Ballet choreographer who helped Rudolf Nureyev defect from the Soviet Union. With Lacotte's guidance, Nureyev escaped KGB agents in Paris and sought asylum at Le Bourget airport in 1961.
In 1979, Lacotte worked as a guest artist in Russia, bringing La Sylphide to the Novosibirsk Ballet, and Le Papillon, La Vivandière, and "La Cachucha" from Le Diable boiteux to Kirov Ballet.
His mother was a musician.
Following a serious injury in 1959, he reestablished Les Ballets de la Tour Eiffel.