Research (2022), the Toronto Dance Teacher Expo (2022), International Conference on the Arts in Society (2021, 2020, and 2019). Submissions at Recherches en danse and the Healthy Dancer Canada online resources are currently in press.
windows, black holes, helium: Somatic Sourcing in Trauma-Focussed Collaborative Choreographic Practice
Conference presentations at the 2024 Healthy Dancer Canada Annual Conference and the 2025 International Conference on the Arts in Society.
World After Dark
I acted as lead performer and collaborator in this interdisciplinary choreographic work, created by Shannon Litzenberger. The project involved performances in Toronto (2018, 2022, and 2024), Guelph (2024), Yellowknife (2024), Coquitlam (2024), and Salt Spring Island (2024), as well as multiple post-show discussions and interviews.
Nomination for a 2025 Dora Mavor Moore Award - Dance Division: Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in "Akshongay"
Nomination for a 2024 Dora Mavor Moore Award - Dance Division: Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in “Soft” (choreography: Malgorzata Nowacka)
Nomination for a 2019 Dora Mavor Moore Award - Dance Division: Outstanding Performance by an Individual in “The Art of Degeneration”
Nomination for a 2019 Dora Mavor Moore Award - Dance Division: Outstanding Original Choreography for “The Art of Degeneration”
Nomination for a 2019 My Entertainment World Critic’s Pick Awards: Outstanding Dance Performance in “The Art of Degeneration”
Nomination for a 2016 Dora Mavor Moore Award - Dance Division: Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in “The Thirst for Love and Water” (choreography: Sharon Moore)
Nomination for a 2016 KM Hunter Awards for the Arts
Nomination for a 2015 Dora Mavor Moore Award - Dance Division: Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in “#lovesexbrahms” (choreography: James Kudelka)
Nomination for a 2015 KM Hunter Awards for the Arts
Recipient of the 2014 Kathryn Ash Choreographic Award
Runner-up for NOW Magazine Best of 2014 Awards: Best Male Dancer
Recipient of Dance Ontario Creative Partnership Award
Recipient of a 2014 Dora Mavor Moore Award - Dance Division: Outstanding Original Choreography for “… et même après”
Nomination for a 2014 Dora Mavor Moore Award - Dance Division: Outstanding Performance by an Individual in “… et même après”
Nomination for a 2014 KM Hunter Awards for the Arts
Recipient of NOW Magazine Best of 2013 Awards: Best Male Dancer
Nomination for a 2013 Dora Mavor Moore Award - Dance Division: Outstanding Original Choreography for “Akshongay”
Nomination for a 2013 Dora Mavor Moore Award - Dance Division: Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in “Akshongay”
Nomination for a 2009 Dora Mavor Moore Award - Dance Division: Outstanding Performance by an Individual in “Radiant” (choreography: Holly Small)
Nomination for a 2009 Dora Mavor Moore Award - Dance Division: Outstanding Performance by an Individual in “Heaven” (choreography: Sasha Ivanochko)
Named Dance Most Valuable Player at the 2006 Now Magazine’s Best of Toronto Awards
Recipient of Paula Citron Award for Best Choreography at fFIDA 2003 with “Futari en trois couleurs”
Included in the 2003 Now Magazine’s Best of Toronto - Top 10 Choreography with “Futari en trois couleurs”
Nomination for a 2001 Dora Mavor Moore Award - Dance Division: Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in "Severe Clear” (choreography: Christopher House)