Guillaume Côté just gave his final performance after 26 years with the National Ballet of Canada

Last night, Guillaume Côté took his final bow and bid adieu to the National Ballet of Canada after 26 years. To mark the occasion, the award-winning principal dancer and choreographer created an original new work, Grand Mirage, which debuted alongside a restaging of his lively 2012 ballet Bolero. The program, which ran from May 30 to June 5, also featured world premieres by two rising Canadian choreographers: Reverence by Ethan Colangelo and King’s Fall by Jennifer Archibald. Never one to shy away from emotion, Côté went out with a big, bold bang. Grand Mirage, a multimedia piece co-created by filmmaker Ben Shirinian, opens with a dreamlike film sequence in which Côté checks into a neon-lit motel and proceeds to experience feverish visions and flashbacks. He looks in the mirror and is disturbed by what he sees. It’s an apt metaphor for an artist reflecting on his legacy and grappling with what the next chapter holds.

Here, some behind-the-scenes moments from before and after the final performance.