Birthplace
Winnipeg, Canada
Dance Training
Royal Winnipeg Ballet School
Year Joined
2025
Previous Company
Royal Winnipeg Ballet (RWB)
Favorite Roles
Romeo in Rudi van Dantzig’s Romeo and Juliet (2023)
Dr. Jekyll in Val Caniparoli’s Jekyll and Hyde (2025)
Albrecht in Sir Peter Wright’s Giselle.
Prince Siegfried in Swan Lake by Galina Yordanova (2022)
Favorite Ballet
Romeo and Juliet by Rudi van Dantzig. I love theatrical ballets with lots of drama and van Dantzig was able to infuse his version of Romeo and Juliet with all the drama this story deserves.
A Defining Moment
Leading up to my performances in the lead role of prince Siegfried in Swan Lake, I went through a period of technical and artistic growth and I was able to prove to myself that I was capable of performing principal roles.
I realized I wanted to become a professional ballet dancer after performances of The Nutcracker when I was 10 years old where I played a children’s role. The dancers I shared the stage with at the time were so inspiring to me and I found my love of performing.
Bio
Michel Lavoie joins Houston Ballet as a Corps de Ballet dancer in July 2025. Originally from Winnipeg, Canada, he began dance lessons at the age of six in the RWB School Recreational Division and joined the School’s Professional Division at the age of 11. During his training, he was a two-time winner of the prestigious Prince Edward Award.
He has spent most of his life dancing with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet and was most recently promoted to Soloist in 2023. He joined the RWB Company’s Corps de Ballet in 2019 after graduating from the RWB School’s Ballet Academic Program in 2018 and spending one year in the Anna McCowan-Johnson Aspirant Program, and was later promoted to Second Soloist in 2022.
Lavoie has danced in many notable ballets with the RWB Company, including Dieter, Julian, and the Prince in Nutcracker; in Twyla Tharp’s The Princess & the Goblin; in Rudy van Dantzig’s Romeo & Juliet; in Mark Godden’s Going Home Star: Truth and Reconciliation; and in the Canadian premiere of Septime Webre’s The Wizard of Oz.
When he’s not dancing, Lavoie is often watching TV or movies. He watches basketball and is a big Toronto Raptors fan. He also enjoys cooking and has a go-to salmon recipe. His favorite food is Santa Lucia Pizza and one of his favorite things to do in Winnipeg is trying new restaurants. His go to karaoke songs are “Sweet Caroline” by Neil Diamond or “Bohemian Rhapsody” by Queen.
Lavoie loves watching Balanchine ballets, so in the future he would love the opportunity to perform in one.
Song Teng
Rafaela Henrique