Farewell Yves Cousineau

Yves Cousineau

(September 27, 1932 – January 25, 2025)

DCD staff were sad to learn today that former ballet dancer, teacher, and artistic director Yves Cousineau died on January 25, 2025 at the age of 92.

My first encounter with Yves was as my first-term ballet teacher in my second year at the York University dance department — it was his last teaching term before retirement. To be blunt … Yves terrified us. Years later, after I had finished grad school and was working at DCD, Yves came for a visit to see his old friends Lawrence and Miriam Adams. I was preparing to make myself scarce but the man I met that day was definitely not the same terrifying ballet teacher I knew. He was so charming and funny and I found myself entranced by the stories and laughter I witnessed between these three friends. When Lawrence died in 2003, Yves was there for us — supportive as ever. Yves’s archives are held at DCD and provide a detailed record of a life dedicated to art — his interest in visual art and antiques, his practice as a ballet dancer and mime artist, his time directing Québec Été Danse.

Miriam Adams remembers fondly… “Lawrence Adams and Yves Cousineau operated an art gallery and an antique shop (called Adams & Yves) on Toronto’s Markham Street in the 1960s during our days as dancers with the National Ballet. My best memories of those times are Yves’s stupendous cooking skills (he could create a full meal with a head of lettuce) and the abundant humour and raucous laughter that permeated our days.

Born in Montréal, Yves grew up in a family of nine children. In his teens, he studied dance with Elizabeth Leese and Séda Zaré. He joined The National Ballet of Canada in 1953 when the company only had two seasons under its belt. Inspired by Marcel Marceau, he was able to study mime with Jacques Lecoq in Paris in 1960. He then continued his tenure with the National Ballet as a soloist and principal dancer. Also in the 1960s, he ran the art gallery and antique shop with Lawrence Adams. He began to teach part-time in the Theatre Department at York University in 1970 and then took a full-time position in 1972 when the Dance Department was up and running, chairing the department from 1978-1981. He also directed Québec Été Danse from 1981-1984 where he created fertile ground for budding choreographers such as Paul-André Fortier, Ginette Laurin, Robert Desrosiers, and Edouard Lock. His love of visual art led to a touring exhibition of 19th-century ballet lithographs that he curated with Pierre Guillmette. Yves had been awarded the Canada Centennial Medal (1967) and the Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal (1977). He spent his last years enjoying the beauty of Québec’s Eastern Townships but made a habit of coming to Toronto annually to catch National Ballet performances. 

One of the most enjoyable aspects of working at DCD is getting to know artists and having the privilege of caring for their legacies, but one of the hardest parts of still being younger than many of those artists is having to say good-bye. Adieu, Yves.

~ Amy Bowring