Patrick Ziza

Patrick Ziza is multidisciplinary performing artist and a dance theatre maker. He was born in Rwanda and moved to Newcastle Upon Tyne in the North East of England when he was 17. After completing his BA Degree in Dance, Patrick began to teach both on university dance courses and in the community. He travelled across Europe to work with a diverse range of practitioners, performing in the UK for contemporary choreographers including Gary Clark, Ella Mesma and in Germany, South Korea and Italy for Alexandra Pirici.

Patrick’s own creative practice explores the themes of African tradition and cultural norms, investigating the effect they have on people from the global south who were born or have lived in the western communities most of their lives. Patrick seeks to engage with less conventional performance settings and platforms to promote visibility and accessibility. His aim is to challenge the preconceived ideologies regarding issues such as black masculinity/ black African people (amongst many other).

As Artistic Director of Patrick Ziza Dance he has been developing Dandyism since 2018. To date the company have performed all over the United Kingdom, including at Greenwich International Dance Festival, Birmingham International Dance Festival, the Commonwealth Games in 2022 and the Eurovision Song Contest in 2023.